The Sherlocks
This was an evening to let the music do the talking
It is three and a half years since I last saw The Sherlocks at Norwich Waterfront. Since then they have played everywhere, from Germany to Japan and California, and released a further three albums' worth of material. After parting company with founder members Josh and Andy Davidson, the Crook brothers brought in Alex Proctor on guitar and Trent Jackson on bass. Now it is time for Kiaran and Brandon to reacquaint themselves with their Norfolk fans, introduce the 'new' band members, and play catch-up with us.
And they start with two blistering numbers that, together, seem to bookend their ascendancy from local lads to international fame – 'Remember All The Girls' from this summer's 'People Like You and Me', followed by 'Will You Be There?', the first single from their 2017 debut album 'Live for the Moment'.
Over the next eighty five minutes The Sherlocks rip their way through another fifteen career-defining numbers – everything from the slower break-up regrets of 'Sorry', through the rousing sing-a-long choruses of 'NYC (Sing It Loud)' and to anthemic closers ’Don’t Let It Out’ and 'Chasing Shadows'.
With no less than seventeen songs packed into tonight’s setlist, and with the need to be done and dusted before 10pm (DJ Tall Paul is due to take over with his 'Hey Boy, Hey Girl' 90's Disco night), there is little time for between-song chit-chat, which is a bit of a shame, but this, instead, was an evening to let the music do the talking.
And whilst The Sherlocks' material might lack the literary articulations of Arctic Monkeys, the art-school pretensions of Pulp, and the Wakefield cockiness of The Cribs, Kieran Crook's songwriting paints an honest and heartfelt picture, filled with stories of life, love and regret, that is curiously, and energetically, endearing. The time simply rips by, and The Sherlocks leave the stage as they came on, to the strains of 'Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag', and with a satisfied audience nicely hyped up for Tall Paul.
Openers for the evening were swaggering Milton Keynes trio Cusp, and Norfolk favourites Youth Killed It.
