International Teachers of Pop, 22 Feb, Leadmill
There appears to be a fashion in recent years to ditch support bands, but tonight's gig bucked that trend with two quality acts to warm up the Leadmill crowd on a cold winter's night.
All Girls Arson Club kicked things off with a short set of fuzzy, angstyindie rock. They were followed by the excellent Los Bitchos, who played one of the best warm-up sets I've seen in a long time. Straddling solid musicianship and carefree playfulness, it was Santana meets The Shadows.
The International Teachers of Pop found themselves in the tough position of following an act who'd somewhat raised the bar. Adrian Flanagan did his best to win the crowd over from the start by throwing out several bags of crisps as he came on stage. I actually got a packet ready salted, in case you're wondering. With a fresh album to work through, they played 50 minutes of synthpop disco, with Flanagan asking the crowd: 'Sheffield, are you ready to fucking dance?' A highlight of the evening was their uptempo techno pop version of Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall'.
The stars of the show [...] sang and danced in hypnotic harmony
The stars of the show, Leonore Wheatley and Katie Mason, sang and danced in hypnotic harmony while hosting their own private disco on stage. Flanking them on either side, Dean Honer and Flanagan remained motionless in the shadows, hidden behind sunglasses, with the latter occasionally breaking cover to launch his dry one-liners into the crowd.
The highlight of the night saw Los Bitchos return to the stage with tiny flashing disco lights to join in with the choreographed dancing, delivering the party Flanagan asked for earlier.
Andy Tattersall
