Picture this: your band is on the brink of hitting the big time, you’re signed to a subsidiary of a major label, your new album that was written whilst you were in America has just been released, and you’re well on your way to selling into midsize venues live – sounds like the dream, right? Well, you would think so, but what if the monster you helped create wasn’t the dream you wanted and had more like turned into the nightmare you didn’t see coming?
Would you walk away? Well, that is the scenario a certain Thomas Heywood found himself in. His band, The Blinders, seemed like they were on an unstoppable train to Successville, but the original 3-piece had become bloated; the raw energy of the early albums was lost, and Tom knew it, so it was time to start over.
Cue Whitehorse: Tom told me 18 months ago, when I first checked them out, the new band were his people, and I could see where he was coming from. The rawness was back in the performance, but it felt natural, not forced, and in drummer James, the heartbeat that was lost when Matty left The Blinders had returned to drive the band forward.
Fast forward to now, and after a small lineup change and a new name, Tidetied (pronounced simply Tide or Tied; you decide…), for, as Tom put it, Whitehorse was a stupid name anyway, I found myself at Fagan’s in Sheffield, a well-known haunt for local Muso’s, and it’s a takeover for the release of their new single “This Lover Of Mine” for a truly intimate show in the tiny bar area of the main room that had already lost half the space due to the band’s equipment.
What followed was a showcase of where Tidetied is now; it was clear to the packed pub, note pub, not just room- as people were clambering everywhere just to get a view that the band has been spending the past couple of years well.
The new single This Lover Of Mine certainly delivers the goods; it’s typical Heywood swagger taking on an additional dimension live, like Blinders tracks of old used to, fitting into the set perfectly and going down well with the crowd. Indeed, the entire set was a high-energy, in-your-face sweatfest that certainly scratched an itch I’d been missing for some time since the demise of Tom’s former band and, more recently, October Drift.
There is no doubt that it will be a busy 12 months going forward for Tidetied; their debut album is incoming, their setlist is already beyond the 50 min mark, ideal as there are some very big bookings both currently in the planning and confirmed for the 2027 festival season, as well as other things, so keep an eye on the line-ups of your planned escapades for next year as well as your favourite venues, and make sure you don’t miss them if they appear on the billing, you’ll be kicking yourself if you do!
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