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a city by city guide to the best indie clubs, bars, record shops and local bands |
Sheffield, England By Clare O'Neill |
Sheffield
is one of those places that the locals adore with a passion - just have
a listen to Pulp’s "Sheffield Sex City" - but it can
be slightly inaccessible to visitors. The town centre’s pretty
small and constantly being worked on. It doesn’t put on a show,
or have the parade of flashy shops and bars you might find in Leeds
or Manchester, although the council is trying to regenerate in this
style, and to be fair, there’s always something new to discover.
The best thing about Sheffield is that it’s in touch with its
roots. The brand new Millennium Galleries has a room dedicated to steel
craftsmanship, the chiming clock in Orchard Square has a revolving "buffer
girl" polishing knives and forks, there is even a hedge sculpture
of a man pouring steel outside the town hall. His name (on a plaque)
is Sheffy Stan. Richard Hawley’s album Coles’ Corner is
steeped in romantic recollection of the million ordinary meetings and
affairs the city has witnessed. And he promoted it with bottles of local
speciality Henderson’s Relish. |
Clubs
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Sonic Boom |
Venues
The Leadmill and the Plug are the big ones. Other places you can listen to live music include The Casbah and The Boardwalk, but I can’t vouch for the quality. The Octagon is part of the Sheffield University Students Union and has a good programme of bands, and the Sheffield Hallam Student Union has recently moved into the stunning "steel drum" buildings vacated by the failed (because it was rubbish) National Centre for Popular Music. |
Bars
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The Washington |
Record Shops
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Local Bands
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Too many up-and-comers to mention, and I’m no expert. Check out the brilliant Long Blondes, Bromhead’s Jacket, Situationists and The Yell – they’re all on myspace. |
Miscellaneous
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Showroom Cinema If you'd like to recommend a club, bar,
record shop, band or any indie delight for inclusion in the Indie Travel
Guide, please email us. If we've included a link to your band/shop etc,
it would be lovely if you could link back to us. Thank you! |