On what was a cold Friday evening in Birmingham, Cast rolled into town in support of their latest album Love Is The Call’.  But this didn’t stop John Power and his brit-pop band ‘Cast’ from embarking on a journey through their decades of music during the set. Before this though we were treated to support from the Mancunian band ‘Dirty Blonde’ who possess a hybrid of Northern rock, punk and grunge influences. It was refreshing to see another female-fronted band in the space and I was definitely impressed by their set. They are one to look out for in the future!

The band came out flying, opening with two tracks from their 1995 debut album ‘All Change’, ‘Sandstorm’ and ‘Fine Time’. Heavy guitar riffs and booming vocals from these tracks immediately sent the crowd into an elated frenzy and most definitely set the tone for the show. Power then stopped to thank the Birmingham crowd for their support over the years, especially in regard to the new album. They then performed a quartet of songs from this album, beginning with the melancholic track, ‘Bluebird’ before the pace was swiftly raised again with the title track ‘Love Is The Call’, followed by ‘Love You Like I Do’ and ‘The Rain That Falls’. These tracks definitely felt like they had an extra layer of artistic maturity to them, which makes sense seeing as they were released 29 years after the band’s first album. The band come from Liverpool, so it could be seen as an easy comparison to say they take inspiration from The Beatles but Cast’s use of the guitar and their strong scouse vocality, namely in tracks like ‘Love Is The Call’ and ‘I’m So Lonely’ really portray The Beatles influence in their music. Their music is also quintessentially Britpop with an indie-rock sound coursing throughout the band’s songs. This creates a sonically great live show with the crowd dually erupting to every electric guitar riff.

The set continued with a medley of tunes from the band’s most iconic albums, a highlight of this portion of the set for me was ‘I’m So Lonely’ (a song which I previously had not heard) from their 1997 album ‘Mother Nature Calls’, which is a more tame track in comparison to others, but the melodic acoustic guitar and heartfelt lyricism allow for a beautifully sounding ballad that most definitely holds up all these years later. Following this, we were treated to the live debut of their track ‘Starry Eyes’, which was not on the original printed setlist but Power wanted to ‘’see how it felt’’ to perform it, this was a nice treat on the night. The atmosphere in the packed-out O2 Institute didn’t falter throughout the show as the band moved through more indie-rock anthems like ‘Live The Dream’, ‘Walk Away’ and ‘Free Me’. Power and co then left the stage for a brief moment before returning for a belting encore consisting of ‘Tell It Like It Is’, ‘History’ and ‘Alright’, the crowd did not pass up this final chance to enjoy the band, they jumped in exhilaration one last time, putting an end to what had been a phenomenal performance from the band.

Whilst this was my first experience of Casts’ music I was immediately enthralled by their punchy indie guitar riffs and strong vocals, which contributed to me thoroughly enjoying the show. I might be late on the Cast train but I am certainly aboard now!

Enjoyed this? You might also like…

Single Review: FLO- Walk Like This

Live Review: Psychedelic Porn Crumpets

Single Review: FIZZ- I Just Died