House Party at The Octagon...
- hayleygrice1
- Dec 8, 2023
- 4 min read
Image: Little Man Tate on stage - Photo - Scott Antcliffe
As if once wasn't enough, I'd have been daft to turn down the opportunity to see Little Man Tate perform for their Homecoming gig in Sheffield.
It's been a couple of years, but what a gig!
Strap yourselves in, this could be a long one, but it's worth it.
Let's start with the support bands shall we?
Supporting the band on this occasion were both local bands Chatfield and VIVA's - something I admired, really gave that homecoming feel and sense of belonging from the get-go.
I spoke to drummer Josh and frontman Chris ahead of their support slot:
Onto their set now...
Chatfield on stage supporting Little Man Tate - Images: Scott Antcliffe Photo
It can be quite daunting opening up a gig, but it was clear that Chatfield has a loyal following, as their fans gathered down the front and were singing along, much to delight of the band.
Chris also encouraged the audience to join in with the audience singing back 'She sings along with me' - which got some good traction, overall had a good feel to it.
I'd heard little bits of Chatfield's stuff before the gig, but I was impressed by their indie riffs and Chris had a good stage presence, it was a great opener for the night.
If you want to see more of them, they're supporting the Lottery Winners next month, as well as VIVAS at Leadmill.
They also had just released their new track, 'The Record Collector' - which seemed to get a good reaction on social media too.
Drop them a follow on:
Next up was VIVA's, another Sheffield band...
VIVA's are definitely the rockiest act of the night - their new single 'Vinyl Girl' had just been released and they were excited ahead of the support slot.
I caught up with the full band ahead of the slot...
One thing that struck me with VIVA's was their really high energy, they all looked like they were having the time of their lives, just made the set more enjoyable and the audience warmed to them more with every song.
Admittedly, this was my first proper encounter with VIVA's, I'd heard they were supporting Def Leppard at Bramall Lane earlier this year, but I watched with anticipation and they really did not disappoint with their set and really got the audience ready for Little Man Tate.
I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next!
Follow them on social media:
Also one person we can't leave out is Dave Sweetmore.
I don't know about you, but I need some music inbetween sets still, it keeps the blood pumping and can often to bring some good sing-a-longs.
Dave brought exactly that, with your perfect indie tunes, which went down an absolute storm. The crowd sang along to the likes of Oasis, Kasabian, The Killers, Sam Fender and more!
Dave opened up and played in between sets, keeping the crowd going, all of which were met with admiration from the crowd.
Now onto the main event...
Image: Little Man Tate Soundcheck - Hayley Grice
I was lucky enough to be invited down early, hear soundcheck and also have a chat with Maz and Jon ahead of the gig...
One thing I love about these guys is they were their complete raw selves around me, they were happy to just chat rubbish alongside the gig, backstage was a very lively and fun atmosphere, with plenty of laughing and dry humour being thrown about.
Image: Jon Windle and Me - Hayley Grice
Best of all, Jon actually did his hair before a photo this time.
The band walked onto a fantastic reception, naturally.
One thing I will say, I have never seen so many crowd-surfers at a gig, the security had their work cut out, it was like a conveyor belt of crowd surfing fans!
They took it in their stride though and the band loved it.
Their honest and dry sense of humour carried on whilst on stage, with them joking about playing their new singles and also just having a laugh with the crowd.
A personal highlight for me, Jon did an acoustic version of 'You and Me' - inviting a fan up on stage to join him and you know what, it was pretty good, much better than I was expecting.
Little Man Tate on stage - Image: Scott Antcliffe Photo
The obvious favourites were played, with European Lover, This Must Be Love and Man I Hate Your Band all inviting mosh pits and heard the crowd singing back, which you could see how much meant to them.
And tis' the season indeed, as the band did an incredible version of 'Lonely This Christmas' by Mud, complete with guitar solos and their own unique spin on it - worth releasing as a cover in my opinion!
And to end of course, was huge hits 'Sexy in Latin' and House Party at Boothy's.
Front man Jon Windle - Image: Scott Antcliffe Photo
Which naturally, Frontman Jon went into the crowd to sing 'House Party at Boothy's' - how we managed to carry on with people jumping around him and being generally chaotic, I will never know - but it was a fantastic finale regardless and you could just tell the audience had the best time, I certainly did.
You can see a video summing up the night by Scott Antcliffe Photo below:
The album is set to be released next year, get behind the lads, I reckon 2024 is going to be a killer year for them.
And of course, their impressive back catalogue here:
Big up Jon, Maz, Ben and Dan for having me, had a right night, special mention to Ryan and Andy for putting me in touch across the tour too.
Things don't seem to get much better...
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