Little Lost David / Slow Club / The Heebie Jeebies / Dan Suave / Wickerman Fisherman

@ Sheffield Abbeydale Picture House

Conditions may be bordering on arctic inside the Abbeydale Picture House. As the tables start to fill the scarves and gloves remain firmly on, but the atmosphere is cheerful.

Tonight's line-up is an ambling trip down memory lane with some of the familiar faces of Sheffield's acoustic scene. Melodic twosome Wickerman Fisherman's arrival is greeted with whoops of delight. Mixing fingerpicking hooks with psychedelic sensibilities 'Divorced From Reality' holds a quiet authority.

'November' retains a Noah and The Whale style toe-tapping rhythm that links them firmly in with the current wave of 'new folk' pioneers.

Breaking Tables consists solely of Dan 'Suave' on acoustic guitar, but this doesn't prevent him from filling the room with his melancholy musings. Of these 'Hospital Bed' is by far the best, mixing his macabre hallucinations with pure heartfelt sentiment, a winning combination.

Decked out in bizarre circus attire complete with horrifyingly crotch hugging leggings The Heebie Jeebies should have the audience running for the hills. Yet their infectious brand of foot-tapping rockabilly keeps them endlessly enthralled.

Stretching their grip on Americana from Kings of Leon on 'In Conversation' to a slack jawed Ramones on 'Snow Plough' there are effortlessly catchy and endlessly likeable.

Making a low-key return to the Sheffield stage local heroes Slow Club bring some much-needed warmth to the mid-winter chill. Charles gently strums as Rebecca bangs a tinsel clad drum that reverberates throughout the room.

They falter through 'Lets Fall Back In Love' and 'Me and You', looking slightly bashful, rattling out the beats on the back of a broken chair. By the time they reach 'Trophy Room' things are decidedly looser and bordering on raucous as they shout, "all these new friends stare and remind me of what I haven't got".

Also back on the scene after a notable absence is Little Lost David with drummer Chris Basford. Cutting a slightly gaunt, care-worn figure during 'Lord Knows' he seems somewhat detached. Thwacking at his guitar like he's doling out corporal punishment he zips through 'Honeydew' at lightning speed. As things slow down he takes time to play around with his vocals, cutting through the bitter cold air and snapping things back into focus.

'Devil Don't Mind' sees the tone become slightly menacing, but as the crowd starts to thin the atmosphere softens. David seems at his happiest playing to the appreciative few, glass of wine in hand. But then this whole evening seems to centre on friendship as everyone stomps along in a last gasp of pre-Christmas cheer. As the last line rings out 'We're all going straight to hell', they all seem happy to throw themselves right into the fiery pit and carry on dancing.

Kate Parkin

Sonic Boom Six

@ Leeds Rios

It's been a hectic, eclectic year for SB6, first with a support tour with Reel Big Fish helping raise the band's profile across the UK, closely followed by 2 US trips and performing to healthy audiences at both Rebellion festivals (Blackpool and Vienna).

I managed to miss all the support acts due the obligatory work's Christmas do but managed to arrive just before SB6 kicked off.

SB6 have a new album, new line-up, new set list, and new onstage dress code, even new haircuts / colour.

But new is not necessarily good, and the band's performance seems strangely flat. Perhaps they're just worn out? Youngsters today can't handle the pace.

They opened with the anthemic "Sound Of A Revolution" which usuually gets the audience jumping but apart from a bit of half-hearted side-to-side movement the crowd remained subdued. The introduction of a second guitar beefs up the rock aspect of the band, but the appeal of SB6 lies in their genre-defying moments, so more in this case is actually less. Tonight's hip-hop offerings are limited to "Tell Me Something…" and a truncated version of "Ya Basta!" (complete with guest Babar Luck, ex King Prawn). We are treated to a couple of new tunes in the shape of "Play On" which is an up tempo dash of slick ska, whilst "We Wanna War" is a plodder with a frenetic chorus.

The show gradually peters out, igniting briefly during 'Piggy In The Middle' and 'Bigger Than Punk Rock'. However, you can't help feeling that SB6 are at a crossroads in their careers. Whether they have either the enthusiasm or ability to take the right turn remains to be seen. Watch this space.

Steve Blackman

Herman Dune / Baby Skins

@ Leeds Brudenell Social Club

Amidst the bongos and brass on the often too small stage of the Brudenell, a tiny ukulele sits, anomalous yet utterly right for an evening which will be heavy in the 'aaaw' factor. Teeth braced for a sugar assault like no other, life is sweet in here tonight.

Baby Skins are Angela Carlucci and Crystal Madrilejos, two very sweet girls who are not only supporting Herman Dune on this tour but also providing backing vocals. Looking mawkishly bashful, they strum away at their guitars, singing together on the verge of giggles while old father David-Ivan Herman Dune looks on approvingly, sat on stage left. It's wispy, adolescent and sweet sweet sweet, cloyingly so, especially when they drop their guitars and go into a sing and tap routine. Herman Dune join them for the last two songs, which kinda taints their innocence (like the wing tattoo on one of their arms) but still leaves their lovelorn brief snatches of adolescent folk pretty pure. Not for the cynical, but hey, you don't come to a Herman Dune gig looking for cynicism.

