The Sheffield Scenester

We actually arrived way too early at The Grapes for tonight’s show, so with a good hour to kill we figured grab a drink, put a few coins in the old (and I mean relic) jukebox, and just chill for a while. On hearing music upstairs we wandered up to see what the fuss was about, only to find we had walked in half way through La Folie’s sound check. Feeling a bit sheepish we were told not to worry and stick around if we fancied, so how could we say no to that...?!

Once the sound check was wound up several people started drifting through the doors in anticipation of the first band of the night, Hope Explosion....A three piece band that I remember seeing at the O2 (for the simple reason that they play with two guitars instead of guitar and bass up front!) Without much in the way of support...unfortunately the room was barely half full at this stage...it would have been easy for them to turn in a half hearted performance, but they still went for it regardless, opening with an outstanding display on drums before both guitars kicked in. As each track in their set followed one after the other, the crowd really warmed to them as they poured out skilfully structured guitar driven rock. It would be easy to say they are comparable to the alternative rock of Muse, but whilst they don’t quite reach the sweeping grandeur and epic concepts of them, you get the impression that they are closer than most. Each track evoked a degree of grandiose aspirations, held together with skilled guitar work powering over some intelligent drum work...it has to be said...the set as a whole felt a lot bigger than the room it was aiming to fill, no mean feat by any standard!

To follow this was Sheffield’s answer to the ghoulishly macabre, La Folie, or as they were called this evening Fa Lolie; this was down to the fact that one of their members, drummer Dan, could not be there due to personal reasons and therefore they created an alter ego for themselves. As with their recent set at the Harley remaining members Nick, Jacko and Mannie took it upon themselves to dismantle the drum kit and redistribute it amongst themselves to perform a slightly reduced but occasionally shambolic acoustic set. Opening as they did then with the song ‘El Canto Nuevo’, a brilliantly entertaining opener, the gathered crowd, which by now had swelled quite considerably, were transfixed by this motley crew. Lead singer, Nick demonstrated his ability to psychotically hammer the sh*t out of a floor tom while occasionally screaming down a mic, surprisingly this brought a round of deserved applause. However when it came to the second track of the night, the music was drowned out by feedback, which instantly brought proceedings to a standstill. What made this such an entertaining section was that the Fa Lolie dropped their slightly maniacal front and ended up in near hysterics as they tried to figure out where it was coming from! Having sorted that out it was business as usual and as they delivered the likes of ‘Plastic Parade’, ‘All Aboard’, their cover version of ‘White Rabbit’ – which incidentally was slightly more polished than the version they played at The Harley – and the final track, ‘Arachnophobia’. All these were done with a bit of tongue in cheek due to the earlier onstage antics, not a hint of their usual menace at all, quite a refreshing set delivery for them, they even opted for a bit of good natured banter with the crowd concerning Mannie’s accordion, someone in the audience was convinced he was playing it the wrong way round – what the hell it sounded ghoulishly danceable anyway, a great set from one of Sheffield’s genuinely original bands!

Next up was the headline act, The Violet May, a band partly famous for having Chris McClure, brother to the Reverend And The Makers frontman Jon, on vocals, as well as being totally infamous for their venue blitzing live shows. Chatting to a friend prior to their gig we were told that the last time he saw them it was incredible...Chris had strung himself up with the microphone cable, allegedly kept lighting up fags all through the set (not sure what the fine is these days but it wouldn’t do the venue any favours if they got caught!), and hurling himself at the audience. From this brief description, it was shaping up to be a promising set; I mean what would he do to top that??

The room had virtually filled to capacity with a variety of characters; one girl had even turned up with a pair of gargantuan plastic breasts on show?! As The Violet May mounted the stage it was pretty obvious that Chris, towered over most everyone in the room...and would barely get around the stage without banging his head on something...so the thought of him jumping into the crowd seemed a pretty scary idea...but so long as I wasn’t in the way I didn’t mind! Now musically they began with both barrels blazing, in such confined quarters their trademark dirty pile-driving rhythm really hammered through to the bone, vocally however (not sure if this was another technical issue) Chris seemed to come across as a mumbling giant with both verse and chorus barely audible. By the time the second song was started, this was corrected and Chris seemed to get into the full swing of things, which of course meant starting his show for real! The first thing to go was the microphone stand which was slung off the stage to the limited floor space in front of the gathered fans, making quite a few jump as it crashed down, he then of course started wrapping the microphone chord round his neck and so on and so on. Having finished kicking glasses over on stage Chris figured it was time to jump into the audience and sing in their faces, rather amusingly it was obvious he made a conscious effort not to step on anyone or bump into people, this slightly detracted from the intended shock value of the stunt. To be honest if we hadn’t been pre-warned about them, all these shenanigans might have produced the desired effect, but forewarned is forearmed as they say, so personally, I’m sorry to say, it came across as slightly rehearsed! Musically however I did enjoy their set, full as it was of skuzzy grinding guitars driving alongside a thumping bass and drums racing full pelt to keep the laden pace bolting along, they do present a crowd pleasing riotous performance, with Chris jumping off the stage at every opportunity whilst the band played on. When it came time for the final song of the night the whole crowd were behind him as they started moshing about all over the floor with Chris in the middle until he finally ripped the microphone away from its cable, threw it to the floor and walked out of the room, confirming the show was over. If we hadn’t been pre-warned about all his on stage quirks and eccentricities, the show as a whole might have been a lot more interesting, as its rebellious intentions would of shone through, instead we were left with the music which I personally loved!

Yet again another solid night of quality musicianship wrapped around some truly entertaining bands down at The Grapes, La Folie’s attempts at retaining their composure was worth the price of admission alone. If you plan on seeing The Violet May for the first time, then I do apologise for ruining this particular aspect of their show, but the music still holds it’s own, so you won’t be wasting your time or money!

Words and photos by Geoff Buckthorpe