A trip to the now iconic Leadmill in Sheffield for what promised to be a great night.
First up was Luxury Goods a band unknown to me before tonight, performing their first gig since before lockdown. This Sheffield based band hit the stage and from the off some catchy tunes followed. Charismatic singer Leonie charmed the audience with heartfelt chatter in between songs. Clearly the band had been determined to make this first show happen as the keyboard player was standing in at short notice due to illness and to be fair he didn’t miss a note. I spoke to Leonie briefly after the show, she was really excited to be performing live again, really happy with the performance and let me in on the fact that she is actually from The Netherlands… Check out the band’s website for further gig and future release information
https://linktr.ee/weareluxurygoods
Next up was Frankie Beetlestone, I do have to confess at this point that my son Dan plays drums for Frankie, so conscious that some might see any review I publish as having a slightly bias point of view.
I will just say for the record though that Frankie and the band have had an incredibly successful 2021. Supporting Tom Grennan on his UK Tour, along with numerous festival appearances, a sold-out Sheffield headline gig, radio one support and airplay and a successful London sold out BBC Introducing show in November.
Check out Frankie’s latest EP ‘Tasting The Sky’ on all major streaming platforms.
Onto headline act Zuzu, hailing from Liverpool and destined for huge success based on the strength of tonight’s final UK headline tour performance and recent positive media attention.
Taking to the stage in front of a packed crowd, what struck me immediately was Zuzu’s fantastic image and confident stage presence coupled with powerful and unique sounding vocals.
Zuzu was one of the very first Northern Hemisphere artistes to perform a non-socially distanced show back in May, supporting the Blossoms in front of a 5000 strong crowd and that live show pedigree shone through tonight. Capturing the audience’s attention from the opening chords of ‘Timing’ we were treated to songs from latest album release ‘Queensway Tunnel’ along with other firm fan favourites.
My personal highlights from the set were ‘Never Again’ ‘What You Want’, the very catchy ‘My Old Life’ and closing tune ‘Queensway Tunnel’
Zuzu has a fantastic band and is a talented musician in her own right playing guitar on a number of tunes. By the end of the set the Sheffield crowd were cheering for more and It is pretty clear to see that a successful 2022 is written in the stars.
Check out Zuzu’s latest album and 2020 release EP ‘How It Feels’ on all major streaming platforms.
