Artists: Collateral/The Supermicks/Against The Grain
Venue: Sheffield: The Corporation
Date: 21 November 2024
"Collateral is a Stadium Rock band in the making. Hopefully, in years to come when they‘re playing to tens of thousands, I can say I saw them down The Corporation."
Local South Yorkshire band Against The Grain were already on stage when I got into the venue. The quartet featuring Johnny Manchester on guitars and vocals, Rahmaal Williams (bass), Brad Waggott (guitars), and drummer Chloe Whitworth were entertaining the thirty-or-so punters who’d arrived early doors with their brand of Hard Rock. This was the third consecutive gig I’d attended with a female drummer (Brave Rival and The Corrs being the other two); the talented Whitworth is also the drummer of the all-female Rock band JoanOvArk.
I did not capture any song titles, but was sad to hear from Manchester mid-show that this would be their last gig. It must be so difficult for musicians these days even trying to this as just a hobby with all the associated costs and travel. They certainly were enjoying themselves and hopefully will reconsider reforming sometime in the future.
Before this evening, I was blissfully unaware of The SuperMicks from Ramsgate, Kent, southeastern corner of England. After an intriguing opening to ‘Pretty Lady I Knew’, I made the mistake of quickly Googling the band and saw a comment that said they sounded like Puddle Of Mudd. I don’t know if the latter got in my psyche, but I didn’t enjoy next song ‘Let Me Know’; their Post-Grunge style Hard Rock was not initially helped with the drums and bass being a tad too high in the mix. Fortunately, the sound did improve as did my enjoyment. Next up was the title-track of their latest EP ‘Found Me’, but it was the excellent ‘The Whiskey Said’ that really captured my attention, followed by ‘Saved Yourself’, which was a little more melodic than the opening numbers. Another positive, was that they were definitely holding the small audience’s attention, with very few talking or congregating at the bar.
‘We Don’t Need Work’ is a great song title, although sadly most of us do. The heavy drum intro courtesy of Dan Lee Kennard signalled their debut single ‘In This Town’, released a couple of years ago, and produced by the guitarist Louis Malagodi of tonight’s headliners. Lead vocalist Wayne Jones then introduced the band: Greg Edwards (bass), Dave Dorman (lead/rhythm guitar), James Reeve (rhythm guitar) and the aforementioned Kennard. A heard an early Mötley Crüe vibe in ‘A Million Things’ (another track from the recent EP). They concluded with a new song, ‘Time On Me’, and they certainly looked to be having the time of their lives, which projected itself to the crowd. Although not my preferred style of music, I did find myself enjoying them far more than I initially expected.
Setlist (contains spoilers)
I first saw Collateral at HRH-AOR in 2021 and thought it wouldn’t be long before they were taking the world by storm. As they say, “life ain’t fair.” Armed with two fantastic studio albums and a stunning live band to boot, they really should be playing to more than fifty people (fifty-fifty gender mix). The bitterly cold weather, the many tours currently on the road, a school night, the cost-of-living crisis, or just general apathy, take your pick as for the reason(s) for tonight’s poor attendance.
The band opened in sensational style with ‘Glass Sky’, the brilliant opening track from this year’s ‘Should’ve Known Better’ opus, which is one my favourite albums of the year. Despite the small crowd numbers, they were impressive singing along. The quartet led by the animated vocalist Angelo Tristan continued with ‘Original Criminal’, another from their latest album and one of eight featured in this evening’s set (only ‘Teenage Dreams’ was omitted).
‘Sin In The City’, the additional track featured on 2022’s ‘Rewired’ (re-recording of their 2020 self-titled debut) introduced a bit it Glam Rock before Angelo thanked us for coming out in such a cold night. Bassist Jack Bentley-Smith also commented on how cold it was, although it did not stop him removing his Anthrax t-shirt mid-show. ‘Game Changer’ was the only song of the night which I felt was not as good live as on the album; I’m sure it will probably improve the more they play it. Not so, ‘Promiseland’, which was an absolute belter.
Angelo strapped on the acoustic guitar for Country-tinged ‘Midnight Queen’ and ‘About This Boy’, which were both heavier live than their respective studio versions, but still sounding fantastic. Angelo told us that ‘On The Long Road’ was a special song to him and highlighted the high level of songwriting that the band are already at after only two albums. Guitarist Louis Malagodi amusingly started up a chant of “Yorkshire! Yorkshire!” which the crowd duly obliged and joined in.
‘No Place For Love’ is the sort of song us older fans wish Bon Jovi could still write, and featured another impressive singalong, whilst ‘Final Stand’ showcased the band’s heavier side. One of my personal favourites ‘Lullaby’ had the lively crowd singing along once again. Angelo picked up the acoustic guitar only for a fan at the front to tell him he didn’t need it for the next song ‘Elysium’. Angelo commented that the setlist, handwritten by drummer Ben Atkinson, was in such a small font he was having difficulty reading it! He did pick up his acoustic guitar once more for set closer ‘Just One Of These Days’. Louis, despite residing in County Durham, couldn’t resist starting another chant of “Yorkshire! Yorkshire!”
A deserved two-song encore followed starting with the anthemic ‘Merry Go Round’ (how big would this have been if released back in 1987?) and concluding with the rousing ‘Mr. Big Shot’ which someone in the crowd comically shouted out pre-song “Mr. Big Cock”. Despite the low turnout, it did not stop either the band or the audience having a great time. Collateral is a Stadium Rock band in the making. Hopefully, in years to come when they‘re playing to tens of thousands, I can say I saw them down The Corporation.
Setlist (contains spoilers)
Review: Mark Donnelly
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