A Saturday night trip to Sheffield City Hall this week and something a bit different for me. Having tuned in to Sophie’s Instagram Friday ‘Kitchen Disco’ episodes during the pandemic I had become a fan. Her online presence made me smile and in an otherwise bleak period during lockdown, she was a weekly ray of sunshine to lots of people I’m sure.
On the back of lockdown success, Sophie released her album “Songs from the Kitchen Disco’ and tonight was the 5th date of the Kitchen Disco Tour!
Looking around the City Hall the crowd were very much a mixed age group and were clearly up for a party well before Sophie burst onto the stage. Sat astride a huge white horse singing the classic ‘Take Me Home’ the excited crowd rose to its feet to welcome Sophie and her band and the party kicked off in style.
Sophie has a fantastic personality, engaging and funny, she pulled in the crowd with some great ‘Sheffield fun facts’ banter, along with a spinning wheel of random song choices. The whole thing was well thought through and being a Sheffield lad myself I immediately warmed to Sophie as did the huge Sheffield crowd.
What ensued was a trip through a number of high energy covers, mixed in with a slower song section and Sophie’s own hugely successful originals. A new track called ‘Hypnotised’ impressed me. A fantastic atmosphere, the crowd sang along, dancing in the isles and lapping up what was on offer.
Along with fabulous stage presence Sophie has a great voice, a unique style that could only be hers and coupled with a stellar group of musicians (husband Richard Jones on Bass) and an impressive stage set (a bigger version of her Kitchen!) I was hugely impressed.
Bringing the night to a close with hit ‘Murder on the Dance Floor’ the crowd clearly wanted more and Sophie obliged with the Madness cover ‘Our House’ and closed with ‘A few of my Favourite Things’ to end a really enjoyable Saturday night in Sheffield.
Supporting Sophie tonight was Australian born and UK based Holiday Sidewinder (yes that’s her name) who performed an impressive solo set of largely her own materiel. Great stage presence and musicianship supported by some very catchy tunes. Holiday impressed the crowd and was the ideal support for Sophie who she cited as her good friend. Check out Holidays latest release ‘Face of God’ on all popular streaming platforms.
So to sum up if you haven’t yet got a ticket to see this tour it is highly recommended. Do yourself a favour and go party with Sophie, I guarantee you will enjoy it.
