The Sheffield Scenester

On the Soundclash of October 2nd, all bands pulled out excellent performances on the stage of Plug’s room 2.

Few people arrived in time for doors opening, this was because of a confusion as to what time the gig was due to start. The tickets said 7:30 when, in reality, it was 7:00. As a result, the venue was rather quiet for some time.

Indie four-piece, The Culprits, kicked off the night to a particularly small crowd. Even so, their upbeat opening song started the audience off on a high. Performance wise, they seemed fairly relaxed; they were happy enough to groove on stage, but not with so much energy that they were all over the place. Their songs were catchy, clear vocal influences came through from more current bands, such as The Kooks, while some of the guitar riffs were more reminiscent of The Smiths and The Jam. Followers of the band were particularly looking forward to their closing track, Jesse James. It was hard to blame them. The song was the most powerful of the set and a well chosen piece to end on.

Next was The Wynells, who came well dressed in matching waist coats and shirts. The crowd had picked up by this point, partly due to a collection of Wynells followers. A handful of girls even turned up in home-made t-shirts for them. From the groovy bass line in their second song, Phillip Drank the Milk, onwards, it was difficult to doubt them. Fans of Blues or 70’s Rock would have enjoyed their faithful mixture of the two, and 60’s rock fans would have appreciated their cover of The Beatles’ ‘Hey Bulldog’. For the first few songs, the singer seemed rather tense, not that this affected his vocal prowess in the slightest. As their set went on, however, he began to loosen up and his laddish personality began to come through. The only real disappointment of the Wynells set was the news that this was going to be their last gig until the end of the year. (pssst - not quite they've just agreed to do the Soundclash V Scenester Xmas Mash-up @ The Boardwalk on 11th Dec! - The Editor)

White Circus Fever were third in the line up. Their aptly titled, Marching Song, got their set going with steady bass and drums, a catchy guitar riff and bellowing vocals. They continued throughout with tracks conveying a range of moods, from angry to mellow to their fun, self titled track White Circus Fever. This kept them from ever getting dull. Influences from the Jam and 90’s Britpop were particularly clear throughout all their songs. They were fun to watch and each member excelled in musical performance, although it was the vocals and melodic guitar that stole the show.

Finally, mighty headlining act, the Lines, blew everyone away. They were 10 minutes late on stage, but as soon as their opening song kicked in it was clear that they were going to demand everyone’s attention. Sure enough, they got it. All of those that had drifted off to the bar after their chosen act had gone off stage, soon headed back to see what was to offer. The band who often perform in Sheffield, who are actually from Wolverhampton did not disappoint. They played, danced, and leapt about the stage with the kind of energy that would be expected from a charting band. That said, having previously supported such acts as Jack Peñate, Editors and, Sheffield’s own, Little Man Tate, they would no doubt have had to have practice in that area. They wouldn’t stop there though, Dean, Danny and Alex all began pounding at the drums that they had had set up at the front of the stage. Alex also climbed into the crowd to sing at one stage and, later, climbed up on Dave’s kit and began beating the drums himself. Categorizing their music is a challenge. Were they Indie? Electro? Pop? More than anything, they were definitely a breath of fresh air. It is known that Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant said “there aren’t really many good bands coming out of Wolverhampton, just one great band called The Lines”. Surely, if this band does not hit the big time, then there is no justice in the world.

Words and photos by Dani Barge