/Hadouken – The Leadmill, Sheffield, England – 16/02/10 – Live Review

Hadouken – The Leadmill, Sheffield, England – 16/02/10 – Live Review

So I was fortunate enough to gain a photo pass to Hadouken’s gig at the Sheffield Leadmill on the 16th of Feb 2010. Standing out in the freezing February weather, surrounded by a mass of skinny jeans and H! tee shirts, I awaited the opening of the Leadmill doors. Finally the clock reached 7pm and into the venue I strolled to collect my pass, then it was off to the press pit to get my camera settings right before the first band took to the stage.

I had no idea who was on the support bill for Hadouken so I anticipated who would be on the agenda to warm up the crowd.

Up first was West Sussex based beat boxer/ rapper, Killa Kela. Supported by his own DJ and Drummer, Kela stormed the stage with base heavy tunes, dirty riffs, grimy lyrics and some fantastic beat-box interludes. A great warm up for the night and the young crowd just lapped it up.

As Killa Kela ‘rapped’ it up (pun intended), I moved to the bar to grab a pint and check my results for the first act. Here are a couple of my favourites from Killa Kela’s set:

Killa Kela
Killa Kela

So after gulping down a pint of Becks, I headed back to the press pit to await band number two.

The second support act of the night was This City. These guys were a drastic shift in genre from the typicality of the night, their hardcore contrasting with the grime/rap rock fusion that Hadouken and Killa Kela were producing. But, this didn’t kill the momentum that Killa Kela had worked up, and This City came out guns blazing to smash, sing, shout, kick and jump to set the crowd on a rampage of jumps, screams and sing alongs. They played the gig like it was the last one of the tour. Here are a few captures from their set:

This City
This City

This City finished up and I review my shots again. Finally, after a lengthy wait, It was Hadouken time. They took to the stage under the cover of darkness and as the first song explodes into its chorus, the crowd go crazy, screaming, crowd surfing, throwing glow sticks, you name it, they were most probably doing it.

Sadly Hadouken had the worst lighting of the night, playing mostly in darkness, which for my camera was a complete nightmare. But I did manage to capture some arty silhouette pics and the odd strobe light 😉 :

Hadouken
Hadouken

Well what can I say? It was a great night and go check out the bands!

http://www.myspace.com/hadouken
http://www.myspace.com/thiscitymusic
http://www.myspace.com/killakela

Till next time, stay classy San Diego!

Dom