Late last month, Sheffield was introduced to a brand new act in a relatively new-to-the-scene venue. Lunghorn performed their debut gig down at Spring Tank Studios, and they delivered banger after banger, let me tell you.
Supporting Lunghorn, in order of appearance, we had Monqi, Daniel Whitehouse and Blue John. With the tempo and buzz increasing band after band, the three excellent acts paved the way expertly for Lunghorn to finish off. Monqi started proceedings with her melancholic, elegant and dream-inducing tunes. Daniel Whitehouse then came in with a cool and collected energy, giving us some great rhythms, a killer backing bass and drum beat, tied together by mature and experienced vocals – a three-piece that felt akin to a slightly softer, more British version of Viagra Boys. The final of the three supports, Blue John, rocked the socks off the venue with a gentle alternative rock sound accompanied by superb lyrics and vocals.
A perfect crescendo for the evening to finish on following the last few hours of great tunes, the frontman who brought Lunghorn out of his mind and into reality is one Joe Zain. Joe and his assembled band (Frazer Spooner on lead guitar, Richard Lewis on bass, and Joe Sooklall on drums), in only a month and a bit, have managed to bring to life the emotionally engaged and heavy-hearted songs of Sheffield’s newest addition to the alt rock scene.
You wouldn’t know it was Lunghorn’s debut live performance; they held the energy of the room effortlessly. Singing and playing passionately in reference to deep heartbreak, emotional scars, and the struggles and pains of addiction, the real-life pain was evident on the face of the frontman as he beautifully channelled those negative emotions from the past and turned them into music – an escape, a salvation at the end of a road well travelled. The kind of music that can illicit feelings in you which are an axiomatic truth of life as a human, as an emotionally engaged entity.
Spring Tank Studios was the perfect place for Lunghorn to debut, and hopefully gigs like this will help put the studio more on the map as a standout music venue for grassroots performances throughout Sheffield. The good vibrations were kept on high through the whole four-hour event.
Lunghorn will continue to write emotionally in-tune music, hopefully for a very long time, and I have no doubt in my mind that they will make the world a better place for having done so. If I were you, I’d give them a listen and keep an eye out for their next gig. You don’t want to miss this band.
