Live Review: Circa Waves // O2 Academy, Sheffield, 16.06.23

There’s a guy in the centre of the moshpit at Sheffield’s O2 Academy who has taken Circa Waves’ ‘Carry You Home’ a little too literally; he’s waving his crutches around in the air with reckless abandon, as his friends look pleadingly at him, singing the lyrics: “I would die for you / Just to try and carry you home”. 

But perhaps it’s unsurprising that the walking wounded are not afraid to get into the centre of the action and have fun; frontman Kieran Shudall encourages us to look after each other at several points during the band’s high-energy set, repeatedly asking those at the front if they’re okay. His interactions with the crowd are peppered with expletives, as he says ‘fuck you’ to an assailant who lobs a plastic cup at his head partway through ‘Stuck In My Teeth’, and thanks the crowd at the end of the show for being “so much fucking fun”. 

While some of the dads in attendance who started a moshpit when ‘Mr Brightside’ came on the pre-show playlist might wince at the unnecessary cussing, “so much fucking fun” is the best way to describe a Circa Waves show. While they’ve undoubtedly matured as lyricists with the release of 2023’s Never Going Under – see the poignant ‘Living In The Grey’ – the scouse outfit can definitely be criticised at times for over-relying on simple rhyme schemes; they lack some of the wit of their Scouse predecessors, The Wombats. But in a live environment, their simplicity is perfect to rouse even the more casual fan into singing along at the top of their lungs by the time the second chorus hits. 

The winning formula of simple verses and catchy, shoutable choruses means that there are moshpits being created to nearly every song; highlights including opener ‘Never Going Under’, ‘Get Away’, the Wombats-esque ‘Sad Happy’, and of course set closer ‘T-Shirt Weather’. At one point there are three people stacked on top of each other, like a human Jenga tower ready to topple at any given moment. There are chants of ‘Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Yorkshire’ throughout, with Shudall even starting one himself, and drummer Colin Jones lending the crowd a beat. Teenage boys are shirtless and sweaty, and it’s all a bit precarious; there’s the sense in which it could kick off at any given moment, but the nervous energy bubbles away, never tipping into that “I’m actually scared for my life” feeling you get at gigs for ‘football hooligan’ acts such as the Courteeners. 

There are only two slower songs, but even then the crowd participation doesn’t let up; phone torches are on and hands are swaying to ‘Lemonade’, the Alfie Templeman collaboration which is all about not being quite where you thought you would be: “We’re all drinking lemonade / thought we’d be doing something great / by now”. There’s no arguing with the fact that Circa Waves are doing something great indeed – and the Steel City awaits their triumphant return for Tramlines Festival next month. 

Words by Beth Kirkbride 

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