The Sheffield Scenester

Considering it’s cold, it’s January, and people are generally going bankrupt from Christmas- I didn’t expect the event to be very busy…although being the opening Soundclash of 2011, I was completely thrilled to cover this gig…surprisingly, music-lovers trickled in filling the capacity comfortably…an indication of the quality of music I was about to witness?....I had high hopes for the five acts…

DT, (of The Cartels) opened the set with his solo attempt…bearing a physical resemblance to a young Liam Gallagher, he possessed the same natural, self-assured cool demeanour…talking to the crowd with a heavily accented Sheffield tone, his laddish swagger instantly charms the crowd…judging on first appearances I am pleasantly surprised by DT’s heartfelt gritty lyrics that I would call ‘raw Northern poetry’…the lyrics are real and soulful….he sings about life experiences, translated in captivating growly vocals…songs like Dancing In The Rain, all have lyrics that anyone can relate to…DT accompanies this by expertly strumming an acoustic guitar …his crowd interaction was as expected, raw, real, Yorkshire and fun… joking with us about ‘getting smashed after the gig’ and swigging beer in-between tracks, I wouldn’t have expected anything else and the it all fits in and adds to the performance perfectly…

Will Barstow (previously from The Dead Delta), took to the stage next, accompanied by a guitar for his solo set…Barstow opened with Positively Mine…a slow, sweet song, delivered through heartfelt vocals…Shadowlands, progressed to a more blues-country tone with aching guitar riffs…Barstow’s, interaction with the crowd between tracks was minimal…his demeanour quite timid, complimented the genre of music… Barstow states that playing solo, allows him the freedom to play sets that wouldn’t fit in with The Dead Delta’s blue-rock sound…the whole set flows with a country-folk theme throughout, accompanied by a melancholy vocal…I could imagine it fitting in, in Dinkytown a la’ Bob Dylan’s early days, playing in the folk circuit in Minneapolis…

In-between sets DJ’s Joolz Vernon and Aaron Proctor play current music that fits in with the genre of the bands and compliments it…it’s sometimes unsettling and baffling to hear Tinchy Stryder suddenly blast out in-between sets at an indie/rock/alternative gig... the music gives us time to rock out, get a drink and discuss the live music we’ve just heard…gathering my thoughts to music like The Black Keys in the background, is inspiration at it’s best…

The Lion Works took their spot as the third act, opening their set simply with ‘’Good evening, we are The Lion Works’’ the first song, a track entitled Conquest, was a feel-good upbeat number…a great opening to introduce the band…one of the first things I noticed about The Lion Works was they’re incredibly talented musicians; the instrumentals were perfectly delivered, like a band that had ten years experience on the young members…the vocalist transported the lyrics with a fragile tentative vocal, as soft as Gary Lightbody…their set was well received, especially considering their crowd interaction which was minimal… but credit where it’s due, for young men they’re a really talented band and I am sure they will progress with charisma through age…

Next up were The Velotones…opening with Together Forever….I mistakenly thought it was still the DJ set playing a well known rock & roll band…the sound was perfectly delivered blues- rock at it’s best…for the first time in a while my heart skipped a beat listening to a local band…the grunge guitar riffs and purposeful off-beat bass was irresistible…I turned around to talk to Joolz and tell him how much I liked the band…Joolz told me they had only played a few gigs before this one (unbelievable)…when I turned back round to watch them, the crowd seemed to have magically filled to maximum capacity…everyone was mesmerised and infectiously moving to the sensual sound…all members of the band held a nonchalant, mysterious charisma…little crowd interaction, but there was non-needed with music so good…the vocals were delivered with as much soul and depth as Dan Auerbach… impressive considering Mathew Hall (guitar/lead vocals) is only 20 years old…the sound was unfaltering and continuously delivered hard throughout their whole set…the crowd was cheering and like putty in their hands…there really is such a trend for this genre at the moment and The Velotones have come at just the right time…I predict great things for this band and look forward to seeing them live again..

The crowd unfortunately seemed to disperse somewhat after The Velotones…The Recroots took the final slot…this band is known for using a range of guitars and keyboards, played at high tempo…my initial impression of the bands opening number; Something That She Does, was how refreshing it was to hear a Sheffield based band unwilling to conform to the Arctic Monkeys hangover…moving with musical progression and delivering something different whether it was to my taste or not, their nonconformity was admirable…physically I found the foursome had a certain quirky charisma, the lead vocalist bared an uncanny resemblance to Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction, additionally he held a similar stage presence and had a certain eccentric star quality… the sound translated as one of a synth psychedelic-rock sound, vocals delivered with a Mick Jagger essence ….quite fitting that The Recroots then finished with a cover of The Rolling Stones Sympathy For The Devil…Dave Booth (keyboards) said they’re planning on producing material over the next few months and I look forward to hearing it…I hope Sheffield welcomes this alternative band as something different to the norm we hear…the first Soundclash of 2011 and what a clash it was, a completely different mash up of differing genres and sounds that made for a landmark of what is yet to come from this innovative event…

Words and Photos by Laura Robina Collinson