After a surprisingly quiet train ride, I found myself back in Birmingham for another night of live music. Tonight, I was heading to The Asylum 2 for a show of emo rap and pop-punk with a bill made up of Lil Lotus, one of the many new wave Emo rap/Pop-Punk artists taking the alt scene by storm, Smrtdeath who has influences across the entire music spectrum and Heavy Emo-Rap act Shinxbi.
Upon arrival at the venue, I was surprised to see how quiet it was. I headed upstairs and before long, Shinxbi, the first act of the night hit the stage. I’ve never heard of them before, so I was glad when the two-piece quickly let out an energetic set filled with trap beats and tight bars. Despite the crowd not showing much energy yet, that didn’t stop the group from giving it their all and most importantly, having a lot of fun doing it.
Up next was Smrtdeath, another act I’ve never actually heard of until tonight. With catchy pop-punk riffs and lyrics, it was hard not to get into their set. With great crowd interaction and stage presence, it was just pure fun, especially thanks to the smaller crowd who all fully invested themselves energetically with every song. She Told Me To Kill Myself was definitely the highlight of the set for me, capturing both what makes Smrtdeath unique while keeping the catchiness of pop-punk at the forefront of the sound.
After a final change over, we had Lil Lotus. Like the two previous acts, I had no idea who he was until being asked to cover the show, so I went in with an open mind and to put it bluntly, god damn what a great performance. Lil Lotus was a natural on stage with great presence and personality in every move. His obvious roots in Metalcore/Post-Hardcore bands became even more obvious due to his mannerisms on stage which I would definitely say made the performance stand out amongst some of the other Pop-Punk bands I’ve seen lately. The set’s highlights were Think of Me Tonight, and even more so, Girl Next Door which was a hell of a lot heavier live than recorded. A great set by an artist I’m 100% going to be keeping an eye on in the coming future.
Honestly, it’s going to be a quick sum up for the night I think. All the acts were new to me, so going in with an open mind gave me just a damn fun show that despite being on the quieter side turn out wise was full of energy, and great music and served as another reminder as to why I love the smaller venues and shows. They’re more personal, you get to meet the artists (shoutout to smrtdeath, great guys and a pleasure to chat with) and they’re always the gigs you end up remembering. Yet another great night of Pop-Punk!
Review & Photography: Dan Stapleton // Pulse Media Visuals
https://www.pulsemediavisuals.com/
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