Black Country, New Road have shared a new live film of entirely new material taken from their three sold out back-to-back shows at Bush Hall in December 2022. The film premiered on YouTube, ahead of a film screening at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. ‘Live from Bush Hall‘ is the first official taste of new music since the departure of the band’s frontman, Isaac Wood who left just days before the release of their second album Ants From Up There.
Following their Mercury Prize shortlisted debut For the First Time, Ants from Up There reached number three in the UK charts and was lauded by fans and critics alike. With a full touring schedule ahead of them in 2023, remaining members Lewis Evans, May Kershaw, Georgia Ellery, Luke Mark, Tyler Hyde Charlie Wayne, now a six-piece, decided to write an entire new set of material to perform at festivals, including triumphant performances at Primavera, Green Man and Fuji Rock, entering a new musical phase.
As the songs continued to develop on the road they decided to avoid conventional next steps. “We didn’t want to do a studio album,” says BC, NR pianist May Kershaw, who is one of the three band members, along with saxophonist Lewis Evans and bassist Tyler Hyde, now taking on vocal duties. “We wrote the new tracks specifically to perform live, so we thought it might be a nice idea to put out a performance.”
The result is a filmed live performance, directed by Greg Barnes and mixed by PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish, that took place over three nights at London’s Bush Hall. “It’s about capturing the moment,” says saxophonist and now vocalist Lewis Evans. “A little time capsule of these eight months that we’ve had playing these songs on the road.”
In typical BC,NR fashion, the idea of doing a filmed live performance in a tired and predictable way held little appeal. “We had concerns from live sessions we’ve seen or done in the past,” says guitarist Luke Mark. “They are very obviously clumped together visually from multiple performances. That can take you out of the performance and make it seem artificial and like it’s not actually live. So we came up with the idea to make the three nights look visually distinct from one another. To scratch the idea of trying to disguise anything. We wanted it to be very honest and let people know that we had three goes at it. This isn’t just us playing the whole thing non-stop.”
Each night has its own distinct theme and aesthetic inspired by amateur dramatic performances, based around school plays, a pastoral scene and a haunted pizza parlour called, yes, I Ain’t Alfredo No Ghosts. There’s even an end of school prom party. “We came up with fake plays,” says Evans. “And wrote a fake synopsis, dressed as the characters, and made programmes and sets for each play. It was really exciting and made it a lot more fun.”
It also means the feel of the film has the ability to transport viewers into the pulsing heart of the gig, often at crowd level. “It makes you feel a lot more like you’re there,” says Evans.
While this is a platform for the band’s new music, this is first and foremost a film the band stresses. “We want the focal point to be this film,” says Wayne. “We’ve put a lot of effort into making it feel like you’re watching a live gig. It’s not an album in our eyes, it’s a live performance.”
As the band look ahead to the rest of 2023, they are set to play further live dates across the world including shows and festivals in Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, Europe, and a short headline tour in the UK. Dates are as follows: Tickets are available HERE
Tour Dates
February
25 – Geneva- Antigel Festival
March
5 – Hong Kong- Clockenflap festival
7 – Taipei, Taiwan – The Wall
11 – Chon Buri, Thailand – Pelupo International Music Festival
17 – Bali, Indonesia – Joyland Festival Bali
April
4 – Nagoya, Japan – Club Quattro / クラブクアトロ
5 – Osaka, Japan – Umeda Club Quattro / 梅田CLUB QUATTRO
6 – Tokyo, Japan – Spotify O-EAST
13 – 15 April – Motel Mozaique festival, Rotterdam
May
2 – Southampton, UK – Southampton 1865
3 – Leeds, UK – Leeds Irish Centre
5 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Olympia Theatre
7 – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK – Newcastle University S.U
8 – Glasgow, UK – Old Fruitmarket
9 – Manchester, UK – Manchester New Century Hall
11 – Norwich, UK – Waterfront
12 – Birmingham, UK – The Crossing
13 – Bristol, UK – The Marble Factory
15 – Cambridge, UK – J1, Cambridge Junction
27 -Herne Hill, UK – Wide Awake Festival
30th – Barcelona, Spain – Primavera In The City
June
1 – Barcelona, Primavera Sound festival
5 – Madrid, Primavera In The City
8 – Madrid, Primavera sound festival
9 – 11 – Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands – Best Kept Secret Festival
July
13 – 16 – Superbock Super Rock Festival, Lisbon
20 – 23 – Bluedot festival
Photo Credit: Holly Whitaker