Wildhearts / A / Tragedy

@ Sheffield Academy

Due to lack of sales, The Wildhearts gig at the Academy had to be moved to the smaller room. The Wildhearts have visited Sheffield so frequently over the past few years that interest in the band has plummeted. Still a packed Academy 2 crowd were as excited as ever to see the band.

Tragedy, "the best heavy metal tribute to the Bee-Gees" opened the night in comical fashion. Dressed in the iconic silver and glitter attire, the band put on a great set that received a warm response from the crowd. A were on next, playing for the first time in four years. The band admitted they hadn't rehearsed prior to this gig, but they still put on a formidable set featuring well known hits from their commercially successful album Hi-FI Serious. Lead singer Jason Perry looked a lot more bulky since his last appearance in the public eye, but he was clearly relishing being back on a stage and his desire and drive to put on a good show cannot be fault. After playing the well known Starbucks, they finished with Nothing much to the crowds delight.

The Wildhearts closed the night with a crowd pleasing set, playing from their back catalogue spanning fifteen years. Despite the bands disappointment at not playing the bigger room of the Academy, they were left with 500 passionate fans crammed into a room singing every line to every song. Ginger spent several minutes debating the colour of the lighting in the room much to the crowd's amusement, before thanking the crowd for seeing them because "whether you have cash or not, some things are just worth paying for". Fans went home jubilant after seeing three great performances in one night, although with turnout so low whether The Wildhearts will return to Sheffield remains to be seen.

Tom Crowther

Jarvis Cocker / Jeffrey Lewis

@ Sheffield Academy

Rough Trade Records, the indie institution and home to acts such as The Strokes, The Smiths and The Long Blondes, is 30 years old. To celebrate, owners Geoff Travis and Jeanette Lee booked five 'parties' around the UK featuring Rough Trade acts Jarvis Cocker and Jeffrey Lewis.

Jeffrey Lewis shambled onstage fairly early, playing a solo acoustic set of mainly new material – indeed, he aborted one tune halfway through as he forgot the words. While Lewis' childlike songs failed to win over a chattering audience, he managed to charm the Academy with his comic-book 'movie' of Barack Obama's US election win, narrated to the accompaniment of a portable cassette player.

Jarvis Cocker, however, meant business from the off, striding onstage with a 'pointy stick' to deliver a set that was, in his words, 'part concert, lecture and disco'. The lecture included a vintage Cocker rant about a child's slide recently removed from Endcliffe Park, while the newly-bearded Jarvis halted proceedings to ask whether his facial hair made him look 'a bit like Peter Sutcliffe'.

Jarvis remained as energetic as ever, leaping from the monitors and gesticulating wildly at the audience as he premiered songs destined for a new album next year. Particular standouts among the new songs were the clattering opener 'Further Complications', with Jarvis shrieking that 'your life is just a carrier bag', and the dramatic 'Girls Like It Too', 'a song about sitting on a three-bar gate'. Pulp songs are still strictly off-limits; Cocker only reached as far into his back catalogue as 2006's Jarvis LP, his voice soaring on the character study 'Big Julie'.

Later, the disco element of the night failed miserably - Jarvis miraculously appeared at the back of the venue, spinning Barry White and MGMT discs to a suddenly uninterested audience. Maybe they were only willing to indulge him so much.

Richard Blackledge

The Hold Steady / The Mark Inside

@ Sheffield Leadmill

It's Sunday night, it's Sheffield Leadmill, it's The Hold Steady on their UK tour! The perfect mixture for a great live gig.

Supporting The Hold Steady tonight are four piece indie / rock band The Mark Inside, getting the crowd warmed up. With great baselines and fantastic rhythm these guys are sure to impress although slightly lacking in the band-to-audience banter which people tend to find more intimate at a gig. Other than that The Mark Inside, dare I say it... rocked!? That's the only word I really have to describe them and there was something that didn't quite stand out about them, like one of those bands you just don't know what to say about them except 'They were good'.

But, now a band I really do have lots to say about - The Hold Steady. After cancelling their UK tour in October, the audience were eager for them to take to the stage this evening, and with a warm American welcome from the band they head straight into their first song. Now, I was very interested in seeing what they had to deliver having only heard a small amount of material from them and I'm pleased to say I was very impressed. They are refreshingly talented and manage to capture the audience's attention throughout, and with fantastically written songs and storytelling lyrics they had me hooked. Not to cause any offence, but these guys are no spring chickens and they don't have lots of teenage fans throwing themselves at the band, but that's part of what's so good about them, and they still manage to make the gig fun and lively and it was a very intimate performance, especially when playing great tracks like 'Constructive Summer', and 'Sequestered in Memphis'. I was blown away by the fact that they sound just as good live as they do on CD, it was almost as if they were playing their CD really loud and miming along (which of course was not the case, we're not at a Britney Spears concert!). I would recommend to anyone to go and see The Hold Steady live, you'll be pleasantly surprised even if you've never heard of them before - they are what a live band should sound like!

Amy Baker

Okkervil River / Stars And Sons

@ Manchester Academy

It's fitting that in the week which saw Barack Obama's historic win to become America's first African – American president that Okkervil River hit UK shores in support of latest release 'The Stand Ins'. Not because their blend of Americana that encompasses elements of folk, rock and alternative is relatable to the charismatic leader but because like Obama, it represents everything good that is happening in America.

On support duty, Brighton quartet Stars And Sons offered up a tasty half hour of energetic indie. However what really impressed was not just the band's sound but also their rawness; that sense that there really is untapped potential here, with current single 'In The Ocean' a standout anthem.

So on to the main attraction and producing an equally rousing performance of material mainly from their current release and their previous effort 'The Stage Names', Okkervil River proved they can deliver. Inspiring numerous sing and clap alongs to tracks such as 'Lost Coastlines', 'Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe' and 'Unless It's Kicks', watching the Texan quintet it's not hard to see why they've received so much critical acclaim back home; their unique mix of instrumentation and genuine individuality is as bold as their music. And during set highlight 'John Allyn Smiths Sails' that borrows its closing chorus from The Beach Boys classic 'Sloop John B', there's not a frown in sight in the packed Academy. An encore of the beautifully delicate 'A Girl In Port' brings the night to a triumphant close. If only all gigs could be this special.

Tom Bailey

Random Hand

@ Leeds Cockpit

Random Hand are a four piece Ska Punk band from Keighley with a lot, it would seem, to shout about. Stood in the cockpit, I noticed a distinct air of anticipation that only a band like Random Hand could generate. Most of the people in this room have probably seen this band countless times before, yet as soon as the band hit the stage the crowd erupt into a frenzy as if it was the first time they'd had the privilege of seeing their favourite band live.

RH is possibly one of the most energetic bands I've seen. Lead singer Robin Leitch parades the stage like a trombone wielding nutter, whilst guitarist Matthew Crosher head bangs as if he were in a death metal band.

The whole set stays energetic and, more importantly, it stays interesting. Random Hand remind me of Punk music in the seventies, when a band demanded your attention and you gave it to them whole-heartedly, something which to be honest has been lacking from the genre ever since. It's probably something to do with their underground attitude, their genuine love of the audience and their acknowledgement to the friends that have helped them over the years.

'Scum Triumphant' kicks in and sends everyone into the second frenzy of the night with a speedy, punchy chorus that you just have to participate in, and then without pause we're straight into 'Anthropology' with a sweeping siren to accompany, which fits the song beautifully.

So overall a very good set. Some cool songs and a great performance. What else could one ask for?

Justin Myers

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