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Packed into the smaller basement room of the O2 Institute 2 in Birmingham, after waiting outside in the snow and slowly feeling the warmth seeping back into the skin. With people pressed tightly together in a completely full room and trailing up staircases, anticipation thrums in the air. For Chrissy Costanza, a chance to debut her brand new EP ‘VII’ as a solo artist, and for VOILÀ to showcase ‘Glass Half Empty’ which is their third double album. The Spin the Bottle tour is nothing short of a success, with all of its UK dates already sold out, it truly is one of the hottest tickets in town.
A prerecorded voice silences the crowd, 3 rounds have been created to warm up our “singing voices”. Each round consists of snippets from 3 songs, each a classic that most if not all of us know. It certainly does the trick of getting us ready and excited for the main show to start, featuring some classic emo, punk and rock from the likes of Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco and many more.
Whispers of magic and mysterious forces, alluding to the supernatural transfix our focus as Chrissy and VOILÀ take to the stage. It’s an unusual style of show with both headliners taking charge for the first song, titled ‘Caught It’. All three performers jump around and engage with the audience, then the stage is handed over to VOILÀ for the next three songs to kick off.
VOILÀ's energy is intoxicating, it’s impossible to not be wrapped up in it and in turn feed the same energy back. The smaller venue is perfect for that exclusivity intimate concert vibe the duo work so well with. Confidence oozes from the two, which in turn only encourages the audience- we are allowed to let loose tonight. We spoke to a fan of VOILÀ before the show, the community of fans lovingly referred to as “the magicians”, and we can see what they mean when they assured us this would be a great gig.
Chrissy explodes back to the stage, twirling, jumping and encouraging all to join her in singing along. It’s clear all of our artists enjoy working together, Chrissy and VOILÀ; made up of Luke Eisner and Gus Ross have collaborated on songs before and both on their new EP and Album. The tour is no different with Luke joining Chrissy during her time on stage, the two collaborated on her new EP together, it’s only fair he is invited to share the stage. Chrissy is a natural performer, known for being the lead singer in Against The Current, it’s great to see her breaking her own boundaries with a solo tour. Her sound is a mix of Rock/Indie and Alternative but she saves space for the slower softer songs too, which in true modern day fashion are light by phone torches in a slow ripple across the crowd.
One feature of the Spin The Bottle tour is the chance to spin the wheel, which picks an audience member to join Chrissy and VOILÀ on stage each night. The wheel has a variety of songs written in each section which when the lucky audience member spins and the arrow lands on is what is played next. Our show landed on ‘ Misery Business’ originally by Paramore, which Chrissy made her own spin on and backed by the harmonies of the crowd.
The mix of high energy later on in the evening from VOILÀ and then in contrast the slower but still just as powerful songs from Chrissy give the evening a well rounded feel. We have been able to explore a range of different genres and styles, and witness firsthand how much this tour means to both of our headliners.
We love the new sounds both Chrissy and VOILÀ are developing and hope to hear many more songs in collaboration together in the future. The Spin The Bottle tour continues its sold out gigs with the last UK date in London and then onto Europe, and is sure to keep asking audiences “Do you believe in magic?”
Words and Photos: Tyler Whiting
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