Sleaford Mods @ UEA, Norwich - November 8, 2017

Janey turned me onto TCR about a year ago and I was immediately hooked. I don't get crazy excited about many bands these days, but I am so impressed and obsessed with Sleaford Mods. They are proof music can still deeply effect me. It seems fitting that the duo are about my age, and so was a large part of the crowd at tonight's show. But this isn't sad old people music. This is punk and vibrant and angry as fuck. Even if Jason Williamson denies being punk; this is the very definition in 2017.

Openers Nachthexen are a female quartet with a keyboard replacing the guitar in the usual expected line-up. They don't have a full album released yet, just a couple of EPs (if that's what they're still called). Their sound is very reminiscent of X-Ray Spex, particularly the female screamy lyrics. I'm sure their sound will grow and diversify before much longer, but what they have right now is still pretty good and appealing. All four have a disinterested stage presence; too cool or too focused on their instruments to do much else.

Jason Williamson has the polar opposite of a disinterested stage presence! He is mesmerizing to watch. His physicality is irrepressible, full of posturing, twitching, and tics and marching around with the mic stand. The lighting set up and plain backdrop silhouettes clouds of dispersing spit as he raps his vitriolic lyrics. Andrew Fearn, the music producer as it were, seemed to be loving the night, frequently grinning as he vigourously bops his head along to the beats he's created.

The setlist is very English Tapas heavy. My pre-show research showed that they don't vary the setlist, so I knew not to expect some of my favourite tracks from their earlier albums. But, as this is my first time seeing them, I didn't mind at all. It helps that I love just about everything they do. Out of the 15 songs pre-encore, the SMs played 11 of the 12 tracks on their recent album. We got TCR mid-set which fired everyone up, and then an absolute cracker of an encore, which a group of young men couldn't resist, rushing down front to start up a moshpit. Perfect.

As fits the age of the band and the crowd, the volume wasn't deafening and the sound was incredibly clean and clear. The only tiny downside was the lights on the crowd that messed with taking a decent photo, but I did my best. Next time they play nearby, I'm going! With their current output of new material, it shouldn't be long before they're on the road with a new batch of songs. Top!

Setlist:
I Feel So Wrong
Army Nights
Just Like We Do
Snout
Moptop
Dull
Carlton Touts
I Can Tell
TCR
Time Sands
Routine Dean
Jolly Fucker
Drayton Manored
Cuddly
BHS
Encore:
Jobseeker
Tied Up in Nottz
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