Rotunda

Tonight is the last ever show to be played at the Foundry. Its fate now lies in the hands of some big business who intend to demolish it and make room for a new set of high-rise flats. The world is a cruel and evil place sometimes.

Kicking things off tonight are Farse. It seems fitting that one of the bands who have helped the Birmingham scene progress so greatly should be honoured with a place on tonight’s line-up and they know what a privilege it is. They use tonight’s set to air a number of tracks from their forthcoming album and from this showing, it’s going to be awesome. I really can’t recommend this band enough; ska, punk and hardcore are blended together so smoothly that it’s like a rollercoaster ride travelling though fast paced gut-wrenching screams to bouncy, up-beat melodies in no time at all. When Rotunda’s singer Louis joins them onstage to cover Rotunda’s classic “Punk Rock Casualty”, it’s hard to describe what a great moment it actually was. I couldn’t help but smile! Farse have come such a long way recently I’m starting to feel a little annoyed that they’re not getting the recognition they deserve! Even their stage presence has progressed with all the band jumping around, dancing and generally having fun for their entire set. Tonight’s show was a perfect way for them to bid farewell to the Foundry.

Next up were Sally. I’ve been shouted at recently for writing articles criticising bands that I don’t like. So I won’t even bother mentioning just how bad (in my opinion) Sally actually were. I’m sure they played their gothic fusion of rock and black metal very well and some people probably like them. I don’t.

And so onto Labrat. For information on this band, please read the above paragraph and replace the word Sally with Labrat.

Rotunda have been away from the Birmingham scene for far too long. Tonight, however, they’re back with a brand new line-up and they’re sounding better than ever. Kicking off with “My Only Weapon”, by the time second track “Punk Rock Casualty” begins the stage is already filled with bodies. Farse are jumping around like their lives depend on it and Ike, drummer with late local ska-core heroes Chumpstate is dancing around covered from head to toe in toilet paper. It’s a party atmosphere; one born from the collective love for such a special venue. The opening to “No Fun At All” signals the madness to continue. A microphone is thrown into the crowd who sing and scream along and Ike decides it would be funny if someone sets fire to his toilet paper. And so, as the perky drummer’s legs are engulfed in flames, it becomes apparent that this is more than just an ordinary show. Isaac roles around on the floor, heaps of burning toilet paper are setting fire to the stage, the crowd sing and dance along, the stairs and balcony are being kicked and torn to pieces and all the while, Rotunda are spitting out their fast paced street punk; it’s an image that will never leave me! It’s at this point that I started to realise how much music venues actually mean to some people and what a massive impact they have on their lives. I was woken from this day dream by Ike’s onstage announcement that everyone should make their way to the male toilets to watch him head-butt the condom machine off the wall! What he doesn’t know, however, is that there’s no way into the toilets, they’ve already been demolished! The lights have been smashed, the toilets uprooted, the ceiling collapsed and there’s dust everywhere! There’s only one word to describe what was going on tonight; chaos! It was sheer, out of control chaos…it was punk rock! For these few hours nothing else mattered. There was debris everywhere and all around was friendly destruction. I say friendly because there was no real anger involved. No one got hurt, no one damaged anything important; people were simply letting off steam! The general consensus was “If the Foundry’s going to be destroyed, let’s help them do it!” Rotunda’s set was over all too quickly though. They played another blinding set, mixing old and new tracks and finishing with a song called “We’re getting kicked out of the Foundry”. It’s a fitting way to bring the end of an era to a close. It’s a sad moment as the song ends and a sobering one for some people (Ike). All in all this was by far and away my favourite time spent at the Foundry. Not even the 2 hours of depressing distortion and screaming that was Sally and Labrat could dampen how good a night myself and seemingly everyone else had. Foundry R.I.P