The Sheffield Scenester

Strolling around the city centre in the afternoon sun was a truly relaxing way to start the second day of Tramlines watching people enjoying the freedom of the city. The festival atmosphere of the weekend coupled with the fine weather was perfect; everyone was in high spirits, though we did bump into a few musicians who were still recovering from last nights events! Winding down Division Street we finally made our way to Alibi on Trippet Lane just in time to see Darke Horse, I thought it was only fair to catch them today since we’d missed them yesterday.

Alibi is a newly furbished establishment, all neatly decked out in contrasting dark and neutral colours, the service included a young waitress coming up to take drink orders at your table, giving it that little touch of class. All this put us in a laid back frame of mind, until for some strange reason someone decided to put Guns and Roses ‘Appetite For Destruction’ through the PA system. I’d expect that at the Nelson Bar, but it somehow seemed out of place here...never mind I was here to see Darke Horse, exponents of classic 70’s rock so maybe this was done to get us in the mood, even though...technically speaking G ‘n’ R were in fact an 80’s band. Since the place wasn’t packed I had no trouble making my way to the front, after all it’s been quite a while since I last saw these guys and I was curious as to what they were up to.

The last time I saw them performing together was at The Botanical Gardens performing an acoustic of their material, sitting out in the blazing sun that day worked brilliantly; also not so long back I managed to catch Simon at the Plug showcasing his own material he wrote in America. So today was going to be interesting as they were obviously without a drummer and the electric guitars were nowhere to be seen! Opening with one of my favourites ‘Flat screen Suicide’ began the set happily enough as lead singer, Simon, looked to be in his element. This was followed by ‘Text Me back’ but as Simon pointed out he might have to change some of the lyrics as there were minors in the audience...the front row consisted of three nursery school aged girls and a baby, talk about music reaching all generations! Throughout the performance the bar still had customers to serve so every few minutes a waitress would flash by the front of the stage laden with panini’s and vinegarette’s. They had attracted quite a crowd, so without their usual pyrotechnics, amps and drums they still put on a good show, they even used a harmonica....courtesy of Alex on the song ‘Other Side’. When it came to the final song of the set, ‘Jack’s My Friend’, Simon asked people to sing the backing vocals, a group of girls willing obliged. Funnily enough though the nursery aged girls at the front started dancing to this track...the innocence of youth dancing to a song about a washed up alcoholic, did seem rather odd!

Ian Huddleston was up next and so after a quick changeover he mounted the stage with his guitar, alongside his friend Matt Gawler who accompanied Ian on an electric guitar. The crowd had dwindled a bit by now but there was still a reasonable sized gathering to offer support. Having heard Ian’s material in MP3 format, it a was a shame that in this venue the vocals came through pretty badly as he is a talented songwriter, this I couldn’t understand as Simon’s were crystal clear previously. That little gripe aside...the guitars came through beautifully especially Matt’s whose style seems to approach Gary Moore territory, he played inconspicuously at the back of the small stage with a laid back air of indifference. In fact it wasn’t until the final track, ‘He Said She Said’, one of Ian’s best tracks, that Matt was given free reign to play the hell out of a solo. This was without doubt the crowd’s favourite....as it received the loudest cheers, but as Ian himself noted afterwards he could hardly hear himself, so unfortunately he had no idea what the audience could hear!

This will always be one of the pitfalls of such a huge event, with so many artists spread across so many venues, changeovers are done quickly to keep the public happy and every now and then someone gets dealt a bad sound check, it’s just the luck of the draw unfortunately. Anyway at this point we had to head home for a quick break and change of clothes to get ready for the evenings entertainment, so after a shower and a quick sandwich we were headed straight down to The Leadmill in time to see Ruberlaris, one of my favourite ska bands around at the moment.

Outside the venue I saw the Ruberbus parked up...it’s more of a van really...but ‘bus’ seems a more glamorous title, and while they unloaded various bits of equipment, I then bumped into Phil from The Elephant Keys who was due on stage later. He asked if we were stopping to see the set probably knowing full well that we wouldn’t miss them for anything!!!

Once inside I was surprised to see it only half full, but then again with the Academy O2 having a big show on as well as Devonshire Green being packed out, it was really to be expected! Having just played at The Frog and Parrot, Ruberlaris were obviously tired...since they looked like they had to rush their gear from that venue to this one as quick as possible. Opening with ‘Zipped Up Dynamite’, lead singer Chris Alsop seemed a bit weary but gave it his best shot, the crowd didn’t go wild, as is customary with their sets, even so there was a hard core set of fans trying to mosh away...but even they seemed to be doing it half heartedly (they probably followed then and was tired too!). Obviously the heat and all day music was wearing people out...but with a good solid fistful of decent tunes in their arsenal, Ruberlaris are just what you need. Despite the fact that they put in a few new tracks, the choruses were memorable enough and the tunes catchy enough so most people cheerfully danced or sang along to everyone.

Once they cleared the stage Elephant Keys enthusiastically set about getting their equipment ready, including the drummer Mike, who was one of the musicians we had seen earlier in the day...a little the worse for wear! Once ready...their trademark guitar screaming intro from Phil Goodwin announced they were ready and everybody had better listen....to be honest at the volume they played...you really have no choice! ‘The Truth’ is their traditional opening track, so obviously believing in the old adage, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, they ploughed ahead with that one. On such a vast stage, Phil seemed to relish this opportunity to throw himself about without the worry of crashing into his brother Tommy or even the drum kit, when Tommy came out from behind his keyboard and strapped on a bass guitar the pair of them raced around like maniacs...but you had to love them for their showmanship alone. Before they played ‘Sebastian’ Phil pointed out it was their next single and it’s about a guy who is schizophrenic and about to kill himself....but even this didn’t dampen any ones spirits as their music really does speak volumes, it’s a true testament to their talent that they can pull a crowd where ever they play. In fact one girl got so excited while dancing to their final track ‘Fashion Queen’ that somehow or other her top fell off, she quickly scurried away to cover up her modesty....but it’s a festival and wouldn’t be the same without some topless woman somewhere!

I retired to the bar to grab a drink, even though it wasn’t full, it was still pretty hot in there and a quick beer was just the ticket. Whilst there, I Am Arrows were setting up on stage, on closer inspection they seemed to be making sure the lights that they had festooned around the amps and drum kit were working, this seemed to take precedence over any tuning which struck me as odd! Having done their lighting check they seemed ready and so began with the song ‘Nun’, a slightly funked up blend of funk and rock, but after the mayhem of Elephant Keys, it was probably what the crowd needed to chill out to for a bit. They did have a following with them as I spoke to one woman from San Antonio, Texas who came to see them; admittedly she was stood with her husband who lives in Sheffield...so she didn’t travel that far after all! One odd thing about them, apart from their fascination with the lights was the fact that they set up a keyboard on stage next to the singer...but I don’t recall them using it once, they also had a drum set up in the middle of the stage...and that didn’t get used until the penultimate song ‘Park Slopey’.

So with all the lights and a laid back folk rock performance it was probably what the doctor ordered...especially after a long hot day tripping from venue to another. So with a day spent wandering round the city centre amongst numerous good natured revellers, catching some good music and chatting with various artists, its safe to say the festival is in full swing as well as being an out and out success.

Words and photos by Geoff & Gail Buckthorpe