Live Review: Clixie – 21st January 2012

Lawson are currently touring the UK ahead of their second slot supporting The Wanted on their forthcoming UK arena live dates. Friday saw the tight-trousered, fancy-haired quartet play at The Rainbow in Birmingham, with support provided by Dublin brother duo Harry & Alfie and One Sixth Of Tommy.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t really take a rocket scientist to work out what to expect on arrival to the venue – a queue dominated by a raft of teenage girls, many of which were no older than 16. The venue (a notoriously cramped complex situated at the back end of an old Victorian boozer) never really hit full capacity, though you could cut the atmosphere with a knife as the tension for swarms of teenage fans built.

The night began with a performance from the ever-brilliant One Sixth Of Tommy. Their first performance since returning from the Christmas festivities, they wasted no time in getting down to business. Their set included the usual line-up of tracks taken from their debut album You’re In My Head, including their debut single The Pact. It took a while, but as their set progressed the room warmed slowly to the trio, who probably gained a fair few new fans in the process.

Ending their set with one of their new tracks Never Know, it was yet another calm and assured performance that we’ve come to expect from the three-piece and highlights why we think these Stourbridge girls are destined for even bigger things in 2012 – they play alongside Foy Vance and Tom Moriarty as part of HMV’s Next Big Thing on February 9th.

After a small interval the night’s second support act, Harry & Alfie, took to the stage to an enormous round of applause. Working the crowd with their charismatic charm, the Irish brothers warmed up an on-edge crowd in preparation for the night’s main act. Their composed stage presence was quite something; interacting with the on-looking crowd at every given moment, even cracking a few local themed jokes with a bit of help from the audience.

The final act and definitely the biggest attraction of the night was Lawson. Spruced from top to bottom in everything from hair gel to some of the tightest clothing you’re likely to see, they didn’t exactly need to do much to get the crowd screaming along to everything they said and did. They even managed to have a select few males jumping up and down with their hands waving in the air – it really was as awkward as it sounds.

The four-piece played tracks from their highly-anticipated debut album, and even found time to squeeze in a couple of covers – Katy Perry’s Firework and the other being Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars. The tour was probably something to test the waters a little before they head off on a big arena tour supporting fellow boy band The Wanted, but they’re going to have to get used to all that screaming and shouting of their name pretty sharpish – Thursday night was just the beginning.