The Sheffield Scenester

Another freezing Saturday night in Sheffield, makes you think winter is never going to end, but tonight was a night I’d looked forward to for quite a while as Soundclash presents Dead Like Harry launching their debut album ‘Know The Joy Of Good Living’. Once inside The Plug it was good to see quite a crowd had gathered already, this was probably due to the fact that the majority were slightly on the mature side, not the teenage/ twenty-something crowd that Soundclash usually attracts, so had arrived punctually.

Everyone gathered around the bar area when the first act of the night began, this caused a rather amusing moment as everyone’s heads turned to look at where the sound was coming from. Realising there was an artist performing on stage, everyone slowly shuffled over to see what was happening. This was The Plug debut of soloist See Emily Play (nothing to do with the Pink Floyd classic), commenting on the venue she nervously pointed out how rather nice it was too. Emily began her set with a cheery number called ‘The First Time Someone Has Ever Broken My Heart’, pretty self explanatory but as Emily did warn us afterwards she is a young girl full of songs about teenage angst. This could have gone so wrong in so many ways...but thanks to her obvious passion behind this and the subsequent songs - coupled with a great vocal range...the crowd sensed raw emotion pouring out of her. Beginning with a guitar but switching to keyboards after a few songs she slowly gained more confidence as the set progressed; shyly laughing each time, she seemed surprised when the crowd applauded her. Completing the set with a song called ‘The Train’, for me her best song full of delicate emotional pleading throughout – rather in the Joni Mitchell style of things – as was apparent from the many facial expressions she used to emote. It was good to see her play to a positive crowd as many solo artists end up playing to the tolerant...not the appreciative; but with a bunch of songs that easily held their own it was well deserved.

For a change of pace we were given Arkham Karvers with their indie/reggae/ska approach to life, I have to note at this point...the acoustics lost the subtle ska licks on the guitar, so what we actually heard was more of an indie set. That aside the first track ‘Arkham’ was well received by the nearly packed auditorium, with its extremely danceable yet edgy tune fronted by some catchy lyrics. They seemed to have relaxed a lot more since the last time I saw them supporting Alvarez Kings at the O2 – what reminded me of that was one of their amps had AK taped on it, just like Alvarez Kings, suddenly I found myself wondering if they knew which equipment went with which band during that gig! Anyway back to the set...the third track, an unnamed song, was dedicated to Searching 4 Evidence who as per usual where up front in the audience enjoying the show. We came to the song ‘Aliens’, my favourite by a long way with its heavier rockier rhythm; opening with a screeching lead guitar, joined by drums and bass before they are dropped for a stabbing guitar riff backing some dark lyrics courtesy of Dave Gash, even though he missed his plastic megaphone. You can nevertheless detect subtle ska references in the background in the same way that The Clash lashed out hard-core punk songs based on a reggae back drop, but it still makes for a great rock track.

Next up was the Sheffield based indie rock outfit Kartica who announced their arrival with a Stereophonics inspired track, ‘Navigate’, laden as it was with a solid skin thumping drum fronted by the power chords of two octane driven guitars. Instantly catchy with a singable chorus, vocalist Mathew Hook gave us a gravel edged rendition matching perfectly the grinding edginess of Adam Clay and Joe Troughton’s guitars. Dedicating the song ‘Shackled Existence’ to all the Wednesdayites...I wasn’t sure whether the title was referring to their ongoing plight at the relegation end of the Championship League...but I figured I’d best keep that to myself...Still it opened with an amazing set piece on the guitar before introducing us to some excellent timing with the backing vocals, in the words of Mathew Hook “That went down well........didn’t it?” talk about an understatement! The song ‘Gone Astray’ vocally owed a lot to Richard Ashcroft. What really lifted it above your average run of the mill indie was the individuality of the instruments; both drum and bass were kept on a terrific steady looping rhythm whilst lead guitar cut through with surgical precision in an electrifying solo that completely takes the song to another level. As the set progressed the crowd’s enthusiasm for them increased...and rightly so... because their talent and originality deserves all the credit and success they received.

By now of course the room was packed solid with Dead Like Harry fans...recognising quite a few from The Library Theatre gig they played back in December. Now...as they played back then, began a faultless set with a collection of their finest songs (though they did miss out one of my favourites; the albums final track ‘Joanna’). Their slant on country folk influenced heavily by the likes of early Springsteen and Tom Petty...coupled with their over-riding enthusiasm for live performance, simply swept the crowd along. Finding my self torn between whether to stand back and listen or get up front and join in the happily dancing throng was a tough choice but I figured I’d better stick to the job at hand. Whilst it was a shorter set than the full concert they gave at The Library Theatre it still had a bit of something for everyone from the gentle oozing tones of ‘Cross The Water’ with Samuel tenderly romancing the crowd with a delicate ballad backed by Alice’s reflective harmonies, to the final song of the night ‘Satellite’ with it’s full blown E Street Band sound. This was followed by an encore of the track ‘Shapes’, oddly one that isn’t on the album but still a great track all the same. Throughout firmly planted between drums and singers was Robin Baker on bass who has a habit of literally throwing himself into every song, sending his huge mop of red hair into a flailing frenzy – it was great fun to watch as the rest of the musicians sometimes got caught up in his enthusiasm and ended up doing their own dance with him. Their album translates brilliantly to a live show, bubbling over with infectious gusto and full of passionate performances across the board. They are for my money one of the most intelligently diverse bands in Sheffield today and with an outstanding album to showcase their talents (available for download or hardcopy)...will hopefully bring their music to the masses.

Another great night courtesy of Soundclash with a change of pace for the line-up, with Dead Like Harry filling more and more venues hopefully success will not elude them. The debut of See Emily Play was well received, and for the indie fans out there Arkham Karvers and Kartica more than held their own. As an added bonus we had the pleasure of Iain Hodgson DJing for the night giving us a few well known tracks to listen to during the breaks........hell of a night!!

Words/Photos by Gail & Geoff Buckthorpe

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