The Sheffield Scenester

Arriving having missed The Little Fiends and just as Mynas (I’m assured there is no ‘The’ in the title) began their set, their first song of the night was ‘Retreat’, a rather upbeat and jaunty number to bounce along to. It may have the jolly pop approach of a typical American bubblegum hit, but running through all this are some classic indie licks which bring it smack into the 21st century. Yes….this five piece from Barnsley were certainly a good start for me tonight especially as I had to rush to get here in time to see these guys. Lead singer Del Scott Miller and (as I was later informed) the songwriter of the group, certainly enjoyed his time in the spotlight, happily swapping banter with the crowd before him, when it came to the song ‘Bullsh*tter’, his little bit of pre-amble was basically this, “This is a completely new one…so could go either way, it’s about Christians!” have to say though this song, like it’s predecessors, was still catchy as hell. This was followed by a song, another new one titled ‘Made’ on the setlist, a much slower affair which actually used both Del’s vocals as well as backing vocalist Sarah Evans, in quite a harmonious duet style….it may not have been their best track of the night…but it certainly showed a certain degree of willingness to diversify, now their best track as far as I was concerned was ‘Wherever You Are Not’, which curiously enough was another song about Christians. It employed an almost racing Spanish guitar riff throughout and with quite a nifty little solo thrown in the middle….I was more than convinced of their musical credibility. Wrapping up the set was left to the song ‘Dent’ which by all accounts was about the council estate Del was brought up on, not a pretty subject matter by most standards…but the crowd still cheered at the end. One thing I was curious about though, “why the songs about Christians..?” so I managed to collar Del and ask him……
“I have nothing against Christianity in general, for most people its whatever gets you through the night. I’m just against their recruitment methods…at times because the minority (usually in the extremist camp) believe everyone should follow their convictions blindly!”

Having clarified Mynas religious standpoint or at least lead singer Del’s….it was time to move on to Clay Lane, now I saw them back in September, but back then they were a quartet….since then bass player Darryl has left to study at Manchester University, it was going to be interesting to see how they survived as a threesome. One thing was for sure they still had a crowd of screaming girls along with them, as lead singer Adam Bowser wished someone called Chelsea a Happy Birthday, he was answered by an hysterical scream. They opened with the track ‘Inflate My Ego’ and the difference in sound was quite noticeable, I remember them delivering an almost brooding thrashabout of a set, this however was more funk based riff and the bass complimented it rather than tore through it, still Adam couldn’t resist dropping into a metal influenced solo at one point. In fact this seemed to be a recurring theme in their music tonight, a bit of funk, a bit of bass and the odd screeching solo. As they reached the climax of their show, the new song ‘Outside’ was played before their final song ‘North Park’, this was a pretty accomplished number as it opened with the guitar peeling out a steady note by note, which build up before nose diving into a rocking mosher of a track…bass, drums and solo all inclusive of course! Whilst they may not push everyone’s buttons, the crowd were certainly up for it and I have to say they kept me entertained throughout, the solos didn’t get in the way of the funk and the funk didn’t stomp out the solos, so for me a winning combo!

At last it was time for Jackson Caged, a band guaranteed to entertain on any given day of the week, but tonight was extra special even by their standards…as it was their album launch night. So with the house lights out and their usual creepy intro music (this is reminiscent of a child’s musical box) they walk on stage and so the entertainment in earnest begins. ‘Welcome To The Show’ has been, and always will be their opening track for me; it’s in your face, loud, vulgar and gratuitous manifesto on what was to come. Yet again they’d brought with them a huge crowd of hard core fans and any left over from the previous bands were fast being persuaded that this was a band to be reckoned with. Now metal in general is broken down into sub-genre’s, more so than any other brand of music, and whilst you could slot Jackson Caged into the metal rap section, they are equally proficient at the more standard British metal as well as funk metal. But however or whatever they play, the lyrical output is always the same, sadistic and gratuitous whilst retaining a small degree of dark humour about it. This rather endearing quality is helped no end by vocalist Fraz as he does have the desperate rasping voice for the continual outpouring of bloodlust required of him, but he does it all with a slightly cheeky grin, even at times to the point where he’s in fits of laughter. Throwing in a couple of covers to their extended set, ‘Hit The Road’ and ‘House Of The Rising Sun’, will soon become a thing of the past for these guys as they seem to writing more and more new material. Two recent additions, ‘Antipathy’, which I recently heard at their gig in Birdwell went a lot smoother, but the hot new track of the night was ‘Porn Star’, a track which Fraz, I’m afraid to say dedicated to me with the line, “This is for Geoff, because he is one!” The song itself is another tirade of pornographic filth, but if like most people, you like the earlier song ‘Pardon Me Miss’, you’ll definitely have the stomach for this. This time however we all got to sing along in a bit of crowd participation, Fraz politely asked us all on the count of three to say “F*CK!”, and of course we happily obliged. ‘Everyfall’ and ‘Jaws’ brought their set to a close with a performance, which even by their exacting standards was truly outstanding!

The general consensus around the room was unanimous….especially amongst the converted, Jackson Caged put on one hell of a show and it capped a great night of good and varied rock, it was the sort of night out that I really look forward to and it didn’t disappoint!

Words & Photos by Geoff Buckthorpe