Sheffield city centre was bustling with live music fans last weekend who were eager to soak up the rich offerings of a wide variety of fresh bands and artists at Float Along Festival. In a city drenched in the heritage of music as diverse as The Human League, Pulp, Richard Hawley, and Arctic Monkeys, it was a great pleasure to see local venues packed out for this wristband event.
CROÍTHE
First up today at Sidney And Matilda for Float Along Festival in Sheffield were the brilliant Croíthe from Ireland. These guys massively impressed me earlier in the year in Leeds with their Fontaines meets the Smiths style. They were just as sharp and direct with their music today.
Caodán makes for an impressive frontman. His lyrics are observational and draw on a real intense emotion. There are obvious comparisons to Grian from Fontaines DC and James from The Murder Capital, but he is definitely creating his own vibe.
The band are pretty tight as a four piece. Among their top tracks today were the new single, I Heard, I Saw, and an as yet unreleased one called The Diver. They play Left Of The Dial festival in Rotterdam later this month.
WHITEHORSE
Next up at Sidney And Matilda Basement were the incredible Whitehorse. These guys have already built up a cool reputation on the live circuit for their rock and roll swagger with the tunes to match.
Whitehorse is fronted by Tom from The Blinders. He has a real commanding presence in the delivery of each track with impressive vocal. The guitar sound is a little less intense than his former band, but he still packs in the punches with the heavier material.
Among his sidekicks is awesome drummer James, formerly of Manchester band, Malcolm. He is a cool and charismatic sticksman, who clearly loves smashing it up around the kit. The band very much feed on his energy through each track.
Among the set list today was debut single, Doesn’t Come Close. It’s a mid tempo number with all the hallmarks of a rock classic.
FLAT PARTY
Absolutely joyous to catch up with the superb Flat Party at Corporation. One of my faves on the emerging bands scene right now. As I said to them, it’s been far too long!
And the lads have clearly been busy in the studio since I last saw them in November. The set was dominated by a bunch of new songs which were sounding tremendous. While still maintaining a vibe that is definitely them, they have incorporated a bold richer sound with frontman Jack (pictured) picking up the acoustic guitar more often.
In fact the surround sound of the guitars up front had a George Harrison vibe to them at some points which was thrilling to hear. This blended nicely with classic tracks, including the shimmering Glances In The Dark from the first EP.
It’s clear that the guys continue to have a strong penchant for the best of the 90s British bands. Jack was sporting a cool Manics tshirt. And he still has that Brett Anderson lilt in his vocal.
I had to shoot off to see the incredible Holly Head around the corner at The Washington as Flat Party’s set ended in what was the most challenging clash of the day. But it was awesome to catch up with the guys again later seeing Westside Cowboy who we all loved!
HOLLY HEAD
Holly Head were absolutely off the scale brilliant. And that’s speaking as someone who got a side view of the gig in The Washington because it was so rammed when I arrived from the clash of the schedules with Flat Party.
The big advantage of the view that I had was watching Oscar up close and sweaty on the drum kit absolutely pulverising the skins throughout the set. He’s such an energetic and entertaining drummer with the tastiest of rhythms in every track: best drum faces too! The pulsating beat of No Gain fuses together dance and rock styles in a manner similar to bands like Franz Ferdinand. He hilariously lost one of his crash cymbals a few times due to the sheer force of his playing. It was brilliant to catch up with him afterwards.
The full band were tremendous. The post-punk flavour to the guitars and the funky bass overtones fleshed out each track impeccably. Paddy on guitar was certainly giving plenty of raw energy on stage from the viewable section. They have been described as raging and chaotic in the best possible sense. They are also properly mesmerising. Definitely ones to watch, I’m keen to see them do a full hour headline set!
CAPTAIN CROCODILE
Local Sheffield lads Captain Crocodile had the challenging task of following Holly Head at the Washington, which they seemed to take in their stride. Frontman Jack and additional vocalist/synths man Ray had just been working at the relocated Sheffield Music Store a couple of hours earlier. Decked out impressively with instruments and vinyl, it’s well worth checking out if you’re in the area.
The impressive set up of six musicians on stage managed to gather in the tiny alcove at the front of The Washington for their performance. Their swirling guitar sound mixed psychedelic and lo-fi energy with elements of post-punk. The splashes of synths made a cool addition, which was reminiscent of an early 80s sound: this is the city of the Human League after all.
WESTSIDE COWBOY
Final set of the night for me at Float Along Festival came from the rather wonderful Westside Cowboy: a quartet from Manchester that mix Americana with a punkish vibe. This was a band recommended to me by Joe from Idle Hands… a man with impeccable music taste.
These guys absolutely wowed the crowds with their professional if somewhat ramshackle style on stage. Many of the tracks felt like you were entering a hoedown in cowboy style before being sucked into a joyous punk guitar stomp. And the most glorious four part harmonies were endearing of such a charming band. Loved the last track where the drummer brought his rack tom down the front for a final pared down track. Definitely need to see them headline somewhere soon!
MORE FROM FLOAT ALONG FESTIVAL HERE!
HEAD HERE FOR MORE RGM MUSIC NEWS
