Words by Rene Rosierse
A year ago we’ve reviewed an intimate gig from Shed Seven’s Rick Witter and Paul Banks in Amsterdam. We loved the gig but ended with the wish to next time be able to review the complete band in their all electric setting. Last Friday our wishes came true when we headed over to Belfast to see them play the Mandela Hall.
The 1000-person capacity hall was completely sold out. Everbody wanted to be on time for Shed Seven, so by the time support act Garage Flower started, the venue was already cramped. With a young Oasis-like attitude, the band of blokes put down a very loud guitar-driven set and made sure to leave their audience enthusiastic, roaring, and ready for the main event.
Garage Flower left us all anxiously awaiting Shed Seven’s set, which made for a great atmosphere in the Mandela Hall. Just feeling the atmosphere was worth the trip from the Netherlands, with next to us a couple from Wigan, a place put on the map by The Lathums, we sung along together throughout the rest of the night, as if we were one voice. Just past nine Shed Seven entered the stage, kicking off with ‘Stand Together’, from their yet-to-be-released album ‘Shed Seven’.
Right after that we got to practice our singing skills. Hits and audience favourites goes hand in hand with songs like ‘High hopes’, ‘Speakeasy’ and ‘Where Have You Been Tonight?’. The band is on fire and we’re enjoying every single minute. We’ve even seen some fans singing along with a second new track from the new album, ‘The Centre Of My Everything’.
Shed Seven is celebrating 30 years of ‘A Maximum High’, their breakthrough album from 1996. So all bangers like ‘Going For Gold’, ‘Bully Boy’ and ‘Getting Better’ were on the night’s setlist. As always with these types of shows, the initial set ends way too soon and so we ended up waiting impatiently for the encore. For the first one singer Rick Witter returned to the stage with guitarist Paul Banks and Rick’s daughter Lotte. The three of them performed an acoustic version of ‘Tripping With You’. It’s Lotte’s first performance on stage and she handled it incredibly well, singing along with her father. With another three songs the night eventually came to an actual end. We left Mandela Hall with a smile on our face and the last tones of ‘Chasing Rainbows’ still buzzing in our ears.
If you haven’t already got tickets for one of their remaining shows this year, you better hurry. Their announced hometown stadium show in York next May sold out almost straight away!
