By Darren Grayer.
West Midlands duo Big Special arrived at the 1865 in Southampton on Tuesday night (25/2/26) well into their current UK tour having very quickly gained a reputation for producing live shows that have enthralled audiences up and down the country and beyond.
Joe Hicklin (vocals/guitar) and Callum Maloney (drums) met as 17 year olds, ten years before forming the band but after Hicklin started writing music during the Covid lockdowns, he persuaded Maloney, who at the time was playing drums in wedding bands, to give it a go and seek a wider audience.
Since signing to So Recordings in 2022, Big Special have released a string of singles and Eps as well as two albums, and tours to back those releases up have seen the band go from filling small venues to much larger ones.
Their music is an entertaining and thought-provoking mix of soulful punk, hip hop and poetry, which takes in dark humour, vulnerability, political turmoil, and sharp observations on life.
A very healthily packed 1865 is in good spirit as Joe and Callum announce themselves to the stage. The audience have been suitably warmed up by excellent support acts Good Health Good Wealth, and Gans and Joe Hicklin gets the thumbs up all round as he enquires how they are feeling, with his own thumb waving out at all sections of the crowd.
Hug A Bastard immediately displays the gallows humour featured in Big Special’s music – “Find God, mate, I can’t find my keys, been round the gaff on my knees”, all delivered in Hickey’s droll, Black Country tones.
God Save The Pony continues in the same vein – wry observations on exploitation and vulnerability that are both dark and funny in equal measures: ”It’s all potholes and the price of fish, and how a conservative therapist off Wish saved me thirteen pounds sixty- six from my electricity bill.”
Desperate Breakfast marries Callum Maloney’s bludgeoning percussion against driving buzzing synths and Hickey’s snarling vocals, which continue with Mongrel, a stark piece of loudly delivered spoken word poetry, that sticks two fingers up at life’s frailties.
Black Dog White Horse is the fourth consecutive track from the band’s debut album Postindustrial Hometown Blues, and it’s genuine radio friendly pop with lyrical content that stares death straight in the face and shows Hickey and Maloney’s more soulful side, especially the former’s vocal delivery. With a singalong chorus, a huge part of the 1865 crowd need no invitation to join in with “ He’ll be coming ‘round, he’ll be coming ‘round, he’ll be coming ‘round again. A black dog, atop a white horse, followed by the serpent and the wren.”
“We’ve been doing this for just over four years, and I still can’t quite believe the number of people that sing that back at us every night,” says a very appreciative Maloney after the song.
The interaction with the crowd is clearly something Big Special enjoy enormously. You get the impression these two could become global superstars and they would still be incredibly grounded, never forgetting where they’ve risen from.
Highlighted even more so by the fact that every night on this tour they’ve been holding a raffle for collectable merch, with the proceeds going to the family of a close friend they’ve recently lost to cancer. Good guys, eh?
After this has been talked about with the audience there follows a genuinely poignant part of the set with Joe Hickey picking up a guitar and beautifully delivering latest release Dragged Up A Hill (and thrown down the other side).
This is followed by Thin Horses, from last year’s National Average album, and show there is so much more to the Big Special sound than angst and booming anthems. Perhaps it’s just me, and the fact I might be mellowing in my old age, but these are absolute stand out moments that deserve full attention. Something the packed crowd give unreservedly.
Shop Music gets back to the dark humour and ups the pace, with the tongue in cheek suggestion that Big Special are only in it for the money. Clearly not the case, these lads love what they do and appreciate every minute of it.
Professionals is pure garage rock full of fuzzy guitar and pounding drums, and YesBoss motors along at a ferocious pace bemoaning having to work for a greed driven boss.
That sees the end of the set and the band leave briefly before returning and expressing heartfelt appreciation to their audience, before delivery debut single, Shithouse, and follow up, Trees, a song that starts with spoken word and builds into crashing finale.
The evening closes with the spoken poetry of For The Birds, and that leads directly into Dig!, a gritty piece of observation on the grind of life, that manages to sound both poignant and uplifting.
A highly contented audience start to filter out of the 1865 after a quite brilliant night’s entertainment.
Support act Good Health Good Wealth immediately captivated the audience in getting proceedings underway earlier in the evening with a set of spoken lyrics set to dancefloor beats and rhythms that delve into many aspects of life and the seemingly endless pursuit of happiness. Another duo, singer/songwriter Bruce Breakey and guitarist/producer Simon Kuzmickas will be back in Southampton at The Joiners in April. Go check them out.
With another fast-emerging duo from the midlands, Gans, on the bill, anticipation was building long before Big Special made their appearance, and it was immediately easy to see why once they started their set at a furious pace. The fuzzy, booming bass of Tom Rhodes, coupled with the crisp and frenetic drumming of Euan Woodman and an added saxophonist create a huge sound that are parts Krautrock, Glam rock and post punk, with added synths.
Gans do a fine job in whipping up the audience, who are invited to start a mosh pit and then join in with Woodman when he leaves his drumkit to jump out on to the floor and sing. All good humoured and highly enjoyable stuff, that will live in the memory of those fortunate enough to be there.
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