After this reviewer’s initial disappointment that Royworld weren’t the support (like they have been for most of the other Scientists gigs this tour) I was quite impressed. Her performance was pretty polished and the music dripped with eighties influences – you can tell in the first five minutes whether it’s going to be your thing or not. The main criticism was she didn’t interact much with the audience, but that was maybe because it was clear from the off that We Are Scientists ( ♥♥♥♥♥ )were head and shoulders the main attraction with the crowd – the anticipation and expectation for the New York boys was high.

And they definitely didn’t disappoint. Most people know about We Are Scientists’ reputation for their sense of humour (which includes stories of tricycles and goggle-glasses on stage…), but would it be the same without drummer Michael Tapper? (Michael left the band in November last year, reducing the trio to a duo.) Answer? Undoubtedly definitely 100% absolutely YES.

If the audience weren’t already on their side, the gig-long Yorkshire Pudding jokes, compliments to Sheffield’s music scene and crowd-surfing would definitely have done it. Lead singer Keith Murray didn’t hesitate at all before wandering into the crowd, only to be hoisted up to perform one of the new album tracks perched on several audience members shoulders. And Chris Cain had his moment too, taking the stage for a skilled solo. They put everything they could into making it a good gig.

The guys bravely opened with Ghouls, the first track from Brain Thrust Mastery, one of the slower and darker songs, but then launched into first ever single Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt which immediately got the audience involved. There was a fairly even mix of new and old tracks, and again eighties influences were high. After Hours was unsurprisingly the most popular new song, with it being the previous single, but generally all of the new material seemed pretty well received. The Great Escape was the final encore performance and clearly everybody’s favourite – the whole room was going for it.

Overall, it was an awesome gig – the guys were funny and down to Earth, I even spotted Keith purposefully positioning himself to give someone a brilliant photograph, and the music was top quality. I’m not the only one who left wanting more, they better be back soon…

By Helen Evans

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