1 week Ago
The York band’s visit saw them on the verge of completing a 23-date sold out 30-year anniversary tour and ending a year in which they joined only 19 other acts, including The Beatles, in having two number one albums in a calendar year. As veterans of Britpop and beyond, they are a welcome bridge to the past, but their recent success with records A Matter of Time and Liquid Gold, mean songwriters, lead singer Rick Witter and lead guitarist Paul Banks, are also building into the future. Those who were there in the Nineties knew they were something special then, but now, tested by the passage of time, this band have taken things to a new level of energy and performance.
And this is a proper old-school tour, zigzagging across the country with almost consecutive dates across every night of the week, with a brass section, a quality support act in The Sherlocks, and a blistering 90-minute headline set from a band fresh from being at the top of the charts. The big songs kept coming, from punchy Where Have You Been Tonight?, Speakeasy and On Standby, to the youthful self-confidence of Bully Boy, contrasting nicely with the contemplative High Hopes, Going for Gold and Devil in Your Shoes. New numbers Talk of the Town and Starlings are future classics in the making, while Waiting for the Catch recorded with singer Issy Ferris was popular.
But whatever the tunes, this is a singalong night for the O2 Academy crowd, with the lead singer often surrendering vocal duties. Final number Chasing Rainbows was an almost spiritual encounter. “Shall we go back to 1994?”, asked Rick, before introducing Ocean Pie from their debut album Change Giver.
It was in 1994, that Shed Seven played an early south coast gig at The Joiners in Southampton. Then, new music came thick and fast as the night before at the same venue, another up-and-coming band, were on the bill by the name of Oasis. Thirty years later, Shed Seven, like their Manchester contemporaries, are getting better all the time.
Compared to the headliners’ career, Sheffield support act The Sherlocks are only just out of the blocks, but with three top ten albums of their own and a fifth record on the way, here is a formidable support act in tune with the Shed Seven crowd and willing to carry the torch for live, no-nonsense guitar music. Lead singer Kiaran Crook, his brother and drummer Brandon, lead guitarist Alex Procter and bassist Trent Jackson, also hope to follow their headliner heroes by getting their first number one album when their record Everything Must Make Sense! is released in February. Tonight, they played two stunning arena-sized singles, Man on the Loose and Death of Me, as a taster.
They will have won many new fans on this tour. Shed Seven appear at Victorious Festival, Southsea 22-24 August 2025. Their 2024 albums, A Matter of Time and Liquid Gold are out now.
The Sherlocks play The Engine Rooms, Southampton Saturday 24 May 2025. Their new album, Everything Must Make Sense!, is released 21 February 2025..
