The Sheffield Scenester

Yet another sweltering day in this unprecedented summer blitz we seem to be enjoying at the moment, so whilst standing in a hot stifling building listening to some quality guitarmanship, which may not be to everybody’s taste, I just thought, “the lagers cold...so what the hell!”

To open the evening was a local four piece, Red District, who had the misfortune of playing to a near empty room, there was in fact about a dozen people stood in a neat line about ten feet from the stage which was an oddity in itself. Opening their set with ‘Bliss Addiction’, a self penned anthem that despite its subtle intro...a lonely guitar twangs away at a blues riff before the rest of the band join in with an overriding grind to drown out any hint of sophistication. Even so you are left with one hell of a catchy metal onslaught...so it must be a case of swings and roundabouts with their music. As if to emphasize their enthusiasm for what they had unleashed the lead guitarist straddled his monitor whilst in mid solo. Following this was a cover of ‘Bohemian Like Us’ which seemed to belt along with as much youthful vigour as they poured into their opening song, this time however, there was a switch of singers. It seems both guitarists like to have a go at vocals, which when working in harmony is ok but when it comes to taking lead I personally found the initial singer to be easier on the ear as the vocals on this sounded a little flat. The drummer, Chris Cook, was handed the opportunity to showcase his talents during one song, all this happened as the front men stepped aside encouraging clapping from the ‘crowd’. When it came to the song ‘Aces High’, rather amusingly we were informed that “it is not to be confused with the AC/DC one”, to which the singer shouted back, “its Iron Maiden!!” Still a good metal thing going on which seems to be their forte, I mostly picked up Deep Purple in their particular style of delivery throughout the set. Finishing with their epic song which apparently will be on their forthcoming EP, we were given the added bonus of the lead singer calling one of his mates up on stage and help with the climax of the song....the choral “aahhhh” bit...I found it quite funny that as soon as his bit was done he bolted. Still a good performance from such a young band, relaxed and well at ease with the crowd, though like I mentioned earlier I maybe they should rethink the swapping of vocalists.

Remarkably the turnaround was done at a breakneck pace; I later found out that this was so that the next band, UndaFret could get a 40 minute set in. Fresh out of Barnsley they immediately launched into a hard thrashing punk rhythm reminiscent of classic Ramones, despite employing a little more finesse about it. The amount of energy they poured into their performance was evident halfway through the second track, ‘Little Punk Rocker’, as by now the Rob on drums was sweating buckets. Over the course of the next few tracks they did drop the punk thrash for a more metal slanted sound, even though one track was a truly depressing affair as it seemed to be about someone on the verge of suicide whilst another sounded like a Twisted Sister anthem. Funnily enough on the suicide song, lead singer and thrash merchant, Mike, decided to jump off-stage and do a walkabout....the floor was pretty empty unfortunately, so he could have strolled about all night for me....but he stood in the middle of the floor swinging his guitar overhead whilst playing away! To follow that during the Twisted Sister themed song he did the same again except took the mic out to the few people gathered around and encouraged them to chant the chorus ‘Baby that’s Rock ‘n’ Roll’ which generated a round of applause from all concerned. Playing the song ‘Make Or Break’ we were given an insight into their actual ability with a delicate guitar intro proving there is more to life than hammering the hell out of a fret board, even though it did descend into a ponderous grind...imagine cloning Sabbath (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath era) with My Chemical Romance and that’s the kind of ballpark we’re in right now! When it came to ‘Left For Dead’ bass player, Scarfy, was left looking a bit foolish as his amp had failed and not even the sound engineer could figure this one out. The rest of the band finished the track but Mike then said “Anyone want to hear a drum solo while we wait for the bass?” so poor old Rob had to sit there flailing away like his life depended on it, sounded pretty good though. Having finally sorted the bass they carried on, when it came to the final track, ‘Trials Of Innocence’, they had to ‘down tune’ the guitars so for a while all we heard was a wall of bassed up six strings. The actual song begins with a soft vocal over a delicate guitar until what could only pass for metal against metal growls its way out of the speakers. What UndaFret seem to do is take a good hand full of genre’s, toss them around and spit out quality tunes with influences from whatever they find en route, definitely a worthy band that justified their forty minute set.

Yet again another quick turnaround took place so headline act, Two Fifty Calibers could do the same and enjoy the luxury of a forty minute set, they also had the pleasure of the largest crowd of the night, too be fair quite a few seemed to be photographers for some strange reason. Opening with the track ‘Dirty Little Secret’, yet again we are taken into blues laden rock riff, in other words more of the Sabbathesque grind as earlier demonstrated by UndaFret. However during the first two tracks lead singer Gareth Barkley-Smith’s vocals didn’t come through strong enough, but when it came to the third track of the evening, ‘Bedmonster’, normal service was resumed and whilst not clear as a bell they were definitely audible. The track ‘Hashmir’ began with a pitched guitar solo leading into a subdued musical track while Gareth gently laid down some Pink Floyd stylized vocals. The song ‘Run A Red’ was interesting in so far as it owed more to Foreigner than the blues rock they proclaim to preach so strongly, I couldn’t but be reminded of those classic power ballads from the eighties whilst listening to it. When it came to the track ‘Push’, Gareth announced to the room that this song is “60’s-esque shyte”....I can only assume this is in reference to the Pink Floyd improv session which seemed to be going on throughout the song. I have to say though they might want to work on their on-stage persona...because they didn’t say much apart from the odd track title, and that’s at the end of the song in question. Yeah maybe they are artists...but at this level crowds generally like a bit of banter whatever it’s about, it makes people care enough to listen! Musically the drumming courtesy of Joe Cooper was excellent, he always retained a smile on his face and brought a style all his own to the fore. Up front though the guitar and bass would waver between funk and blues and even at times dive into the cosmic pools of early Floyd. Of all their material I have to say I preferred the Sabbath influenced blues riffs, still they know what they want and are determined in that respect...so fair play to them.

Despite a poor turnout the night was anything but a washout, as I know for a fact I’d be happy to see UndaFret again, and both Red District and Two Fifty Calibers show definite promise. So even though listening to some good music inside what at times felt like a sweat box, may not be to everybody’s taste, I’m more than happy to repeat the experience.

Words By Geoff Buckthorpe
Photos by Liam Farrelly