The Sheffield Scenester

Tonight was going to be a little bit different for us tonight....as we basically wanted to be at two different venues at once, firstly there was a Soundclash on at The Plug and also The Harley was hosting an Xray Horse night, both with bands we fancied seeing....so something had to give! In the end we opted for two bands from each and so beginning at The Plug we started the night with These Old Shoes.

Having seen them at the Hair Raiser gig, where they opened with a performance poet, Katherine Henderson, before performing a short set of four songs. This time around they opened with a new song, as yet unnamed, which showcased what at first glance strikes you as quite a talented bunch. With keyboard player Nick Lound doubling up on saxophone (always a welcome addition in my book) and the exceptional talents of lead singer Richard Murray. Not only does he demonstrate an outstanding vocal delivery, but his physical presence on stage as he embroils himself in each song is a sight to behold in itself! Blending a steady funk backbeat with a twist of indie rock up front, you have the making of quite a cool sound, and the sax just amplifies the total coolness of it all. With only four tracks of their own to play they threw in a cover of Paolo Nutini’s ‘Candy’ which I think worked a lot better than the Amy Whinehouse cover they did at Hair Raiser. But without a shadow of a doubt the best track of their set was their closing masterpiece apply named ‘Attention Seeker’, borrowing heavily from Steppenwolf’s ‘The Pusher’ it really brought the crowd alive, helped in part with Richard’s enthusiasm, still, they have the sound, they have the front man, it was just a shame their set was so short!

Soul Happening, a band who came with quite a name for themselves, also turned up with a bit of crowd as well and this being their biggest gig to date....no doubt helped shake any butterflies they may have had....since their opening was very professional indeed! With a style heavily influenced by the likes of Hendrix and Purple, they are essentially a three piece with enough firepower to easily pass for a five piece! On drums Keith Raymont, is well beyond adequate as he pummels out a heavy barrage of skin smashing beats, meanwhile on bass and totally barefoot (apparently it feels nice), is Jonathon Sheppard whose job seems to be bridge the gap between thunder and lightning. The lightning comes in the irrepressible skill of front man Sam Lee, as not only does he know his way round a guitar, but he can belt out one hell of a song at the same time! Opening with one of their early recordings ‘Everything You Own’ they straight away got the crowd up and dancing and it was really refreshing for a band so young to have quite a diverse set of songs in their repertoire. The song ‘Goes Nowhere’ slowed down the pace a bit...but it was the haunting solo that really blew you away on this one, this was followed by a new song which produced a truly epic solo out of Sam while Keith and Jonathon backed it all up with shed-loads of 100% pure rock! Normally a half hour set means a half hour set...but we were treated to a quick encore...whereby they covered the Hendrix classic ‘Hey Joe’ and actually made it their own, with an honest and mature interpretation.

Later on Joolz Vernon, SoundClash promoter, said “I clocked these at The Frog And Parrot and wanted to put them here with a big PA, just to see how they would sound……..and they delivered!” I Couldn’t have put it better myself! We look forward to seeing these guys again.

Now it was time to head on up to The Harley and hopefully catch the Welsh band Masters In France, Unfortunately we missed the opening 2 tracks of their set and arrived in time to hear ‘Artificial Inches’, a song that seemed to be structured around a pounding industrial beat....In fact it was the sort of technique that Pink Floyd used to employ on some of their early albums, but these guys somehow managed to slightly offset it with a bit of indie attitude and a dash of Brit pop swagger....giving rise to the question, what are they? After a skuzzy rendition of their song ‘Orbitoclast’ they moved on to the much more accessible ‘Fall Down’....Opening with a heavy drum booming away, this was injected with a screeching guitar before the vocals began, however it didn’t take long before everything fell into place and we were left with a coherent and extremely catchy track. One band that we thought of as comparable in not only style but mind bending inventiveness...was The Volcanoes and their slightly obscure musings on life. An entertaining set despite the fact that we couldn’t really understand a word lead singer Ed Ellis Jones said between tracks, one thing for sure though he certainly enjoyed himself! A fun set with some very interesting mood setting tracks, not least of all the six minute epic ‘Little Girl’ which culminated in a surprisingly accomplished experimental finale, a good band to catch if you have the chance.

This left our last band of the night, Seize The Chair...a band that have really impressed us on several occasions, so we were really looking forward to this. High on energy, loaded with blistering catchy riffs and willing to shed blood, sweat and tears, they opened with ‘Don’t Be Daft’. Rather an ironic name really when you consider the crowd they’d brought with them completely ignored that and conjured up the most bizarre dance routines imaginable to go with it! So while this Rock-a-Billy corker of a tune pelted along, all manner of arms and legs were flying everywhere, but this is all part of the fun of a Seize The Chair show. It’s not all about the music; it’s the show that makes the night! With lead singer Nick Chantler tearing through every song as if his life depended on it and James....the half naked drummer, stopping to moon the audience at the end of the set, it really was a shame they had to finish. But they did finish on one hell of a high, with a quick improv of ‘500 Miles’ they immediately burst into their final song ‘You Who?’, another rollicking number which had the crowd all over the place. Apple Armstrong (Avida Dollars) was in the audience, but halfway through this song took it upon himself to jump on stage and help finish the song off, planned or not it didn’t matter as it just seemed to go with the set.

With four bands spread over two venues it really was quite an enjoyable night, of course it wasn’t on the scale of venue hopping we did at Tramlines, but it did inject quite a bit of fun into proceedings. Best of all they were four top acts as well, we really should do this more often!

Words and photos by Geoff & Gail Buckthorpe