Words: Nick Harland
It was almost the gig that never happened – again. COVID-19 caused the postponement of The Big Moon’s original planned Leadmill show in October 2020, and then put pay to the rescheduled date in March 2021.
Eventually, after a near two-year delay, the gig was finally set to go ahead in September 2022. Well, that was before the band’s equipment got stranded in Spain. But when there was a last-minute Twitter callout to Sheffield to borrow the gear they needed to play, the people of Sheffield were never going to let them down, were they?
Equipment borrowed, the show was finally on. And we’re lucky the show did go on. A lot has happened to the group since that original show was cancelled: one album released, one album recorded and one new little‘un in the life of new parent (and lead singer) Juliette Jackson. The gig felt like a lifting of the clouds that have been hovering over the indie pop group since it was first cancelled, and there was a noticeable sense of enthusiasm onstage after so long away.
When you throw in the natural energy of a first-night show and a Sheffield crowd well up for it, it made for a thrilling start to the gig season. The setlist drew heavily from their excellent 2020 album Walking Like We Do. A missing flute didn’t dampen the effect of set highlight ‘Barcelona’, a perfect encapsulation of Jackson’s somewhat underrated lyrical skills. Bassist Celia Archer – who also played chief support tonight with her other band Gently Tender – then joined Jackson and Soph Nathan in centre stage for an acapella rendition of ‘Formidable’, a debut album standout which drew a huge reaction from the near-capacity crowd.
A joyous cover of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ (“because it’s our show,” according to Archer) soon followed, before recent single ’Wide Eyes’ suggested that even though Jackson’s lyrics may have moved on in light of her newfound parenthood, the band’s ear for melodic, earworm-heavy hooks remains undiminished. Nowhere was that more evident than in set closer and indie disco floorfiller ‘Your Light’. The ecstatic reaction to it was a fitting end to a gig which for a long time looked like it might never see the light of day.
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