The Sheffield Scenester

Unfortunately…due to various reasons, I arrived down at the Plug a bit late for this Soundclash, but I was just in time to see Radio Fire, a band I’ve seen on a few occasions. They’re a bunch of young kids whose audience seems to primarily consist of their parents and various relatives and their set is generally a collection of cover songs. These range from a recent chart topper, Maroon 5’s ‘Moves Like Jagger’, to more obvious indie/alternative rock choices such as ‘American Idiot’ or ‘Mr. Brightside’. Now personally there is nothing particularly wrong with a young band playing a cover, lets be honest they pretty much all do it….but when you hear a couple of people quietly complaining to each other that “we’ve paid good money to see a band…the last thing I want is to hear a set full of inferior versions of chart classics”. Which is a shame really, because obviously young bands just starting out tend to do covers to give themselves more confidence and to help learn their craft…and I must admit they do in fact have a few other issues which need addressing in terms of stage charisma etc…..but I’ve said enough for now and obviously experience & improvements will come in time, previously I’ve seen them perform their own material which worked well, I just wish they would go back to it!

The next band up, Konkreet Mickza (I hope I’ve spelt that right), held artistic integrity high on their list of priorities, not only that….but they really, really knew how to put on a show. They are essentially a six piece electronic hip hop/funksta outfit with nothing but in your face fun and personality on the agenda. In a way they are not to dissimilar to Dananananakroyd (yet again I hope I spelt that right as well) in so far as they just don’t know when to stop bouncing about all over the place. The crowd who were obviously well accustomed to this style of performance just went along with it and in all honesty made the party…for there is no other way to describe what was going on here – the place to be that night!

Opening with a political stab at the state of youth opportunities, or lack of, called ‘Don’t Take My Wings’ showed they at least have the ability to think beyond the regular teenage angst. Whilst it lacks the subtlety of many protest songs, it does show they have their heart in the right place. ‘Can’t Bring Me Down’ was a more traditionally hip hop structured track, in so far as it was basically one rapper leading into another…but it was done with enough enthusiasm that even die hard rock fans, such as myself, had no qualms about it. I may not have totally understood it….but I definitely enjoyed it! They did throw in a cover towards the end of their set with a real bounce along version of Kanye West’s ‘Gold Digger’, a great track; now I know it was perfect for their musical style, but all the same it was good hearing something other than a Kings of Lyon cover for a change.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Konkreet Mickza, and arriving at the conclusion that I’d be more than happy to see them again….it was now time for the third band of the night, Sour Cherry, to take to the stage. Oddly enough it was these guys I’d originally wanted to see in the first place, having heard about them a few months ago from various quarters, all of which seemed to rate them quite highly.

With your standard guitar, bass and drums they began….but it was singer Kortni who took centre stage, dressed in a slightly eccentric style designed to catch the eye and long red hair draped over her shoulders, you had to ask yourself did the voice match the get up? Well as soon as she began the song ‘Army’ any doubt disappeared as vocally, this was just as kooky as her outfit, a little bit Lily Allen, a little bit Shingai Shoniwa (of Noisettes fame), a vocal style I’ve certainly never heard in Sheffield before!

With quite a big crowd before them they seemed content to plough through a varied set, stopping en route to explain some songs, one of my favourites was called ‘Poor Again’, which seemed to be about a girl all partied out with no concern for her day to day living. Its lines like “I guess I’m nineteenth century Russian winter poor again” that really raise them above the average song writing, that and the inspired imagery is pretty amusing to say the least. The song ‘You Sing’ concerned 21st Century relationships, while ‘Running Out’ was written on the way back from Zante, Its good to hear a band not only deliver a genuinely entertaining and original show, but also to bond with the audience like this. They did throw in a cover of Paloma Faith’s ‘Upside Down’, which suited their style admirably, and I for one will be glad to see them again.

With their set finished….an odd thing happened, basically the stage was totally cleared except for a single microphone stand, normally this doesn’t happen until after the final artist has finished….but next up was Matic Mouth, and this I suppose is what he wants!

Matic (real name Marcus Smith) classifies himself as a rap and hip-hop artist and has been championed by Sheffield’s very own Jon McClure, who was in the audience alongside the band Searching 4 Evidence to support him. Not sure what to expect, I’m sure I heard ‘The Farmer In The Dell’ coming through the PA before Matic burst onto the stage and the show began in earnest. Now I’m open to all styles of music, but generally speaking I like something tangible, a guitar maybe, some drums….but this was totally alien to me I’m afraid.

In its defence I understood the first song was about Sheffield, and at some point he did inform us that one song was about ganja….”For all those who partake”…….now that received quite a round of cheers from the still quite formidable crowd! All these were done at breakneck speed, he did at one point chill it down a bit with a song about a mate who started a new relationship and stopped hanging with his friends and I distinctly remember the line “Your girl has you wrapped around her finger!”

The crowd seemed to love him, Jon McClure definitely loved him but I’m sorry this just wasn’t my thing, although I can appreciate his talent for writing etc, that’s the price I have to pay for growing up listening to Iron Maiden. Still it was an interesting finish to a some good acts, Sour Cherry were very, very impressive and I thoroughly enjoyed Konkreet Mickza – both of which made a refreshingly original change and were nothing like I was expecting!

Words & photos by Geoff Buckthorpe