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In Case Of Fire - Leadmill, Sheffield - 25th May 2009 Support: Telegraphs, Mybe
The predictably miserable bank holiday weather probably has something to do with the low turn out tonight. At first, it seems like Sheffield’s own pop-punkers Mybe have gotten a rough deal as, when they take to the stage at seven thirty, the crowd barely stretches into double figures. However, halfway through headliners In Case of Fire’s set, and the crowd is hovering around the thirty mark. In retrospect, Mybe’s turn out was none too shabby and, as the Sheffield three-piece inform us, it’s quality not quantity that counts.
Mybe pedal an instantly likeable brand of spring-heeled punk-punk with plenty of bouncing drumbeats, skittering chords and sing along choruses, with the irresistibly hooky ‘State of Emergency’ being a particular set highlight. However, initially it’s difficult to think about anything other than the fact that their guitarist Ross is a dead ringer for Anti-Flag’s Chris#2. He has the dangly black fringe, the height and all of Chris2#’s angular stage moves. It’s really quite eerie.
Mybe are occasionally guilty of trying a little too hard and looking hammy. They gurn; wind-mill their arms before bringing their picks dramatically down and striking a single note; pogo around in tight circles and stamp on the spot. “There’s no room on this stage!” frontman Jim quips “I’ve got a dead leg from jumping around in one place!” And he’s right: there is no room onstage, and there are roughly eighteen unimpressed Scene fops loitering around watching Mybe. While exuberance and energy are usually a good thing, occasionally Mybe are in danger of looking desperate. After all, pulling two hundred silly faces per minute, while jumping on the spot and head-banging, is a little too much on a drizzly Monday evening, when less than twenty people have come out to see you play. No-one’s that easily pleased.
But, Mybe have an arsenal of sugary pop-punk tracks, they look the part and are clearly undeterred by poor turn outs. They deserved a bigger crowd, where their enthusiasm would feel less out of place. Let’s hope Sheffield gets behind these local boys soon.
Next up are another band with phenomenal levels of enthusiasm and energy, who approach their half an hour slot like headliners. Brighton’s Telegraphs have two born performers in their midst, in the shape of vocalist Darcy Harrison and co-vocalist and bassist Hattie Williams.
Darcy seems to have based his onstage performance on that of a zealous preacher. He croons into the microphone, eyes closed, face twisted in an expression poised somewhere between pain and ecstasy, while pawing at himself, before reaching beseechingly out to the audience. It isn’t as cringe-worthy as you’d expect; his mildly crazed appearance prevents his heart-on-his-sleeve performance from being toe-curling.
Meanwhile, Hattie is the sort of frontwoman we don’t see enough of in rock. She headbangs, stomps around and shakes her tousled locks in true sassy, grungy fashion.
As their set progresses, it becomes clear the duo aren’t prepared to stay stage-bound, as Hattie goes for a wander around the front rows with her bass. The front rows immediately disperse, leaving her to swagger and strut around the area where a mosh pit would be, if indeed, everyone hadn’t shuffled to the back of the room out of her reach.
Then, it’s Darcy’s turn to terrorise the audience (or at the very least, make them feel slightly self-conscious) as he tumbles off the stage and wheels around the room, staggering and bouncing between the awkward-looking spectators, still wailing into his microphone with his eyes sealed shut, and that agonised/euphoric expression still on his face.
A slightly fuller crowd (i.e. one where there’s somewhere to hide if you don’t want to be dragged into the Telegraphs sideshow) and these crowd invasions would have incited chaos. As it is, it’s a fun spectacle - you just feel sorry for those bystanders who got sucked into it.
Mybe and Telegraphs are surprisingly good for support bands. They both put in passionate performances and seem completely oblivious to the fact that only a handful of people actually seem interested in their performance. They both deserve bigger audiences to bounce off and win over, and hopefully more prestigious support slots will come their way soon.
Headliners In Case of Fire are a little different, their prog-tinged, technical art-rock means that their set is more about the music than the entertainment. With only three band members, there’s very little onstage movement. Vocalist and guitarist Steve Robinson is, of course, stuck behind his microphone for ninety percent of the set, and the drummer isn’t about to leap out from behind his kit anytime soon. Consequently, after Telegraphs, they feel a little leaden.
The Irish three-piece also don’t seem to have mastered the art of banter yet. Steve mumbles the song titles and occasionally pushes the boat out with a vague and embarrassed “thank you,” but he’s clearly not comfortable addressing the crowd, and his every attempt at between-song banter trails off into awkward silence.
Thankfully, the music more than makes up for their lack of charisma and entertainment value. To say just three people are onstage, they pack one hell of a sonic punch. The skin-crawling central riff of ‘This Time We Stand’ coils around you as tightly as it does on record, before the euphoric chorus almost blows the roof right off the Leadmill.
However, the technicality and the weight of their sound, highlights just how bad the mix is. The bass keeps dropping off, and the drums are turned up way too high. After a while, you’ll be able to look past the drumbeats but, for the first few songs at least, all you’ll be able to hear is the gun-crack every time drummer Colin Robinson brings his sticks down.
The mix is rubbish, but frontman Steve has the sort of voice that could wrestle with even the most appalling set-up, and come out on top. His soaring, whistle-clean vocals are simply jaw-dropping. A few times during the set, he unleashes a falsetto warble, and his voice just keeps on expanding, effortlessly filling the whole venue, and straining to go further.
In Case of Fire probably did themselves a disservice by casting two high-octane, instantly-likeable bands as their supporting acts. Live, Telegraphs and Mybe are all about energy and entertainment, and Telegraphs in particular have a riotous, anything-could-happen stage persona that’s like a diluted and sanitised version of Toronto mentallists Fucked Up.
Next to them, In Case of Fire may seem a less exciting prospect, but their prog-tinged art-rock has ‘future cult heroes’ written all over it. Their frontman has an awe-inspiring voice and the levels of intricacy and, in particular, loudness, they’re able to achieve with just three members is nothing short of astounding. With their ‘Align The Planets’ album garnering rave reviews from the mainstream music press, In Case of Fire might be worth checking out, before everyone else decides to.
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