Dweam Babes // 60s Girl Groups-Ye Ye-Beat Chic and Sultry Soul

Event: Dweam Babes
Description: 60s Girl Groups-Ye Ye-Beat Chic and Sultry Soul
Location: The Washington
Address: 87 Fitzwilliam Street, Sheffield, England S1 4JP

It should have been a great evening  My sister was visiting, and a few of us were going to go out and have a bit of a dance in the Washington to Dweam Babes - in many ways similar to an old favourite night of mine, Be My Baby, a night which has been held at the Red House.

The music was great, however as it was a Wednesday, and towards the end of the month, sadly, there wasn't quitethe crowd that the organisers and DJ's would have wanted, or indeed as I've seen before on a Friday night, for example.

The Washington itself, is one of my favourite Sheffield pubs.  Abbeydale Moonshine is always on tap, and there was a lovely couple of malt whiskeys on the night as well.  The atmosphere is always warm, with friendly bar staff, and ample outside smoking area, and an interesting series of graffiti in the men's room.

Quiet though the bar was, the music was great, and there were the odd couple of groups dancing.  Sadly, for the most part though, it just felt as thought the either the music was too loud, or the bar too empty - too loud for a conversation, but empty enough that one could feel self-conscious dancing.  We even contemplated switching to the deep end on the other side of the bar to continue our chat.

This has the potential to be a really good night, but I think it needs to move venue, or night - I don't think that the Washington would be able to house it on a weekend, as it's generally rammed with rockers on their way to Corporation.  Nonetheless, it was a good night, and one which I would like to attend again.  So please, if you're reading this, head down to the next one - and bring a crowd!

Lunch at Relish

Event: N/A
Location: Relish
Address: 371-373 Ecclesall Road

Ah, a weekday off.  The whole day to myself.  What could be better than a walk down Ecclesall Road?  A visit to the Spice Market Café, that's what.  Or as it's now been renamed, Relish.

Crispy roast red pepper and feta risotto cakes

Upon entering the café/restaurant, you're hit by how cool the place seems.  Bob Dylan plays on the stereo.  People are just chilling out with a coffee, watching the world go by.  I've no doubt it's far busier in an evening, but after a hurried walk down Ecclesall Road, this was the perfect antidote.

We were offered our seats, and given just the right amount of time to select our drinks - a pint of Jaipur IPA for myself (like all RED/Richard Smith offerings, they serve Thornbridge and a pot of tea (which turned out to be quite generous) for Jen.

Jen had the wrap of smoked salmon shaved cucumber, cream cheese, lemon, capers, red onion, romaine lettuce and black pepper (£9) whilst I plumped for the chickpea and sweet potato burger with halloumi (£10), served on a toasted sesame breakcake with tomato, lettuce, dill pickle and red onion relish.  Both were served with chips (your choice, fries or chunky), homemade ketchup and coleslaw.  The burger was fantastic, and really filling - we didn't need a pud!

Service was swift, efficient but friendly, and the staff didn't feel like anything was a burden, and were happy to help - all members of staff we passed on the way out saying 'goodbye'.  I'd be interested to see how they cope on a bus evening, but during the day, top marks!  Many thanks.

UPDATE - THURSDAY 23rd FEBRUARY

We went back for another lunch.  This time it was busier, as we were nearer to lunch time, at 13:30, adn there were three of us.  We had Crispy roast red pepper and feta risotto cakes with roquette salad, basil niloi and tomato salsa, Salad of smoked chicken with chorizo, little gem lettuce, crispy bacon, blue cheese, walnuts, roasted red peppers with an extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic dressing and a thin tard of aubergine, dried tomatoes and goats cheese with a roquette salad.  All were really nice, however in the first instance, the salad came without the blue cheese or roasted peppers.  However, as soon as we pointed this out, the staff could not have been more helpful or apologetic, and a new meal was brought to our table within 3 minutes.  I also went for a latte this time, instead of the alcoholic beverage, and one of us had a berry smoothie, which at only £3 was phenomenal, and almost a meal in itself.

At only £42 for three meals, a smoothie, two lattes, a tea and an orange juice, Relish still comes highly recommended for quality food, helpful attentive staff and price.

Slam Bam Thank You Ma’am 2: Crappy Valentine’s Day Edition @ The Riverside

Event: Slam Bam Thank You Ma’am 2: Crappy Valentine’s Day Edition
Description: Poetry Slam
Location: The Riverside
Address: 1 Mowbray St, Neepsend, Sheffield, Yorkshire, S3 8EN

Original Flyer

It sounds a simple enough concept.  Take ten poets and 50+ guests, cram them into a tiny function room above a pub (the Riverside).  Give each poet two minutes to do their thing, and then score them, with the top five going into a final for the change of another 2 minutes to wow us.

Well, the simple ideas are always the best, and wow us they did!  The theme of the evening was love (or lack thereof).  From Gav Roberts' (of The Bridge Inn's open mic night fame) emasculating tale of having his mobile phone charger thrown to him from a bedroom window to Jevie's (I hope I've spelled you name correctly!) wonderfully soaring rhythmic piece about dancing and its important and relevance in human nature.  In between times we had love over a surgical procedure, laments over rubbish Valentine's gifts (only the rabbit was any good - and then the batteries died), an uncomfortable break-up over the telephone (it's not me - it's you) and polygamous homosexual intercourse.

