The Sheffield Scenester

Practically mid December and with most people’s minds on trying to get Christmas shopping done we got together with SOYO for a good old Christmas party. Outside it was freezing cold, the rain was freezing…but inside SOYO there was plenty to warm us up, and not just the range of spirits. As is traditional with a Scenester bash, we’d brought some cakes in courtesy of Bakey Bakey, these were all beautifully made to look like Xmas puds with a sprig of holly on top and as ever tasted divine, this was obvious from the fact that they were all eaten before the first act had even had a chance to finish her set!

For tonight’s entertainment that honour fell to a new artist for us, Miss Peren, a young and talented solo jazz pianist. Now I’ve heard a bit of jazz in my time…but that was during a period well over two decades ago and so while I can honestly say I did enjoy Miss Peren’s set, I have to say I really have nothing to compare it too. On the whole it seemed to be of quite a somber nature with most tracks played at the kind of pace set by Amy Whinehouse’s ‘Back To Black’. The track that I do remember picking up tempo a bit was one called ‘Little Shark’ ( I never managed to get a set list…so I hope that is what she called it), only problem was the vocals never came through clearly to hear what she was singing or saying.

Considering the weather outside, quite a few people had braved the elements to get down early and see her and rightly so…as it made a refreshing change from an acoustic guitar opening set. I think in general it would have worked better if the volume was reduced slightly, as for me, this type of music has always been about setting a mood, but with the volume which the level was set, distortion was creeping in, which distracted from the actual songs themselves. Despite that the crowd enjoyed it and she left the stage to a huge round of applause.

Now it was time for Empty Churches, the new band led by Jubby Taylor, not exactly the most cheerful songwriter I’ve come across in Sheffield…and with song titles like ‘Apocalypse Blues’ and ‘Dead Beat’ it didn’t look like much had changed in that department! What had changed though was the music, having seen him play with The Absinthe Tears, a much more acoustic based style, but tonight was all about back to basic rock ‘n’ roll as every song thumped along at a cracking pace. The highlight of which was ‘Asta Vista’ which galloped along at a breakneck pace on drums, in fact drummer Mark White seemed to be having a hell of a time keeping up with himself at times…but it sounded great all the same. When Jubby announced the song ‘Lets Fall In Love’, it did occur to me that maybe he might produce a mellow sound but instead they came out with an industrialized doom laden prophecy, but that’s Jubby all over.

They were entertaining and the music was fast and punchy…but Jubby couldn’t resist his almost uber depressing slant on life, on the bright side it was foot tappingly good!

Bluehearts were up next, we’ve seen them several times from one of their early shows at the O2, their first appearance at SOYO and each time they seem to grow in confidence. Musically they’ve always delivered, in the beginning they had a very retro ACDC thing going on…but recently their songwriting has given it a harder, more contemporary edge.

Tonight they played like there was no tomorrow, Kurt Eckhardt on drums seemed to be having a great time, while Clarke Vaughan was ready to rupture a lung on vocals. But it was lead guitar Josh Longley that stole the show as he was all over the shop, synchronizing at the back of the stage with Alex Eason and Oli Moore (guitar and bass), before joining Clarke up front and demonstrating his love of good old fashioned axe wielding. He even took it upon himself to wander out onto the floor, swing his instrument around the back of his head and carry on playing like that, this degree of flamboyant showmanship is rarely seen and so was an absolute pleasure to behold!

With three new songs tonight, ‘Apologies’, ‘Bless Me’ and ‘Irony’ their set flew along as if it was make or break, but the crowning glory of their set was on the final song ’10 Rounds Down’….the video for which, had been playing on loop throughout their set. As it reached its climax strobe lighting kicked in, which explained the warning outside the entrance, but it looked great and really finished their set perfectly!

A very relaxed and confident set from these guys tonight, if they keep progressing at this rate then 2012 should be a really good year for them.

Finally it was time for AUX Innocent, the new project from what once was The Spires, so yet again with no idea what to expect we all sat back and waited. First off was a huge amount of smoke, secondly and more incredibly a laser cut through to a round of gasps from the audience……..so far so good, even with no music yet! Finally the music arrived, pulsing, pounding, throbbing electro pop, if there is such a thing, for all those fans of The Spires I’d say musically you won’t be too disappointed as the core elements are still in place.

They seem to have pulled back the guitar intensity, which was one aspect of their show I really loved and replaced it with a heavy synth based rhythm. Matt Smith on vocals was also quite restrained in his performance…but vocally he hadn’t changed a bit, it was just I’m used to seeing him launching himself all over the stage. Probably the fact that they’d set up quite a light show behind them, any bigger and it would of rivaled the mothership in Close Encounters.

They did in fact play a couple of Spires tracks amongst their new material, finishing with ‘Fortune Favours The Brave’ always a favourite crowd pleaser as was obvious from the number of people singing along, as well as ‘Fireworks’, their single release back in the summer. Now whilst it looked great and you could certainly feel it….a few Spires fans around me did say they seemed to lack the energy of their old set, but if they can set up that kind of light display everytime they play, then they’re well worth seeing!

Another great night down at SOYO, and with the added bonus of three new acts to see, all of which I enjoyed, have to say Bluehearts and their over exuberant physical display won the day for me despite the technical marvel of AUX Innocent. But with no complaints about anything and a few tasty cakes to munch on, I ventured back out into the freezing rain full of Christmas cheer!

Words and photos by Geoff Buckthorpe