By Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum

WHEN?: Friday 16 October 2026, tour runs through 6 February 2027

This was a birthday present for Mr H, but I did like The Heron, from his second album Decoding Birdsong, out earlier this year.

• Read on for reasons including why we all need to channel our inner Szmierek. Be more heron, be more Antony.

I heard an interview with Lauren Laverne on 6Music and thought what a lovely boy he was!

Antony is an ex-English teacher and I can just imagine him making his literature lessons so interesting. He said he left because you can’t combine getting in at 7am with teaching Year 11 first thing in the morning! His music melds spoken word with UK garage dance music. I didn’t expect to be dancing all night, that’s for sure.

He bombs onto the stage with his band, two synths (one playing bass as well) and his brother on guitar (sort of eerie noises rather than chords).

I admire his black boho skirt paired with a jumper and Nike shoes and what I call “up socks” and think how it resembled Ella’s skirt (hers was a white one); Antony then announces he’d borrowed Ella’s skirt because he’d borrowed his girlfriend’s and “broken it”.

Ella is the lead singer from Ellur, the support band who were absolutely amazing. Ella channels Kate Bush, but for her due to her age, it’s probably more Florence and the Machine! A little more poppy and Last Dinner Party/Wet Leg for me, but fantastically polished and wow she has such a stage presence; it’s more a performance for her.

Back to Antony. Sometimes you go to a gig and you are moved spiritually – this is what happened. He’s full of positivity and hope for the world.

Explaining how the song Flight Simulator was written when he’d been going through a difficult period with his mental health, he tells us that being in Bournemouth with us, the audience, he is filled with hope again.

A couple in the audience who have just got engaged, Ed and Emma, has Circle of Light dedicated to them; he enthuses about love, such is his positive attitude.

He tries to find someone in the audience he’s seen moving around and dancing with everyone; this guy throws Antony his cap and he wears it before throwing it back somewhere – it will find him.

Antony knows just how to engage with the audience; he even tries something different for him – him and his brother playing guitar in the audience with us all around him. Antony may have said he’d not slept the previous night, but you can see the love he has for his audience.

He tells Bournemouth that Britain forgets the seaside towns and we should be looking after them and bands should tour there.

My highlight was near the beginning of the set; The Heron, replete with an actual stuffed heron inside a glass box (assuming it’s real?) is apparently symbolic of being a creature of the twin worlds of water and land, describing his leaving teaching to pursue his music career, and represents calm and patience. “Good things come to those who hesitate, And then the heron says, You’ll never be alone, And you gotta be patient, Be still, At peace, Yeah”.

The world around is increasingly becoming more worrying and scary for some of us. We all need to channel our inner Szmierek. Be more heron, be more Antony.

• Pictures via Facebook courtesyAntony Smierek Tickets
• Read more from Carron at her blog A Humdrum Mum
• Have you seen ? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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