Lived there for a few years - I really liked it. But it really depends on what you are looking for, for some personality types it's the best place in the world, and for others its depressing and parochial and bleak.
You don't get the feel of living in a global city like you do in Leeds, Manchester etc - but you get much more of a local/community spirit.
For me the best point is that it has absolutely outstanding pubs, and the patrons are pretty hilarious - either old socialists or hippies.
I spent a lot of time in Sheffield as a late teenlad and I rather liked it. Last time I visited was '07 but I feel like I owe the old place a visit. I always felt as though I would have rather grown up there than London. There was a vibrant metal/indie/rock scene there, which due to the relative tininess of the place was so much more inclusive than the respective scenes in London.
I remember doing over five or six 'townie' lads with my wallet chain because they started on a lass I like who was wearing a Slipknot hoodie. Those were the days, eh?
> You don't get the feel of living in a global city like you do in Leeds, Manchester etc
>>2914 Equating (or rather dragging down) .gs to any other chan's level in terms of argumentation is pathetic and myopic. I'd like to think that this place is a good cut above the rest in regards to civility.
Step up lad, have a word with yourself. Don't use the "welcome to xyz" as an excuse to shitpost.
>>2915 Alright calm down, Jesus Christ. You may not be satisfied with the answer but it was still an answer to the question, there's really no need to get so hoity-toity about it.
Thing is it's the same everywhere, that whole period between 05-08 or so was fantastic in terms of up and coming acts. Sadly the wave seemed to break around about the time the Tories came into power.
Coincidence? I think not.
In all seriousness though, I think the problem is that all the good underground bands from that time either got successful and moved on, or broke up. The new ones that are doing the scene since then are just a bit shit. Places like the Dove and Corp feel like they are just full of dead-eyed rejects from that era, people who haven't been able to move on but know the world has done.
Look to other big cities nearby- In Leeds, pretty much all the venues from those days have shut. Joes Well, Rios, even the Cockpit is closed now- And the alternatives are just nowhere near the same. Snooty Fox in Wakefield is in danger of shutting down too, and if that place goes then I think I might just give up on music in this country altogether.
Guitar music is just moribund. All of the excitement is in electronic music, both in terms of artists and listeners. I wish it wasn't the case, but the charts speak for themselves.
Leeds does have a thriving music scene, but it's all oriented around the West Indian Centre and the sound system boys.
You can't sustain a scene in the long-term without mainstream success. You need to engage the youngers, the kids who just listen to whatever is on the daytime playlist. You need the crossover records that make them think "I don't know what this is, but I want to hear more of it". If you don't do that, then they won't seek out the niche music in your scene, they won't go to the local gigs, they won't read the blogs. Without young blood, your scene becomes incestuous, irrelevant, and ultimately withers away.
Blur and Radiohead did that for indie, Slipknot did it for metal, Dizzee Rascal and Lethal Bizzle did it for grime, Skream and Benga did it for dubstep. All music scenes need the kind of overexposed acts that people roll their eyes at; Guitar music currently doesn't have any, which is an existential threat.
Sadly I think you're right, and I'm well aware of how the electronic side of things is thriving. But that's the totally opposite side of the coin to what I was brought up with, to the bands I've played in, to who I am. It's a shame really, there's nothing to stop me showing up and enjoying that sort of performance, but I always just feel out of place, it isn't "my scene", as you might say.
As my own band finds itself playing to more and more half empty rooms as time goes on, I am starting to worry that we might be finally entering the age where those strutting, flamboyant rockstars wielding their axe whilst casually smoking a cigarette, or wailing into a microphone bare chested and dripping with sweat, are nothing more than a memory.
It frightens me because I might have to end up becoming one of those "grown ups" where you can tell they used to be a greasy long haired punk back in the days, but decided to pack it all in to wear sensible clothes and settle down with a family. I don't know how to reconcile that with my world view.
>>2908 >You don't get the feel of living in a global city like you do in Leeds, Manchester etc
Thank fuck for that. Since moving to Manchester I've just felt my everyday life turn to a fairly narrow spectrum of shades of grey. McDonald's and Pret everywhere, choice few independently-run places to sit and have a bite to eat and the ones that do exist are so up themselves about being independently-run that they charge twice as much.
I hate it here. Manchester has definitely pissed on my cornflakes.
>>2987 >It frightens me because I might have to end up becoming one of those "grown ups" where you can tell they used to be a greasy long haired punk back in the days, but decided to pack it all in to wear sensible clothes and settle down with a family. I don't know how to reconcile that with my world view.
Neither did they, but they figured it out and you will too.
Same feeling about central Leeds really. After living in Sheffield for 5 years, I really hate moving here. It's so much snazzier and well kept - all polished white stones and chrome. But it's pretty interchangeable with every big-ish city centre in the country, whereas Sheffield just isn't.
Yes there is. Just off Vicar Lane. There's plenty outside the centre too.
Get yer facts reyt before you start beefing m8.
Biggest difference with Leeds compared to other cities is that it's very evident how the place is a conurbation, not just a big single mass. The shiny posh tower blocks and fancy shops in the city centre are only there for southerners and rich student kids, unless you live in the centre of Leeds then you should have practically no need to go there. All the suburbs still have their own mini-centre, based around the old main street or whatever it was back before the urban sprawl engulfed it.