"I thank you for coming out," says David, "it's pretty cool." The Brudenell is full to capacity for the mild-mannered Swedish-French brothers out of New York combo and listening to David's unique nasal burr and looking at his mid-seventies history professor style, it's easy to see why – where else could you hear armour rhymed with warmer. Though David opens on his own, he is soon joined by his brother Neman and the rest of the band, including Baby Skins as mentioned and the John Natchez Bourbon Horn Players. The tales of love, kissing, love from a distance, more kissing and nostalgia are saved from schmaltzageddon by the mariachi country sound, David's stream of memory delivery and the noncommittal exchanges between David and Neman. Plus, you get a lot of bangs for your buck – most of 'Giant' gets aired plus singles 'I Wish That I Could See You Soon' and '1-2-3/Apple Tree', the latter of which takes on a whole new complexion with the added horns. The highlight of the night though has to be David's solo rendition of 'Next Year In Zion' on ukulele, dripping with all the things that make Herman Dune great – pathos, anecdote and great, great rhymes. By the end, I am beaming like a lighthouse and, quite frankly, anyone who isn't lacks part of their soul. Poor grizzle-guts.

Rob Wright

The Old Romantic Killer Band / Hard Luck Child / Ernies Rhythm Section / A Bear

@ Manchester Tiger Lounge

A Bear are a three piece grunge rock band who can be described as enthusiastic; this is not to say they can't play because they can. The front man owns screaming vocals, which did however at times become inaudible. It has to be said that the attempted stage antics of the guitarist and bass player walking around the pub trying to impress the crowd began to wear a little thin. This said, they are a band that may benefit from more exposure and experience… one to watch.

Ernies Rhythm Section are an agglomeration of several bands, with the renowned John Fairhurst on guitar duties, and played an impeccable set of blues standards. With some subtle guitar picking, sturdy upright bass, smooth saxophone and some raw harmonica pulled together with an excellent blues voice, this band cannot be beat in their class. The band looks like a bunch of bohemian throw-outs and sound like blues musicians from a year yester past, a perfect combination. If you like down tempo original blues music, do not miss this troupe.

Hard Luck Child hail from Manchester and an internet search revealed they were in fact a three piece dirty garage blues band. Listed influences included the Soledad Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Canned Heat, Ten Years After, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. From a personal point of view, only one possible influence could be heard, somewhat reminiscent of the Soledad Brothers, but only just. The sound mix was poor and with each song according to the same tempo and without any discernable dynamics, this reviewer felt let down by a band that promised so much. To maximise the potential of such a young band willing to rekindle blues music the slide guitar should be have been put to more use and their current songs need some work.

The Leeds based Killers of Old fashioned Romance are a two piece outfit. When attempting to explain the Killer Band's setup to friends you may cite bands such as The Black Keys, The White Stripes or The Kills, this however would only be numerically correct. The band mix heavy blues guitar riffs with grunge rock and roll and throw in folk orientated ballads. The couple of very likeable characters kicked the set off with Girl You Have All The Fun followed by Lovers Pass. The difference between this band and the aforementioned duo's are the softer melodic vocals from Harry. The twosome played the rest of the tracks from album including, Trouble Causer and Pigs but also threw in a new song for good measure. There has been quite a bit of hype around this band of late and big things are promised for them in 2009, we are likely to see them playing the major festivals.

If the opportunity raises its head go and watch this band live and get hold of a copy of The Swan with Two Necks (Bad Sneakers Records), in any order, you will not be disappointed.

Paul "Pablo" Roffey

Architects / Misery Signals / A Textbook Tragedy

@ Sheffield Corporation

For every band opening a show they all know it's the toughest job in the live game. Tonight proves no different for the boys in A Textbook Tragedy either. Taking the stage with a room of around 500 faces ATT manage to usher a glimpse of movement from the crowd with their tried and tested hardcore antics, whilst sounding tighter than Gordon Browns pocket and with a drummer more insane than jack the ripper their stage presence was nothing new than that already seen by other hardcore bands.

Misery Signals have the next task of the night and prove to fair well. With old favourites like "5 Years" going down a treat and kicking up a storm with a performance of" The Failsafe", this enables the quintet to gain maximum crowd participation causing a string of stage divers and grouped gang vocal shout outs.

After warming the crowd nicely Misery Signals leave the stage and leave it to Brighton metal outfit Architects to grasp what's left of the energy and throw it in the faces of onlookers. "You'll Find Safety" crashes into play and causes an absolute ruckus within the ranks. Architects dedicated fan base sing along to every line and the 5 piece love it. With Sam the blonde – haired vocalist's banter in between tracks of "the last time we played here there was about 50 people that showed up" was soon bellowed out from the 500 army in front of him. With Hollow Crown, Architects third album due out on 26th January it is a bold statement to play a total of 5 tracks from the album with a set of only 10 songs, but with confidence in the album so high it understandable to see why these are chosen. Every member of the crowd had clearly been illegally indulging in some downloading of said album shouting back the key lines in each of the new songs, but the smiles on the face of the whole band says it all. They're delighted with the reception they've worked so long and hard for. Good on you fellers.

Brad Simpson

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