Music

Latest music from the people of Sheffield

Opera on Location’s ‘Tosca’ at Abbeydale Picture House

The Abbeydale Picture House on Abbeydale Road is the venue for the latest production from the Opera on Location team. Their production of Tosca, the heartbreaking operatic love story is set in the 1920s which is also the decade when the former Picture House cinema was opened. Opera on Location, created after the success of the production of Benjamin Britten’s opera version of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in August 2013, is a new opera company based in Sheffield with the aim to perform exciting opera in real locations. Kathryn Gasic and Gareth Lloyd, the company founders, produced and self-funded the production, which took place in the Winter Gardens, as part of the A Boy Was Born festival hosted by The University of Sheffield. After receiving critical acclaim for their sell-out run of the Britten opera, they decided to create the company in order to repeat this successful approach to opera performance.

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.

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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.

Classical Sheffield Festival of Music

Around six hundred musicians across thirty events have been performing in Sheffield this weekend for the Classical Sheffield Festival of Music. It’s the first year of the festival which has been organised by Music in the Round, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Sheffield Symphony Orchestra and the University of Sheffield. It aims to promote professional and amateur classical music events to get more people involved in this genre of music.

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.

Party in the Sky launches Design Week

This weekend is the start of Sheffield Design Week. Park Hill Flats is hosting the launch with activities, food and drink being available through the weekend. Some of the flats are open to the  the public to see what renovation is taking place there.

Hindu Festival of Chariots celebrated in Endlciffe Park

The Rathayatra Festival was celebrated in Sheffield for the second year running.  The Hindu Festival original believed to be 5,000 years old,  has the deities, Lord Jagannatha and his sister Subhdara and brother Balabhadra travelling through the streets on Chariots so that the wider public gets a chance to see them. Lord Jagannatha is one of the representations  of Lord Krishna.  When the British first saw the Festival they were said to be so over awed by the size of the Chariots that the name Jagannatha became the root of the word Juggeranaut in English.