Photo Credit: Alex Brown
Punk-rock duo SOFT PLAY have taken 2024 by storm. This summer saw the band take on every UK festival put in front of them, releasing their long awaited album ‘Heavy Jelly’ which went on to reach #3 in the UK album charts, to then sell out their UK headline tour to conclude the year with their action packed performance.
The audience erupted as the room turned to darkness, and it wasn’t long until Isaac and Laurie made their way on to the stage. Opening with ‘All Things‘ to warm-up the already packed out Sheffield venue, chaos soon unfolded. Both Isaac and Laurie stripped off their jackets and it was now time for the real party to start. ‘Mirror Muscles‘ soon encouraged the crowd to flex their guns during the chorus, with onlookers easily amused by those playing along to the lyrics.
The duo wasted no time in unleashing ‘Heavy Jelly’ in full, as album favourites ‘Bin Juice Disaster‘ and ‘Act Violently‘ continued the high intensity across the room, with the Steel City audience gradually becoming even more lively as the set progressed, but it wasn’t long until the duo decided to bring things down a notch and make their way into the crowd. Isaac graced the Sheffield audience with a story about how people didn’t want to join the band, and the criticism they received of having a less of a drum set up compared to the usual band, but clearly SOFT PLAY are one of a kind. This encouraged the crowd to interrupt the band with the ‘Fuck the Hi Hat‘ shouts, showing that those in attendance are already familiar with this segment.
Honouring the line in fan favourite ‘Punk’s Dead‘, the back dropped soon changed from the standard black curtain to an orange flag, with the words ‘Soft Cunts‘ stealing the limelight for a brief moment, all whilst the duo still delivered their full throttle performance, with a rowdy Sheffield crowd bouncing along throughout. ‘Worms on Tarmac‘ and ‘John Wick‘ allowed the energy in the room to continued, while the stripped back crowd pleaser ‘Everything and Nothing’ had folk on top of shoulders, arms raised in the air, delivering a festival like atmosphere once again but this time it was a capacity crowd in a university building.
To conclude their return to Sheffield in spectacular style, it was only right to take it back 10 years with ‘The Hunter‘, and still a decade on, continues to bring together a crowd for one last hurrah. Despite a name change and a brief hiatus, SOFT PLAY have arrived, and they are here to take over.
Taped Magazine 