There is something quite special about Thimblemill Library as a gig venue, and Demi Marriner wholly concurs. On multiple occasions, she gushed about the unique surroundings and thoroughly enjoyed her first performance on its adaptable stage. Look up and ahead to see a piercing night sky flood through the arc of windows. Look straight up to catch a sight of multiple quirky light shades adding fine touches to the art decor. Look all around and packed book shelves provide a cultural backdrop to the welcome frequent invasion of nighttime music. This arts hotbed at a junction where outer city issues blend into phases of vibrant suburbia epitomises everything innovative about grassroots venues mixing and matching multiple diverse events adding buoyancy to a thriving operation.
For the second week running, tickets for the music side of the Thimblemill offering poured out to around the three figure mark. It was a tough road getting people back to live music especially as weekends tend to be the preferred time here where so many alternative pursuits compete. Strong hopes remain for a prosperous future, although music will always have to find its place among theatre and directed community engagement events vital for funding streams. No doubt submissions to play far outweigh capacity, so the chosen few can wallow a little in flexing their creative artistry in such an in-demand setting. This will always fall in line with the importance of core daily library activities.
Demi Marriner has previously found Birmingham a welcoming place to play music. The audience for this show just over the border in Sandwell was swelled by many fans fully conversant in her music. This set the scene for a successful evening where she strode to share a lengthy bunch of songs along a timeline of past, current and future records. While the flickering to and fro was a touch difficult to follow at times, there was clear evidence of an artist in a rich productive vein of creating music anchored by the meaningful song. Stories interspersed a raft of mainly full band backed numbers lifting the decibels considerably higher than your usual library gig sounds. Feel good end of year vibes embraced the levels attained and compliments morphed into a lengthy merch queue snapping up goodies unique to gig goers.
The music of Demi Marriner is malleable enough to find ears in country pop, hardened Americana and eclectic folk circles. She is certainly working hard to polish her craft and now has a secure base to preserve and nurture. There was clear mutual love from many in attendance. Working with Joe Coombs (electric and acoustic guitar), Scott Warman (electric and stand up bass) and Gary Kroll (drums) possesses considerable benefits and their influential presence adds layers to songs rinsed in personal feelings and experiences.
For this, and a few other shows on the tour, Sean Duggan from Steady Habits has played the opening slot. This solo format sheds a different light on a performer strong in seeking an identity. Coincidentally, both featured artists share the exhilarating talents of Joe Coombs in their band. Mind you several Stateside touring artists turn to his guitar skills, notably Sara Petite in the past and Carter Sampson coming up for 2025. The latter is scheduled to play a band show at Thimblemill Library in March next year.
It was almost the curtain call on music events for 2024 at the venue when the encore song finished. A local band has the honour of closing the year next week and a tough act following Demi Marriner as a fitting finale. The real winner is a flourishing grassroots venue and many music fans leaving their armchairs to seek out new and familiar artists during the year. Demi Marriner will also concur to their importance.
