The Sheffield Scenester

This weekend saw a real Soundclash – between City Invasion 09 (a punk festival featuring the likes of The Exploited and The Skints) playing in the upstairs venue of the 02 and Sheffield’s own Soundclash playing on the O2’s main stage. Seeing punks of all ages hanging around the outside of the 02 was quite an unusual one...and I had quite a weird moment when a helpful security guard said to me pointing to the 02 upstairs “the punks festival is that way miss..?!” (Obviously I must of have been having a really bad hair day!!!)

We entered the main room feeling quite excited at the prospect of seeing the Soundclash on the main stage. However this was soon dampened, because as soon as you entered the room - the coldness of the building hit you like a ‘smack in the face’. People obviously wishing they could buy hot soup instead of cold drinks!

The first band called Arkham Karvers kicked off the night to a small but appreciative audience. The band instantly captured everyone’s attention with their unusual sound; a mix of reggae, indie and pop...with a hint of ska. I didn’t quite catch any of the titles of the songs, but I enjoyed their interestingly written lyrics and the use of a tiny megaphone tied to a mic-stand. The songs played were actually very danceable, which encouraged a lot of head nodding and foot tapping around the room....I think some people would have danced a little more freely if it wasn’t so cold.

The next band up was a very unusual sight with 8...yes 8 musicians. The first thing I thought of when I saw them was...“it’s a good job Soundclash is on the big stage tonight!” This band had a multitude of varying musical talents...guitar, trumpet, piano, drums, cellos and two vocalists. Unfortunately on this occasion I don’t think this band was fully appreciated, because the crowd seemed to totally ignore them and some even voted with their feet and left. I have to say though, I found the music very listenable and the vocal range of the singers was very impressive.

The next band Lowline entered the stage with arrogance in bucket loads...vocalist Robbie ordered the security to make sure the upstairs doors to the City Invasion gig weren’t left open (to be fair when the doors kept being opened you could hear the punk music being played extremely loudly...which obviously the crowd had been hearing on and off all night)...then stated to the security “I’m not being a pr**k!” He then encouraged everyone forward and made quite a snide comment about the previous band, saying something like “I hope the last band hasn’t scared you off...” He then also called some people at the back “disrespectful c**ts.” But other than all that...I enjoyed their music more than the singing and found myself watching the guitarists for most of the set. Unfortunately, just as I was starting to really get into the music their set seemed to be cut short....to the sound of football results being read out...? Not sure what happened there..? An interesting end to a set...

Anyway...it was now Alvarez Kings turn to take to the stage. This band must be arguably the best in South Yorkshire at the moment. ..Especially with their very impressive back log of headlining gigs under their belt - and the promise of even more impressive gigs in 2010 (South By South West Showcase in Austin Texas, just being one of them!!!) ‘A Means to an End’ is always a good set starter with its racy guitar sounds and good solid drum beat. This 10 song set consisted of a good mix of classics and new material which warmed the cockles of the crowd pretty much instantly. It was brilliant seeing them on a bigger stage too; however they have played to far bigger crowds than the dedicated revellers who turned up tonight...but that didn’t stop them playing to their full potential. I also liked their new song called ‘Dark Eyed Children’, which I imagine will become as popular as the classics the crowd already sing along to...especially their set finale ‘The Sequel’, the chorus and backing vocals on that song is amazing when pretty much everyone in the building is singing along to it.

It was another good musical mix from Soundclash.

Words by Gail Buckthorpe
Photos by Geoff Buckthorpe