The Leeds Scenester
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Fight Like Apes Sheffield Academy, May 2011
On a cool night in Sheffield, I turned up at the O2 academy with hopes of seeing some fantastic live music. Obviously, from the poor turnout, there weren’t that many like-minded people in Sheffield tonight! They were more than likely watching the Snooker final going off 100 yards across the road in the Crucible to be honest However, they missed two fantastic sets from two fantastic bands. More fool them.
Bloodbare were the first band on offer to the 50 or so people who were lucky enough to have turned up. I hadn’t heard of this young Sheffield band before I ventured out this evening but was left wanting to hear more from them when they departed the stage after their set. I discovered that they were a very young band (all still at school) and that they had only been asked to do the support slot on the morning of the gig. This might, in some cases, go against what we come to think of a band, but in this case they played what I can only describe as an excellently written, tightly performed and individually styled mix of indie and post rock.
They came across as if they had been performing for years: I was, in fact, told they had only been together since late 2010. They didn’t miss a beat.
The five piece band comprising of Singer Joe Horsey, two guitarists Richard Jackson & Robbie McKinney, Bass guitarist Leo Clarke & Drummer Paddy Carley produced a set filled with mellow indie rock tunes and soaring vocals with a great Yorkshire twang. Altogether a wonderful introduction to a band I hope to see a lot more of on the local scene and beyond.
Fight Like Apes’ set was actually watched by less people due to the support having another gig the same night at another venue. However the small but loyal and enthusiastic crowd all got as close to the stage as possible in expectation of the main show. The band launched into ‘You Are The Hat’ to open the set with: more energy than I was expecting from a band with no guitarist and two keyboard players/vocalists.
They performed a slightly mad but very tight set anyway. With all the energy the band exude, it was a shame that the turnout made for a subdued crowd atmosphere. And the band commented on this before their third track, ‘Poached Eggs’. The atmosphere did liven up when Maykay & Pockets took to the crowd armed with metal scaffold poles and proceeded to use them as giant drumsticks on the front guard rail, before Pockets launched his at the drummer! They powered through a set comprising of ‘Hoo Ha Henry’, ‘Lend Me Your Face’, and ‘Digifucker’, then paused to talk a man at the front into stripping nearly naked before ploughing into ‘Jenny Kelly’.
All the songs performed are written with a fantastic quirky lyrical quality that is instantly likable. Jake Summers was the highlight of a very good set. Maykay climbed the guard rail and performed whilst sitting in the middle of the crowd. A mass pile-up ensued in the middle of the dance floor before the band retook to the stage and performed one of the best named songs I know of ‘Ice Cream Apple Fuck’.
Fabulous end to a fabulous gig. Just a shame about the small turnout.
Oli Clark
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