The Sheffield Scenester

Apparently the Live and Unsigned competition is the biggest in the UK...with over 10,000 hopefuls. The City Hall hosted 3 heats over the day, with 15+ bands in each heat. I was unable to go to all of them...but I did manage to get myself down to the final evening heat. The 8 winners of this heat would go through (along with the other winners) into the area final...which is to be held in Manchester during May.

The entrance into The City Hall’s Memorial Hall carried a buzz of excitement; some people had obviously been celebrating quite prematurely - even the host David Payne commented on some of the people’s intoxication! David introduced the judges, but I didn’t really get their names...they were obviously people connected to the music business. It was now time for the ‘conveyer belt of talent’...each band having enough time to play a 2 song set to impress the judges and crowd.

The evening kicked off with Meena (I think I spelt it right – I hadn’t noticed the act’s name in big letters projected on the wall....until everyone was directed to look at it by the host - after the second act!), Meena who are from Wakefield - a band which consisted of a keyboard player, bass and drums. The vocalist who also played the keyboard had a good voice, but to be honest nothing else stood out to me to say they should be winners.

The 2nd act to hit the small stage was Smiling Ivy, who played a cover of Ace of base’s All That She Wants...but I think the crowd felt it more than heard it as a strange feedback noise came from the speakers...which made everyone cringe. Their second song however was a lot better...I can’t remember the name of it...but it was a lot more racier and full of energy.

The 3rd act up was the very popular Durban, who really entertained the crowd...I think now I’d found a possible nominee...so I wrote down their name and put a great big asterisk next to their name to remind me when it came to voting.

I remember enjoying the 4th act very much too; they came from York and were called Elan Vitale. Occasionally they reminded me a little bit of The Hoosiers and were very charismatic. Their cover of Little Boots ‘Remedy’ went down a storm with the crowd....I wonder if that’s because they created a faster version of it...?!

Then came Faint Of Heart who entered the stage to a massive welcome, as they did a cover of Michael Buble’s ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’ and an unusual song called ‘Morgan Freeman Was Never Young’ , I must admit I wasn’t too keen on the vocals, but the music sounded great...so I might check them out again. Obviously the vocals tonight might have been a casualty of nerves or a sound issue.

Act 6 was Nottingham keyboard player Tom Garner, who gave an inspiring performance with ‘Don’t Wake Me Up’, with his impeccable vocals - Yet again I put an asterisk next to his name...very much a possible worthy winner.

Next up were Jackson Caged...who I’m obviously quite familiar with and was secretly rooting for! Their version of ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ was immense and I think they captured everyone’s imagination instantly....I have to say it was a total contrast to ‘Everyfall’ which I think shocked some people (they were the first band of the night to use the word f*ck)...but the lads did an amazing job and it was a great short set because they virtually did the impossible...which was literally showcasing their talents within such a short space of time...Big M jumped in front of the audience and ran from one end to the other..making sure the crowd would definitely remember Jackson Caged.

Next came Emile Abraham who ‘soothed the shocked’ by doing an acoustic set...which I must admit I can’t really remember much about this set....obviously it was adequate but nothing special unfortunately.

The next band Pseudo Nympho, from Leeds had a very interesting look....Twisted Sister meets Guns and Roses..!!! Their version of ‘I Kissed a Girl’ went down well, however the people who seemed to struggle to get over Jackson Caged’s set...were ‘sent back a few more years’ with this bands blend of grunge rock....especially with Cocaine Casanova! I remember giggling to myself...because as Wolfgang was screaming “I’ll be your Cocaine Casanova..!” some people were sat in the audience with sheer horror written all over their face! I must admit I enjoyed the set and would have liked to hear more.

Act number 10 was Sheffield’s very own Roman Android, as they entered the stage one of them nearly broke the guitar...possibly because of nerves and having less than a minute to set up. I have to say that I’ve seen them play a lot better than the performance we had tonight, unfortunately the vocals was all out of sync and didn’t blend well. It was a shame they only played 2 songs because I think they could have quite easily pulled the performance back if they had played a longer set.

Act 11 was Wakefield’s Frances Wood who turned out to be my daughters favourite act, the up tempo cover of David Guetta and Kelly Rowland’s ‘When Love takes Over’ impressed the crowd so much they couldn’t resist but clap along to the great sound. It was an excellent short set, which I imagined would get her into the next round no problem.

I was looking forward to seeing the next band because it was The Stoops (who I’ve seen on a number of occasions)...it’s been a bit of a struggle due to their recent line-up change...and at one point they weren’t even sure if they could continue with the competition...but as you can see these lads came back from the brink...to a great welcome. Their confidence with the crowd I think would be a winner for them and also their sound, especially with ‘Mindreader’ (considering the quick changeover) was fantastic...so I placed an asterisk next to their name ready for when I had to decide at the end exactly who I wanted to vote for.

Next up was Mulcahey, who I have to say seemed to be a breath of fresh air to the evening...however I felt the set would have gone even been better if Karen hadn’t looked as though she’d lost before she even started...I think yet again an unfounded confidence issue kicked in when actually they were pretty good....I really loved their cover of ‘Fly Me To The Moon’, it was very memorable. Their next track ‘Crash’ reminded me a little of Chrissie Hynde’s voice...so again very enjoyable. Yep I might even check these out again sometime.

Act 14 was an acoustic set by Chesterfield’s Liam Walker which I found myself enjoying...and normally...if I’m honest acoustic sets don’t always do it for me. His voice was very listenable and the crowd was pretty much at their quietest whilst he sang and played as if they wanted to hear every bit of it.

The last band of the evening Miseria Lost entered the stage to a very loud welcome, their backing alone told you they’d be going through to the area finals anyway. They were great with the audience by encouraging them to sing along and by telling everyone the lyrics. Great sound...a blend of Punk/Pop/Blues...so it was catchy too...you couldn’t help but join in. That was a brilliant ending to the talent contest.

Once the last band left the stage we were told we had three minutes to vote for our two favourite bands. Whilst we decided and the votes were countered, acoustic guitarist Luke Banot came on to do a set, I must admit I didn’t really take much notice of his set because I was too busy weighing up the pros and cons of my favourite bands. My final votes were for Jackson Caged and The Stoops...because out of all the acts, these are the ones I enjoyed the most. However I could have quite easily voted for another couple!!!

Anyway...now it was the time to announce the winners...they were (in no particular order):
The stoops
Elan Vitale
Tom Garner
Mulcahey
Liam Walker
Frances Wood
Jackson Caged
Miseria Lost
And on behalf of The Sheffield Scenester i wish them all the best of luck ;-)
Written by Gail Buckthorpe