New York Hardcore legends Sheer Terror finally got around to touring the UK after 27 of gracing almost everywhere else with their particular brand of insanity and tonight saw them unleash their finest work on The Well in Leeds. Before the show, lead singer Paul Bearer can be seen quietly shuffling about the entrance of the venue whilst answering questions from overly excited enthusiasts with a quiet patience that isn’t quite what you’d expect from the man famous for bellowing “I can’t stand living, I can’t stand YOU and I just can’t hate enough!” It is when the collective take to the stage that we are presented with something akin to the popular perception of this outfit; who are direct in their delivery and leave the audience beaten by fists of originality 100% more vital than the derivative racket that Hardcore bands are often responsible for today. It is surely a lesson to all who listen that it is possible to write music that possesses this kind of longevity- and to perform it decades later with potent relevance and tangibility.
When Sheer Terror take to the stage, it is to a gentle back drop of warm reggae filling the sound system. Mr Bearer, famous for his on stage banter, introduces the band in a frightfully cordial manner before concluding “We’re Sheer Terror, go fuck yourselves” and charging headlong into “Here To Stay”- still an excellent choice for an opener after all these years. During the set he frequently croaks out jibes, anecdotes, quips and put- downs in his squeaky New York dialect, before launching into a dreadnaught of material. All of the (what would be referred to, were it any other band) hits are present and correct, and executed devastatingly by this latest line up. From the no nonsense vitriol of “Just Can’t Hate Enough” to the menacing dirge of the trudging determination of “I, Spoiler”, Sheer Terror are fantastically bewildering to behold. Songs such as “Broken”, the single version of which is noticeably well- produced are given dramatic shake downs in their performance tonight; stripped of any unnecessary touching up, they are handed to us bloody and raw in no- frills packaging. Whereas songs like “Love Songs For The Unloved” and “A Tale of Moran” retain all of their riotous charms and encourage a boot- stomping frenzy as bald heads join in screaming down the microphone offered out by Bearer. We are too treated to a cover of Sham 69's "What Have We Got" which feels incredibly at home with the collective gathered.
The audience is a strange mix tonight, some being content to stand on the side lines nodding appreciatively, whilst heavily tattooed Skinheads and other assorted revellers dominate the area in front of the stage with some of the most apocalyptic dancing ever witnessed; people are thrown, shoved, punched and at one point a young man is lifted in the air and spun around by a particularly keen participant who proceeds to throw the Dr. Marten clad rag doll onto the ground. The floor and fans combined create a kind of brutal bouncy castle on which people are constantly falling and being flung back up by a collective of hands. Put simply, this is Punk Rock at its best and credit to The Well for not being the sort of venue that insist on a heavy security presence flexing its muscle gratuitously and spoiling the fun for the rest of us.
The audience is a strange mix tonight, some being content to stand on the side lines nodding appreciatively, whilst heavily tattooed Skinheads and other assorted revellers dominate the area in front of the stage with some of the most apocalyptic dancing ever witnessed; people are thrown, shoved, punched and at one point a young man is lifted in the air and spun around by a particularly keen participant who proceeds to throw the Dr. Marten clad rag doll onto the ground. The floor and fans combined create a kind of brutal bouncy castle on which people are constantly falling and being flung back up by a collective of hands. Put simply, this is Punk Rock at its best and credit to The Well for not being the sort of venue that insist on a heavy security presence flexing its muscle gratuitously and spoiling the fun for the rest of us.
In all fairness, the seminal Sheer Terror could have rocked up, played everything out of tune, sang the wrong lyrics and done a 20 minute set and the crowd still would have loved it… Thankfully, Paul Bearer and co. managed to resurrect some of the most influential material that the Hardcore scene has ever produced, with a brutality worthy of their moniker making it appropriate to forget amplifier related blunders that were shrouded in humour anyway!
Some people after the show seemed surprised that there was no encore, but when you’ve spat your finest down a microphone, what is there left to say?
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