Whilst many, including this penitent reviewer, saw the demise of the city-wide, multi-venue Tramlines in favour of a one-stop shop in Hillsborough Park as the death knell for up-and-coming bands, that Cassandra-esque view has been well and truly dismissed. And then some.
As local music promoter Alex Deadman puts it, “The Fringe is the biggest city-wide music celebration in South Yorkshire and one of the region’s most accessible cultural events”. And he’s spot on. The ability to play at some of Sheffield’s most prestigious venues with top-quality tech and sound-systems is an offer fledgling bands and artists of all genres would find difficult to turn down.
So they don’t, thus attracting bands like the excellent Cattle Grid to open proceedings at Delicious Clam’s intimate space. “I got bored with constantly being pushed in the direction of string quartets,” lead vocalist and classically trained violinist Ang told me post-show. “We wrote some songs at a retreat – hopefully next time there’ll be a hot tub!”
“I’ve been practising my Stevie Wonder bass lines” adds Maddie, before guitarist Mirela and drummer Zoe confirm that an EP is in the pipeline, subject to them finding an appropriate producer. Openers ‘Cat Calling’ and ‘He’s My Man’ drip with sardonic comment about male misogyny, before the Mirela-penned ‘Hong Kong’ leads us through to ‘Take It Back’ and ‘Where Your Mouth Is’ (available on Bandcamp).
The excellently titled ‘Katastrofa’ takes us nicely through to the one-minute-forty punk mayhem of set-closer ‘Witches’. I ask where they purloined their triangular metal Cattle Grid road sign from – surely it was, ahem, acquired surreptitiously? “No, not at all,” explains Ang. “£80 from the internet!”.
Knorke describe their sound as a mix of psychedelic post-punk with a dose of wonky krautrock, which pretty much covers it. A few songs into their set, it’s clear there’s not a disturbingly weird time signature on earth that this four-piece outfit won’t embrace, all driven by a tub-thumping backbeat from drummer Andy Sissons who later resurfaces playing for Dearthworms at Sidney & Matilda the following day.
Their nine-song set relies on psych/prog Devo-esque guitars as the band drive through ‘Lindow’, ‘Boys’, ‘Memory’ and ‘Gruel’, albeit there’s a bit of a dampener as their frontman and keyboardist moans about his dislike of a song. “I hate this one, I just don’t like it,” he wails to his bandmates. They look aghast, but crack on regardless.
Hammering out their unique form of observational rock is business-as-usual for sonic stalwarts Mock Tudors, and HRH Richard of Rawmarsh, Tom Thumb and Benry VIII – bedecked here in all-black Adidas clobber – take no prisoners as they whip up an expectant Clam crowd.
Like a vastly heavier and lyrically venomous version of Half Man, Half Biscuit, the three-piece take on the comical notoriety of the first person to put out their rubbish on ‘Bin Day’, before the lager-based rattle of ‘Back On The Pils’ as well as fan favourites ‘Michael’, ‘Bozo’ and closer ‘Hair Of The Dog’.
It’s difficult to describe the uplifting spirit, bonhomie and sheer goodwill evident at events such as these. The Tramlines Fringe couldn’t be more diametrically opposed to its supposedly bigger cousin – a peoples’ event curated by venue owners and promoters for the love of music. Sheffield’s music scene is all the better for it.