The Sheffield Scenester

Last year, December 16th to be precise, Cambridge band The Treatment were due down at Corporation, but unfortunately lead singer Matt Jones contracted laryngitis and so that gig was postponed, now here we are in February during their postponement tour. Having heard their debut album, ‘This Might Hurt’ I was really looking forward to the show, as they obviously harked back to the bygone era of good old fashioned rock of Def Leppard, Aerosmith and UFO before the modern day genre splicing styles rose to the fore. Apparently this is what they were brought up on, it’s what they love and it’s what they play, and you can’t really argue with that!

But before they were due on stage we had the pleasure of two support bands, both hailing from Sheffield, namely Left Ajar and Spill Sixteen, so without further ado Left Ajar took to the stage and opened with ‘Somedays’, a good solid opener. Straight away guitarist Andy and bassist Jamie set about with numerous acrobatic playing styles, every time we’ve seen them they do have a habit of playing to the crowd like this…but at the end of the day it does add to the entertainment, but since they can actually play pretty well in the process, why not? This is the first time I‘ve heard them at The Corp and I was surprised at how heavier a sound they produced, a lot of the more subtle funk influences that were a bit of a trademark for them seemed to be lost. Whether it was the PA or a new direction for them, either way it gave them a much more forceful presence and definitely worked in their favour.

In fact with this effect, songs like ‘Reaction’ and ‘Going Home’ turned into deep stomp laden tracks, and with singer Rob Butler more than capable of holding his own they produced a quality opening set.

Following on from them was the five piece Spill Sixteen, looking a bit of a strange mixture in terms of line up, a death punk guitarist alongside a thrash guitarist, a traditional bassist and all fronted by singer who wouldn’t of looked out of place in a boy band! This was a much more traditional approach to rock as the opening song ‘Doin It Tonight’ easily demonstrated, this was rock ‘n’ roll…all done with a metal twist and it felt good.

With every song the crowd cheered along, in fact when it came to a cover of Buckcherry’s ‘Rescue Me’ you’d have thought they were the headline act from the amount of applause that went up! Part of this has to be credited to lead singer Stevie, who just seems to be one of the most natural frontmen I’ve seen in a long time, he’d even put together a little comedy routine about the free CD’s available at the front. How much of this was intentional and how much was just his natural charm it was hard to tell…but the crowd loved it as he would drop into a Peter Kay style banter while persuading someone (or anyone) to come and get one.

With a showboating guitarist to his left and a fistful of thumping tunes to work through this was an outstanding set, definitely a band I’d love to catch again!

And now the act everyone had been waiting for, The Treatment, flying straight in with the superb ‘Drink, F*ck, Fight!’, a song built for opening a set if ever there was one. Having already got the crowd chanting the chorus on the first song is no mean feat, this was swiftly followed by the relentless pounding of ‘Shake The Mountain’ which kept the fans begging for more.

All the while guitarists Ben Brookland and Tag Grey were jostling about stage as any good metal axemen worth their salt are prone too, straddling the monitors, standing on top of the side speakers, all with hair flying around willing them to take off. Of course singer Matt Jones had obviously recovered from the laryngitis of last year and bounced between the guitarists, still singing till his lungs were fit to burst. The song ‘Road Rocket’ only served to increase the adrenalin in the room as this explosive rocker of a tune blew everything before it away, this was a throwback to when all rock meant…bike’s, chicks and booze, nothing else mattered! Keeping up the momentum with ‘Departed’, a song with the chant “Bang, bang, bang” throughout served as an excuse for the moshing to begin…. it had to happen at some point with the way these guys were playing!

Unfortunately it all had to come to an end and so they finished the night with the hilariously received cover of Chris Spedding’s ‘Motorbiking’! Admittedly a few people, well quite a few people around the room groaned when they heard the opening chords….but as covers went it wasn’t half bad….and it went with the whole mood of the evening.
It was obvious these guys meant business and were here to put on a show…and you know what, it really was one hell of a show!

Words and Photos by Geoff Buckthorpe and Andy Curnow