The winner's trophy

The wonderful thing about any poetry slam though, of course, are that the writer/performers are ordinary human beings with normal jobs, sitting amongst the audience (I myself was sat between two of the finalists).  This give great opportunities for meeting like-minded people.  It is also, or course, fantastic to hear poetry read out by the poet, as they'd intended - to hear the inflections, rhythm and intonation, and indeed, some of my favourite were not simply well-written, sharp and funny, but well performed as well.

The eventual winner in the final was Jevie, with a powerful and violently charged piece, with Gav's dual offering including circling dead goldfish bagging him second, and first-timer Emily bagging third with a humourous riposte to my former go-to club, Corporation (and the buggers who want to take her there).

This led onto Steph Pike, performance poet, political activist and winner of the first Slam Bam Thank You Ma’am, returning for a headline slot.  Amongst her pieces was a really quite witty and rude piece about our banks, the bankers who working in them and the banking that they do which I felt was delivered impeccable, however her piece "I Want to Fuck David Cameron" left me somewhat cold.  Nonetheless, she was a great finale to a brilliant evening, and something I'd certainly like to go to again.

Please Contact Sarah Thomasin if you would like to perform at the next event.

Cool Beans - Dexter Dextrous and the Fingersmiths, Smiling Ivy & Chronicles of Graham @ The Red House

Disclaimer - My cousin is one of the founders of Chronicles of Graham

Event: Cool Beans Present.... Dexter Dextrous and the Fingersmiths!
Description: Gig
Location: 168 Solly Street, Sheffield, Yorkshire, S1 4BB
Address: The Red House

Coxstardelux.
Photo courtesy of Emily Louise Bryan

The Red House is one of my favourite pubs in Sheffield, and Chronicles of Graham one of my favourite bands - and I'm not just saying that because my cousin's in the band.  Right from the opening "Spit", in which Trickboi, Mr Icus, Little Teddy, Brogue the Rogue and whomever else gets up on stage with them to spit 16 bars each through to their finale, Little Teddy taking the lead on Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Lodi Dodi" with Coxstar Delux on the chorus, this was a tour de force.

Most of my favourites were played, from the aggression of the opener and doom metal of "Body in a Binbag", through to the reggae-inspired "Gimmie da Fing" and the crescendo of "Pick Up Little Teddy", this was one the their tightest performances, with the only slight downer for me the decreased volume on Teddy's mic following her first track.

Dave's keyboards were slick as always, and seemed to take on a far more prominent role in the songs than I was used to.  I imagine that this is a deliberate effort, and if so, it worked well.  Apron was somewhat hidden away around the corner, but his drumming was tight - he didn't drop a bollock all night.  Buddha Sez No and Didley Dee on backing vocals were (as always) fabulous, and the substitution of bouncing around like a pogo stick on a trampoline by a slow side-to-side sway following the latter belting out her own song, "Underbelly of Darkness" was most welcome, the song itself impeccably delivered as always.

Next up, Smiling Ivy.  I originally wanted to see these guys at Corporation of a bill featuring China Shop Bull and Stand Out Riot (And of course, Chronicles of Graham), but they had to pull out last minute, so I was buzzing to see them.  The dirt of Corp and the relative glitz of the Red House could not have been more different in many ways,  but they were nonetheless phenomenal.  Tonight, their frenetic brand of Ska sounded sublime, and with the crowd throwing themselves around at such a pace you could almost hear the sweat dripping from the walls and taste it in the air.  All their songs were very easy to dance to, whilst simultaneously not seeming over-familiar or generic.  The sax was sweet, the drums tight and the bass driving, whilst Dan on vocals and rhythm kept my attention, was witty and is, most importantly, a fantastic singer.

In between times, the Cool Beans DJ's kept the party flowing with dirty beats and a healthy sprinkling reggae, rock and funk.

Get down to the South Sea on St. Patrick's Day, and watch Smiling Ivy and Chronicles of Graham on the same stage again - you won't regret it, see you there!

DNA @ Sheffield Studio Theatre

Event: DNA
Description: Theatre
Location: The Studio Theatre
Address: 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, Yorkshire, S1 1DA

DNA.  An odd play, and apparently now a GCSE text, which probably explained the large number of teenagers in the audience.  The play itself, I found quite interesting,  yet somehow quite banal, repetitive even.  Maybe this is a deliberate ploy of the writer's to illustrate contemporary teenage existence - it's not all Skins fuck party fuck, nor is it Inbetweeners cringe shy cringe.  Maybe we're all just drifting along, nothing happens, banality one day, profound explanations the next, but we're all too shut off to care?

The story itself was simple enough.  A group of teenagers goaded a weaker boy into perform a dangerous stunt, and he slipped and died.  How, the group are faced with a difficult choice; do they turn themselves in, admit what they've done and face the consequences, or do they wait it out, hope no one will suspect them, even try to push the investigation - and the blame - onto someone else, an innocent man?

The somewhat weak repetitive dialogue was more than made up for by the great performances from the cast.  The lead, I suppose you would say, was Phil (James Alexandrou) although he had roughly 20% of the lines of Leah (Leah Brotherhood) whose monologues provided the profound, the ridiculous and everything in between.  Daniel Francis-Swaby had probably the most difficult role, and was sublime in depicting Brian's slip into semi-sanity.

All in all, quite an enjoyable evening, but it will seem really short at barely 80 minutes, and did on occasions seem quite sluggish.  I think that this was a mediocre evening made good by a strong cast and minimal staging, rather than a great play in itself.  Still, worth checking out.