Live Music

Peace festival celebrates 15 years

Thousands enjoyed the sunshine at Sheffield’s fifteenth annual Peace in the Park Festival. The event, held in the Ponderosa Park in Netherthorpe, aims to bring people together to celebrate different cultures and to promote peace and harmony. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!

 

Peace in the Park celebrates 15th year

The Peace in the Park festival returned to Sheffield for 2017 with the message of reclaiming peace in the world and the power of community action. The arts and music festival is celebrating its fifteenth year since it launched in 2003 and is still run entirely by volunteers. Simon Thake reports for Sheffield Live!

Top tribute acts headline fake-fest at Endcliffe Park

Imagine a music festival line up with headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oasis and Queen, all appearing under a giant marquee in Endcliffe Park. It’s Sheffield Fake Festival 2017. Top tribute acts Really Hot Chili Peppers, Oasish and Flash performed hits of the music industry giants as part of an all day festival of tribute bands in Sheffield this weekend. Simon Thake reports for Sheffield Live!

Partially sighted pianist plays charity fundraising concert

Pianist Bill Skipworth performed a fundraising concert at Sheffield Cathedral to raise money for the Sheffield branch of the Royal Society for the Blind. The performance was particularly poignant as Bill himself has suffered significant sight loss in the last six months. Despite the challenges he was keen to go ahead with the event to raise money for a cause close to his heart. Sheffield Live! reporter Simon Thake spoke to Bill at the rehearsals.

Patent Pending at Corporation, 7 April: review

The more of these pop-punk gigs I attend at Corporation, the more madly I fall in the love with the genre and all of the wonderful things it has to offer.

Having only listened to Patent Pending in passing previously, I entered the room without any expectations. I sometimes find this is the best method when I’ll be writing a review because it means I don’t wander in already thinking “I am bound to enjoy this.”

Each track encouraged movement and a great sense of ‘togetherness’ flooded the room.  The group even covered the theme tune from The Big Bang Theory (originally by the Barenaked Ladies) which went down an absolute treat.

The showmanship was unsurpassable, with heaps of audience interaction (including a crowd swimming competition with Joe Ragosta and his younger brother!)  and jokes rolling one after the other, it was such an enthralling atmosphere and there was not a single second I did not feel captivated and excited.

There are very few things that are comparable to the sense of community and belonging at a pop-punk concert with a band like Patent Pending. They speak from the heart and deliver messages that are meaningful and have purpose, that does not mean to say that they are serious – these guys are anything but – however, they are genuine guys who never stray from this which can be so easy to do once you find yourself in the limelight.

Please please follow the guys on Twitter @PTPGOfficial and as always a huge thanks and shout out to my favourite alternative venue in Sheffield Corporation.

 

Inherit The Stars at The Rocking Chair, 29 January: review

When Inherit the Stars announced they’d be playing one of Sheffield’s most talked-about venues – The Rocking Chair – for their first gig of 2016 the news created quite the buzz. People were excited, and I’m including myself! Although after an amazing show last year I was sceptical whether it could be topped – or even matched.

The Rocking Chair was absolutely rammed and the atmosphere electric, the clear support and admiration from the fans just shows that this is a solid group with genuine talent that is being recognised more and more every day. Growing in popularity and even more so in skill, it seems there is no end to what Inherit The Stars can pull out of the bag.

Daniel Jeffrey brought the crowd together by bringing a delightful duo of charm and charisma to the table, with the occasional quip from Lewis Wild (bassist) bringing us crashing back to earth with his dry banter which never fails to leave everybody smiling.

For me, I am very much a lyrics lady and having the opportunity to join in really does it for me so songs like Exit Plan, If We Fall, We Fall Together and oh, one more, Better Than This are absolutely on point.

Just the sheer quality of the production of the music is noteworthy, these guys don’t sound as though they belong in local venues but headlining stages at festivals everywhere. I find it difficult to fault Inherit The Stars because they just “sound” good, as if there is something for everybody in there, a tasty medley of metal, rock, pop with a cheeky serving of electro/synth sauce on top.

There is no doubt in my mind that the four lads are going to go further than they ever expected.

I strongly recommend giving them a try:

  • Their latest release Fortune Favours the Brave can be heard and seen on YouTube here.
  • You can also listen to my favourite track Exit Plan (amongst others) on Bandcamp.

One Year Dead: Three Track EP review

One Year DeadOver the weekend I had the pleasure of receiving an EP from five-piece One Year Dead complete with three tracks.
The group are perfecting – with ease – a genre that continues to grow in popularity with new bands. Having taken clear influences from existing front-page artists such as Bury Tomorrow and A Day To Remember these guys are creating a combination of hardcore, metal and some softer acoustic styling.
Jamie Clark, One Year Dead’s vocalist, informed me that the group are really keen to obtain a local fan base and although have bigger long-term dreams on a global scale, having the support of their home town means a considerable amount to them:
“My inspiration lyrically comes from my mood at the time. You can expect an aggressive track if I’m feeling particularly riled up over something,”
and added “there is no particular song writer within our band, we all add our own ideas and experience into the mix and try and create something great.”
For me, I thought some of the singing vocals to be lacking some of the same fiery intent that came so naturally to the rest of the music and to the screaming. Besides this, the tracks were a trio of treats.
I always appreciate hearing different sounds come out of Sheffield, as written previously about the EP from Sheffield’s own Drop Dead Angus, and enjoy our vast level of diversity when it comes down to the talent we hold here.
It is a shame to report that the gang currently don’t have any gigs lined up, but are working on perfecting their sound before they delight us in person but these three solid tracks have left me feeling rather excited for what the future has in store for these Sheffield lads.
The EP is undergoing some fine tuning, and they estimate this should be released within the next few weeks.