Centrala X Kikimora Records: Incantations Festival 2025
This is a brief, collaborative review between Harry Croxford and Beth Exley, based on a conversation held and recorded in the days following the event. We decided to write this review collaboratively because so much of an experience of a gig is about the crowd and the people you’re with; the memories. We thought it could be fun to share notes and talk about it together, reflecting on our perspectives about the evening. As we look ahead to further Concrete contributions, we hope to further explore this medium.
On Saturday April 12, we were invited down to Centrala, Digbeth for the second day of Incantations Festival. Centrala collaborated with Kikimora Records and the Lithuanian Culture Centre to put on a two-day festival of ‘post punk and leftfield sounds’. Incantations carries on and reimagines the legacy of Eastern Incantations, which began in 2021 as a two-day event of eclectic music from Eastern European and diasporic artists. This year’s edition promised an expanded and reimagined programme and exceeded expectations. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make the Friday night – and so this piece is looking exclusively at the Saturday – but if that was anything to go by, we’re speculating that Friday will have been fantastic too.
Centrala is an art and culture venue located in Digbeth, which champions Central and Eastern European Migrant communities in England. Their programme ranges broadly: from contemporary art exhibitions, to poetry evenings, hardcore gigs, community group workshops making seed bombs, and acid-house styled Morris Dancing; they do it all! It’s been the site of many a silly, hazy evening (Beth once left her phone, jacket, and lipstick there and had to sheepishly collect them all the following day). It has also provided a space for many poignant and meaningful moments, both for our seven-odd years living in the city, and for the broader community that attend Centrala.
Kikimora Records is an independent label, promoter, and ecosystem of imaginative and amorphous music from Birmingham and beyond founded by musician Rosie Tee and multidisciplinary artist Emily Doyle. Having been to a fair number of smaller Kikimora events and DJ sets before, we were very excited to see their work on a larger scale. Kikimora’s championing of female, non-binary, and trans artists is something both of us really admire. Alongside their commitment to putting on a great show, it serves an important and ever-more necessary purpose of boosting Birmingham’s scene in the process.
Now, onto the night itself…
First up, Worm Saliva: gently lilting looping vocals, cool shoes, and an ethereal presence on stage. Handling a synth sheathed in colourful textiles, that evoked some kind of medieval string-instrument… like a psaltery or hurdy-gurdy, it was an attentive act. Although Worm Saliva was a more gentle start to the evening than we both expected, it was welcoming and indicative of the night to come: the lights shimmered off the silver streamers, reflecting a varying glow across pink papier mâché and wire slug sculptures (which Beth was very excited to see), and inviting us to breathe a moment and get used to the space.
An insight into Lithuania’s punk scene came next: Egomašina. Reminding us of comparable acts like Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and Bauhaus; their effortless weaving of Post-punk with heaving bass guitar led to a marked change in the audience, as swaying heads from the act before gradually began a rhythmic nodding; shortly afterwards, a lone member of the audience began energetically dancing – a one man mosher, with spin kicks to boot. Egomašina were a real standout. Lovely guys, too. We really appreciated comparing the music and DIY scenes of Birmingham and Vilnius on the canal-side steps after their set.
Kikimora Records is an independent label, promoter, and ecosystem of imaginative and amorphous music from Birmingham and beyond founded by musician Rosie Tee and multidisciplinary artist Emily Doyle. Having been to a fair number of smaller Kikimora events and DJ sets before, we were very excited to see their work on a larger scale. Kikimora’s championing of female, non-binary, and trans artists is something both of us really admire. Alongside their commitment to putting on a great show, it serves an important and ever-more necessary purpose of boosting Birmingham’s scene in the process.
Now, onto the night itself…
First up, Worm Saliva: gently lilting looping vocals, cool shoes, and an ethereal presence on stage. Handling a synth sheathed in colourful textiles, that evoked some kind of medieval string-instrument… like a psaltery or hurdy-gurdy, it was an attentive act. Although Worm Saliva was a more gentle start to the evening than we both expected, it was welcoming and indicative of the night to come: the lights shimmered off the silver streamers, reflecting a varying glow across pink papier mâché and wire slug sculptures (which Beth was very excited to see), and inviting us to breathe a moment and get used to the space.
An insight into Lithuania’s punk scene came next: Egomašina. Reminding us of comparable acts like Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and Bauhaus; their effortless weaving of Post-punk with heaving bass guitar led to a marked change in the audience, as swaying heads from the act before gradually began a rhythmic nodding; shortly afterwards, a lone member of the audience began energetically dancing – a one man mosher, with spin kicks to boot. Egomašina were a real standout. Lovely guys, too. We really appreciated comparing the music and DIY scenes of Birmingham and Vilnius on the canal-side steps after their set.
Next on the billing were one of Beth’s favourites, Soborgnost feat. Steinsdotter. Clanking industrial synths gave way to Steinsdotter’s otherworldly vocals; Soborgnost swayed and bounced whilst overseeing the tracks. It was joyful to see both musicians having such a brilliant time on stage. The music was sensational and captivating and the crowd grew livelier throughout the set, as the delight of the performers spread outwards from the stage.
Lithuanian punk four-piece Manacles took to the stage next. Manacles presented a heavier, angrier sound than any of the previous acts and the switch in energy was striking. Spoken moments between the thrashing music provided insight into the band’s perspectives on politics, influences, and their time in Birmingham. Unfortunately, some of the detail was lost on us and we wished the vocalists mic could have been turned a notch or two louder. Throughout the set their howls seemed to get lost in the swirling cacophony of drums and guitars, which is to be expected but it was a shame to lose out on their commanding voice.
A’Bear, another favourite of the evening, with her frenetic percussion pairing well with Egle Saka’s trippy visuals. At points, A’Bear was reminiscent of an almost livened and synth-ladened Anna von Hauswolff, with her wash of looping vocals interweaving delightfully into a rich wall of sound. No wonder, then, that Beth’s notes from this set read ‘building feeling of dread’; though she admits that may have been her anxiety playing up as she can get a bit nervous around convalescing crescendos… Overall, a real sense of progression and rehearsed, clear sound.
Aja Ireland was next to perform. Ah, yes; to quote from Harry’s notes from the evening, ‘AAAAAA!’. Self-describing as deconstructed club, they were an arresting headliner. With costuming a la rococo club kid meets a bride of Dracula (if Dracula was reimagined as a cyberpunk novel), Aja was certainly the most visually immersive act of the evening, with her evocative wails and howls and lunges into the baying crowd. A truly engaging and engaged artist, and a perfect act for the latter third of the event as twilight set in.
Unfortunately, we had to leave after Aja Ireland to get home. We were saddened to miss Reuben Sutherland and Pat Grimm, and Nova Guardia, and we both had mega fomo the day after when we saw our friend’s Instagram stories of the two final acts. If the rest of this evening was anything to go by, though, a spot on the Incantations line-up is telling enough of a crackingly good musician. We also regretted not getting involved with Tat Vision’s Cardboard head workshop but greatly appreciated all the oversized, slightly freaky celebrity visages cutting about Minerva Works throughout the evening.
Thank you to Kikimora Records, Centrala, and everyone who worked on Incantations, we had a blast!
Sad about missing such a great event? We bet you are. Follow Kikimora Records and Centrala to catch more events like Incantations.