Now, I’ve been looking forward to this gig since I first saw the poster and immediately begged the editor for a photo pass. I’d been meaning to catch Sheffield’s Hidden Mothers for a while, and headliners YOB are a band I would never consciously pass up the chance to experience live.
Hidden Mothers came out to no fanfare, just an abrupt stop to the background music and some awkward moments of silence. However, when they started their set of Post-Black Metal/Screamo it was an intense emotional rollercoaster of a show.
A big full sound, which used the post elements of their sound to build a palpable ebb and flow to their set, quite a masterful build-up of tension and release throughout, which meant it was easy enough to get caught up in the emphatic emoting from the stage by singer Steffan Benham. Although almost scuppered early on by a broken bass drum, which mean that for half of a song he was having to hold the bass drum in place, until a suitable chunky concrete block was found.
The lighting and sound were excellent, and I felt their weighty sound and intensity made them a very appropriate choice of support for YOB, even if playing The Wipers, during the 20-minute changeover didn’t necessarily capitalise on that energy.
Just after 9pm YOB took to the stage, which made me very happy indeed. The last time I saw them was at the Ruby Lounge a few years ago, and it was a life-affirming joy of a gig. With every band I’ve seen since live music returned having upped their game considerably, this gig had the potential to see me melt into a literal puddle. Post pandemic, how will they fare? In a word it was fantastic.
For the uninitiated YOB are nominally a Doom band as genre’s go, but there’s nothing doomy about them, and are one of the most uplifting bands you can see live. YOB on record are special, but their live high decibel, sinus shaking meditation is phenomenal and will have your frontal lobes purring like a kitten. There’s such power to the music, yet even amid such venue shaking power there’s a beauty and fragility to the performance particularly the vocals.
At the end of the set, as a reminder that there’s still a pandemic going on despite the lack of restrictions, Mike told us that he’d usually hang out with the crowd but didn’t feel he could this time because of covid and worried about tours being cancelled so much. It was obvious from the way he addressed the crowd, expressing love and joy that he was as grateful for the audience as the audience was of the performance. He did at the end hop off stage and spent some time in the front row
An absolutely spellbinding and even mind-altering set, and it was much needed after the last few chaotic years.
Check out our recent interview with Mike of YOB:
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY RICH PRICE