Hinds – Castle & Falcon, Birmingham 18 February 2025

In some ways it feels that during our time following Hinds, we have witnessed them growing up. We’ve seen them grow and mature whilst also enduring a partial break up. But during all that time, the one thing you could always guarantee is that they would put on a great live show. But this was our first time seeing the new line up, so it was with a sense of excitement but also a slight nervousness that we turned up at the gig.

Any fears were put aside with the opener “Hi. How are you” which built nicely as the original members started the sound and harmonies before the full band joined in. The band continued to build the excitement with the pure indie pop of “New For You”. That was even before they launched into two of the key singles from their latest album (Viva Hinds). “Boom Boom Back” is a brilliant modern pop song and given the involvement of Beck on the album version we are amazed it hasn’t propelled them to international stardom. In a live environment it is equally splendid and fun. In slight contrast “Coffee” is a great example of how the band’s songwriting has developed in recent years.

But for those of us who still love the more scuzzy and indie rock n roll side of the band there was plenty to enjoy in the set, including the likes of “Riding Solo” and “Stranger”. Hell, they even go full punk rock on “Spanish Bombs” later in the set.

One of the other things that has always been special about Hinds is their genuine appreciation for music and their connection with the crowd. It’s something that they demonstrate from the stage in the in between song banter and you sense a real appreciation that people have taken time to see the band. Mind you, the crowd is equally as appreciative to hear brilliant numbers like  “The Bed, The Room, The Rain and You”. That song is followed by the pure pop of “Good Bad Times”, possibly one of their most commercial sounding songs where even live you think it should be the kind of hit that led to the success of someone like Haim.

Mind you, the same could be said for “Superstar” which sounds even better live than it does on record. But, whilst the band may have matured in terms of songwriting and musicianship, we are delighted to say they’ve not lost any of their sense of fun. Few bands would go from the understated mature pop of that song to starting the next one with one of the members playing guitar whilst sat on top of the other’s shoulders!

Indeed, as the band finished the main set and moved into the encore the emphasis was definitely about having fun and (literally) joining in with the crowd. That included playing segments from an older song shouted out by a crowd member and getting the crowd jumping madly with “En Forma”. They even get a fan up on stage to play guitar on “Davy Crockett”, all before the band end up dancing in the middle of the crowd. Even that isn’t enough for Hinds, post set they are still on stage dancing and singing with the audience to the songs on the PA. It may only be February but it is very hard to believe that this wont be one of the best gigs we go to in 2025. Viva Hinds!!!!