Shaman’s Harvest + Blacktop Mojo + The Virginmarys

O2 Institute 2, Birmingham – March 8th 2025

Images and Review by Alexandra Peace of ProZac Photography (Copyright 2025)

The Virginmarys
I have photographed this band a few times and for a two-piece they have some oomph that would have you think there is more than just the duo on stage. Danny is full of energy, and it’s refreshing to photograph such an enigmatic drummer (one not hidden at the back of the stage), which has the crowd feed off his energy, and makes the stage feel full. Ally has a gravel to his voice that leads itself well to the hard rock sound with hard hitting fast drum beats reminiscent of punk.  They kick in to ‘When the Lights Go Down’ which has the crowd dancing and singing along. The scream from Ally makes you feel the lyrics; and the drumbeats make it hard to standstill.  The songs from The Virginmarys are hard rocking groove mixed with that “I don’t give a fuck” punk attitude.   Next up the 2024 single ‘There Ain’t No Future’ from the ‘The House Beyond the Fires’ album, with the guitar picking Ally and the crowds singing “Halle-fucking-lujah”.  Finishing the set with thumping drums and sharp guitar, the squeal of which cuts through the wall of beats from the drums, along with the immense scream from Ally ended with “Birmingham, Thank You so fucking much! Have a top night, Cheers!”.  Check their full tour listing at TOUR | VIRGINMARYS 2024

Blacktop Mojo
This is a first for me tonight to see and photograph Blacktop Mojo. The energy is electric from the moment they step on stage, the passion in the performance and music is hypnotising.  All the musicians in the band are incredible talented and the force that they give off along with Matt James’ voice that is so powerful and moving as much in person as it is on the records. The stage performance is very well curated, they had lighting that didn’t disappoint and kept the liveliness of the band and the soul in mind as the band grooved with each other.  You would almost forget that Blacktop Mojo weren’t the headliners for this show. Out comes the acoustic guitar for ‘I Can’t Tell’, tonight Blacktop Mojo brought that Southern hospitality to the Brummies, transporting us all to in a small venue in Texas.

With a false start to ‘Weary I Roam’ playing a joke on guitarist Malcom Booher (for his Birthday) out comes a British birthday cake tradition, The Caterpillar Cake. With a verse of ‘Happy Birthday’ from the crowd, band and the crew, Matt ended the celebration with “Now we can play this song!”.  I challenge anyone at tonight’s show to not be swept up as the music takes hold and could quite easily be the soundtrack to meeting the devil at the crossroads.

The crowd are then hit with Blacktop Mojo’s cover of the Alice in Chains classic ‘Them Bones’. As it kicks in to the solo, you can see guitarist Joe Harvatt is lost in the music.  Matt’s vocals lean so well to the feeling that you would remise to think it wasn’t an original. Matt’s vocal range and sustaining prowess was on full display, showing that for a small-town Texas band, they put on one hell of a big show.

The groove was brought down for “Prodigal”, and you could see in the whole band how much of their heart is in everything they do, shown though the emotions in this song, leading you to be consumed by the music. The guitar held you captive, while the vocals gave heart to the crowd in Brum tonight. Saying that they couldn’t leave Birmingham, without playing some Texas Blues first, the tone of the guitar is something only some of the greatest could dream of getting, the solo sang and gripped your very being. Feeling completely lost in the moment, this amplified the blues from within: even though there are no lyrics, the song still SINGS to you. When Matt takes over on bass as Catt joins Malcom and Joe on guitar, the air in the venue feels wavey and the music atmospheric, reminiscent of a young band in the practice room just jamming out. Cheers as they thank the crowd, take their Bow and finish off their set by taking a photo with the crowd.

Shaman’s Harvest
Starting with ‘Red Hands Black Deeds’ the prelude of the album of the same title, it was a refreshing change for a band to start with something melodic and slower, especially with Shaman’s Harvest back catalogue, knowing there would be energy in the set.  The talent in band is shown in their craft and showmanship, as through the set you see vocalist Nathan Hunt come out of his shell and become in tranced in the music, which reflects in to the way he sings with passion and gusto. There was an excitement from the crowd as they play the opening for Pink Floyd ‘Welcome to the Machine’ fading into the track ‘Lilith’ (my personal favourite) Keeping that electricity and energy leading into the sing-along ‘County as Fuck’. Nathan took the time to show appreciation and gratitude to the crew saying, “They wouldn’t be able to do the shows, without the crew running everything”.  With an acoustic guitar brought out next for ‘Silent Voice’, the energy shifted giving the band and the crowd a rest following on from ‘country as fuck’.

Letting the crowd know that it was down to the last 2 songs of the night and even though they were on the set list the next songs had been “requested”.  Finishing their set with the popular ‘In Chains’ and ‘Dragonfly’ both from the 2014 album ‘Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns’ was a nostalgic way to bring the show to a close.

A brilliant way to spend a Saturday night in Birmingham seeing some fantastic bands

Shaman’s Harvest & Blacktop Mojo  continue The ABOUT TIME TOUR (dates below for more chances to see them in UK and Ireland)

12/03/25 – Manchester, UK @ Rebellion
13/03/25 – Glasgow, UK @ Cathouse
14/03/25 – Newcastle, UK @ Anarchy Brew
15/03/25 – Sheffield, UK @ Corporation
19/03/25 – Belfast, UK @ Limelight 2
20/03/25 – Dublin, IE @ The Academy
21/03/25 – Cork, IE @ Cyprus Avenue
23/03/25 – Swansea, UK @ Sin City
26/03/25 – Buckley, UK @ The Tivoli
27/03/25 – Derby, UK @ Hairy Dog
28/03/25 – Norwich, UK @ The Waterfront
29/03/25 – Brighton, UK @ The Arch

Check out the Gallery below for photos from the night.