After cancelling part of their tour in October, the Sherlocks made their return to Rock City in February and they were definitely worth the wait. The indie rock band from Barnsley performed hit after hit with amazing live vocals and music, so it will be of no surprise that these boys are striving towards great things in the ever so near future.
Doors opened at 7pm and despite the Sherlocks not coming on until 9:40pm the time was packed with three quality support acts. This began with Vega Bay, an alternative indie band from Nottingham who certainly showed what the musical scene in our city has to offer! They were fun and had an awesome stage presence that reciprocated their musical vibe. Next came Reflekter who were much more ‘rocky’ in the musical sense, but were equally as good and got the crowd in the mood for the Sherlocks. Finally came Ivory Wave, a band from Birmingham who were super excited to be performing at Rock City, hyping the crowd up and encouraging mosh pits, whilst remaining very humble to be performing in front of such a huge audience.
Despite all the support being enjoyable to watch, I couldn’t help but notice the lack of females; the fact that there were no female bands or that any of the bands had females in. Although all the bands put on great performances it did strike me as worrying that out of three support acts (which is a decent number for a gig at Rock City), there was not one female on the stage showcasing her talent. This made me question that number of females involved in the indie/alternative music scene and how many opportunities they were getting to show off their talent.
Putting this aside, it was now time for the Sherlocks! All their music and performances were top quality, but some stand out songs included ‘Last Night’, ‘Under Your Sky’ and ‘Dreams’ as well as some classic favourites including ‘Live For The Moment’ and ‘Chasing Shadows’. Being front row even allowed for some great opportunities to feature in the music video for their new song!
The lighting and sound also added to the atmosphere of the performance as it was subtle yet effective and really allowed the band to show off their talents without being overbearing.
However, one of the things that I loved the most about this gig was how humble the performers were, particularly the Sherlocks. Their stage presence whilst performing seemed effortless and they sounded no different live as they do on a studio recording and yet they were so thankful and grateful to the crowd for their continued support and even dedicated a song to two fans who they recognised from previous tours. It was really nice to see the band giving back to the fans.
Overall the Sherlocks were well worth the wait and the entire evening was one filled with good beer, good music and good company so, I would rate it 5 out of 5 stars!
The Sherlocks new album ‘Under Your Sky’ is out now!