Bigfoot/Fahran –
Corporation, Sheffield, Saturday 21st September, 2019
Set List: Home/Stand Alone/Pyre/Silent Nightmare/Wake Up/Take This City Alive/The Bitter Taste Of You/Blind/State Of Mind.
Well I remember seeing Matt Black's bunch, I mean Fahran a few years ago in this very room who like then entertained people with their high-end technically advanced metal with interstellar vocals to match. What was extremely impressive apart from the quality of the band was the fact that the room was filled with a sh*t ton of folk already, proving that as a support band they have a great fan-base in their own right – job well done there boys!
Time was on their set since there were only two bands on the bill and the 'ran got a full to the max 45 mins at least to have us sample their songs in. The sound was a bit tinny in some points making it hard to make out Matt's vocals that were buried in the mix which was a pity really since he was putting his heart and soul into the performance – you could hear him pretty well in-between the numbers though.
They kicked our ass straight away with 'Home' and ended on the excellent bright and fresh vibed 'State Of Mind' that was a real highlight in their musical platter with its hooking chorus and luscious melody. Elsewhere we were treated to ditties like the beautifully toned 'Wake Up' with its modern feel and the well-loved thunderous and ballsy slipper-stomper 'Take This City Alive'. Overall this weren't a bad start to the night for what was yet to come.
7.5/10
Set List: Tell Me A Lie/Eat Your Words/Run/Prisoner Of War/Freak Show/Karma/Stone Soldiers/I Dare You/Tie Me Down/Top Gun Theme (Cover)/The Other Side Of Paradise/In The Gutter/Forever Alone/The Fear.
Encore: Hot Stuff (Cover)/Blame It On The Dog/Uninvited.
Well I've got to be totally honest here and say this was the first time I had ever witnessed these Wigan based boys, Bigfoot and unfortunately the last because the band were splitting up. They made me a fan of them regardless – pity I was a bit late on though – dang! With elements of bands like Def Leppard, Tyketto, Whitesnake and then some.. these guys can do no wrong in here – especially with that amazing twin-guitar splender.
It sounds so bloody cliché but they were one of those bands that had the people in here in the palm of their hand, with a superb sound mix to match their fabulous musicianship and the powerful big bashful vocal prowess of Sean Seabrook, playing us some top dollar tunes from their self-titled album and ep's as well.
Stand-outs included the opening brightness of 'Tell Me A Lie'; the southern style meets melodic rock of 'Prisoner Of War', the ballsy riffer that is 'Karma'; the dixie tootin 'Stone Soldiers'; the well-piped cut that is 'The Other Side of Paradise' …. and even the inclusion of the Top Gun theme, much to the delights of my buddy, Tonito Bermudez that was a surprising joy to hear.
After a blazing fury of marvellous numbers the band members came back out with some girly looking guitars as shown. The guitarist of Fahran joined them onstage with one where they did some solo battling before being told to f*ck off – lol. All in fun though – haha.
A very funny part of the night was when they said who would like to get them a drink in. Our buddy Shaun Hill opted for it and got them all one. Guitarist, came out to him with the priceless line of, “You're a bit of a c*nt but you're alright”, which caused everyone to cheer, clap and laugh to the point of pain. They obviously know him well – hahahaha – only kiddin Mr. H.
No detriment to their own material but by far, the biggest highlight of the night was their mindblowing cover of Donna Summer's 'Hot Stuff' that took the show to another level altogether and guaranteed some almighty grand dancing indeed from many a rocker in the house.
After taking every ounce of energy out of themselves and us rather equally we were thanked for being great fans over the duration of the bands career and crowd in Sheffield overall. Needless to say, the whole audience was invited to go and party with them after their hour and three quarter set.
This really was a fitting end to an outstanding show. We wish the guys of Bigfoot all the best for their future endeavours and hope to see some of them in another band or two in the not so distant future.
10/10
Review By Glenn Milligan
Photographs By Steve Cooper
Set Lists from Tonito Bermudez