The Holloways @ Sheffield Foundry

less than a week after i was in the same room watching the best gig of the year so far with bromheads jacket, i was back at the union to see the holloways. it was a while since i had seen them, they have bene recording new songs and it was the day after ally's birthday so a cause for celebrations all round.

we got there early in time to catch the support act frank turner, a very talented solo artist who i saw at corp about a month ago, but i was ill so this was the first time i could properly enjoy him and see him for just how talented he really is. opening with 'i knew prufock before he was famous' it became immediately obvious that there were some hardcore franky t fans in the crowd and they got more and more into it as his short set continued. bryn from the holloways came on for the last song, much to the delight of the arriving holloways fans.

the venue was nowhere near full, with tickets not selling particularly well, when the holloways took to the stage at 9pm. this didnt seem to bother the band, who kicked into 'dancefloor' which sounded even better than ever, as if the time spent in the studio has beefed up the older songs. second came their song about losing the tv remote which there wasnt such an enthusiastic crowd reaction to. they picked up again after this though with my favourite song 'happiness and penniless'.

after a couple of new songs they played the one most people were there for. a few bars into 'generator' and most of my pint was on the floor but it was worth it for the crowd reaction which it provoked. everyone got a lot more into it from this point on, as did the band with rising alcohol levels. before playing their hit single, alfie had got a bottle of something from somewhere and to the egging on from the crowd proceeded to down it. much hilarity and staggering ensued. the band really are good with the crowd and put on a great show for their fans. they never fail to make you crack a smile and their have the tunes to make it well worth going to see them.

by the time they had gone off and come back for an encore of 'malcontented one' and 'fuck ups' the whole crowd had been won over and a very enjoyable gig was complete. i'm looking forward to seeing them again at glastonbury, the new songs are sounding very good. they are one of the perfect summer bands.