MUSIC GUIDE
Blinders
federal Charm
The Blinders
Live at The Leopard, Friday 1st July 2016
The Blinders are one of the hottest new alternative bands around and with influences from Slaves, The Doors and Black Sabbath, the band, who Doncaster born and bred but now living in Manchester, are bringing the town back onto the map for one of the most thriving places for new and upcoming musicians.
People of Doncaster - what can I say? If you weren’t there then you missed an absolute treat.
The band formed around 2014 and consists of 3 lads who go by the names of Thomas Haywood, Charlie McGough and Matt Neale. The Blinders combine their own flavour of styles to create their own unique sound whilst still keeping their alternative and ‘Punkadelic’ edge. Their choice to write about populist culture as well as political culture sparks a ‘enigmatic’ fire into their performances, and songs such as 84 and Murder At The Ballet from their new EP Hidden Horror Dance capture that type of diverse and ‘visceral’ notion. The bands live gigs have been enjoyed by many and leave people always wanting more! Luckily for us Doncaster lot we get to welcome the 3 boys back, as they are performing at this years annual MapFest. You can catch them at CAST theatre and Social Bar on the 4th and 5th of August. Mia Thompson
The night of Friday 1st July led me to the Leopard, where I found myself captivated by Manchester’s Federal Charm, who were supported by a trio of Yorkshire bands. The night opened with Doncaster’s very own Retroject, an up-and-coming band who always please the crowds, especially here at the Leopard. Next on were Off The Wire, kooky and fresh with just the right amount of weird. The volume ramped up as The Doldrums took to the stage. The Leeds-based band gave us a great set full of power and energy which took you to a place where Jack White and Pete Doherty meet up to get messy. The crowd loved it. Federal Charm started their set with ‘Gotta Give It Up’, a guitar frenzy that got the small but responsive crowd immediately hooked. Federal Charm take you on a journey, touching on different genres and styles along the way, and the crowd at the Leopard certainly got that tonight. We picked out some Rage Against The Machine and a hint of Flea from the bass player and a lead singer, who moved from rock to blues and various places in between, throwing in a harmonica to boot. All this was held together by a drummer whose consistency and timing meant that the set felt cohesive as we followed the journey Federal Charm were taking us on. It struck me how tight the band are. Federal Charm are not only fantastic musicians, but clearly very good friends. Their chemistry on stage was clear, as they bounced off each other and seemed to really enjoy putting on a good show. Although the turnout was limited, the band gave us their all and engaged the crowd with their banter and enthusiasm. I thought their new single, ‘Masterplan’, was the wind up to the show, but Federal Charm followed this up with their own favourite, ‘Silhouette’, and the rarely played yet superb ‘Walk Away’. Their trip to Doncaster was day 5 of a 17-day tour covering the whole of the UK, so if you missed them here, you still have chance to see them over the next few weeks. Hopefully they’ll be back at the Leopard for a third visit soon. Their current album, Across The Divide, is well worth a listen. Check out their website, federalcharm.com, for stockists and availability. Rob Allen
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