Bohicas @ Leadmill

Review of The Bohicas, with support from local bands The Sonik Seeds, Hot Soles and Seize The Chair.

A surprisingly local affair, The Bohicas’ gig at The Leadmill saw three Sheffield bands take to the stage in support of the Essex foursome. First up three piece garage rock ‘n’ rollers The Sonik Seeds smashed through a short set of fast-paced tunes, with latest single ‘Modern Medicine’ being the stand out track, injecting their set with a slice of raw Queens of the Stone Age style energy.

Following that Hot Soles entertained us with their brand of (in their own words) “aggressive soul”. And if you’re wondering what the hell that involves, it’s sort of like a bluesy raucous mash up of AC/DC and the Black Keys. And it works. Even in today’s somewhat over saturated market of rock duos, there’s no doubt that Hot Soles deserve a spot if tonight’s anything to go by.

The third support comes from Seize The Chair, whose set was delivered with the gusto of a headliner and the veracity of four blokes who really don’t seem to give a shit. What ensues is half an hour or so of ‘60s inspired surf/garage rock and guitar pop songs performed with relentless vigour and proficiency – a couple of members of the band swap instruments between songs with seamless ease. Well known for controversial stage antics (predominantly involving a lack of clothes) this is one of the tamer shows in the band’s recent history, which allows for the music to really shine through. Currently on the road with Menace Beach, I don’t think it will be long before this band is topping the bill on their own tour.

After some serious warming up the crowd are more than ready for The Bohicas who deliver a tight knit set comprising of songs from their debut album, released over the summer. After seeing them at The Harley back in May, the band have gathered a bit of momentum as well as a bigger audience since then, and prove they are more than qualified to take on the bigger venue. Looking and sounding sharp, it’s an arresting set of fast and furious rock ‘n’ roll numbers; tracks which really shine include ‘Crush Me’, ‘XXX’ and the unyielding ‘Swarm’.  Their album and and tour is aptly named The Making Of, and after tonight’s performance it’s safe to say that it might just be that for the band.