Landmarq + The Room – Maltby
Howard and Hector are in Sheffield en route to Maltby to see – Landmarq – supported by – The Room – promoted by The Classic Rock Society (Rotherham). This provided the opperchancity to extend the Curry-Heute coverage of Sheffield which has been limited not due to a lack of visits, but later opening times.
For years, Hector has searched for Lunchtime Curry in a Curry Cafe equivalent to those found in Glasgow, Manchester and Bradford. Google Maps finally revealed such a source: Apna Style (27 Wolseley Road, Sheffield, England S8 0ZT) which is open seven days a week from 11.00 until 23.00.
We arrived around 18.00, a father and two children were the only sit-in customers, the phone was ringing throughout our visit, Takeaway Orders. It was a young boy who was serving tables, not the best for those of us who may wish to ask questions. Our fellow diners departed, the father advised us that the Keema here is something special. We were then the only diners in a venue that could seat twenty at five tables.
The Menu featured Daily Specials and Dishes that required advance notice. Page 3 was magnificent!
Somehow in the – Apna Style Handi Dishes – Lamb on the Bone £7.00) was cheaper than Lamb Boneless (£7.50). Most usual, but realistic, one typically gets less Meat! Hector was having the Lamb on the Bone, Howard considered having something different just to test the Menu, but accepted this looked closest to our favoured Curry.
Handi – can be anything Chef desires, we would wait with interest to see what arrived. Four Chapattis (70p) completed the Order.
A Salad and Raita were brought to the table. It took some minutes before we were provided with the means of consuming these.
I could see quite a bit of the operation in the open kitchen. The karahi with the Lamb Handi were placed on the counter and the pile of Chapattis assembled. The boy brought these to the table:
That looks like the dog’s bollocks – I said to Howard.
Apna Style Handi – Lamb on the Bone
Meat, well into double figures and mostly on-the-bone, was surrounded by the collecting Oil. Minimal Fresh Coriander and sliced Large Green Chillies were the garnish. The Masala Mash was exactly how I seek my Karahi Gosht, just enough, no more.
The Chapattis were the largest I had encountered this week and not floury. Time to begin:
The hoped for – blast of Flavour – did not happen. The Spice was there, the Flavour was not, yet this was far from – Bland.
This lacks Seasoning – I remarked to Howard.
Digging deeper into the mass of Meat and Masala revealed Ginger Strips and an abundance of Tomato Seeds and Finely Chopped Onions. There was greater satisfaction to be found here, the Masala had – something. The Lamb gave off a Meaty-Lamb Flavour. The majority of the Meat was on-the-bone so quite a pile of bones was assembled. The Curry looked – Good – with more Seasoning it would have been – Great.
Over to Howard:
This had the makings of a very good Curry. The lamb was soft, and the spice level excellent which built during the meal. The disappointment was the Masala which lacked something. I consulted my Curry correspondent with whom I agree regarding the Seasoning which could have made a good-ish Curry even better.
Next time Hector will shall ask for the usual – Extra Methi, Extra Seasoning.
The Bill
£17.00 20p for the Salad then?
The Aftermath
I gave the Calling Card to one of the chaps behind the counter. I could see they were all busy preparing orders.
Ten minutes after we had departed, the full Flavour of the Lamb Handi hit the palate. I could taste this Curry at last. As I have written many times:
Seasoning is all.
Achtung!
Driving along the Sheffield Parkway (A630) I pulled out to overtake two cars and let a car on the slip-road gain access to the carriageway. Next thing I sensed a shadow in the nearside mirror, the latter car was trying to overtake on the inside and was going for a gap that did not exist. Howard was bracing for the impending collision. The ABS on the Passat was tested to its limits. Had there been cars behind us there would have been a pile up. My awareness and reactions saved the day. As for the driver of the other car… he sped off, he must have been aware of carnage he could have caused. Why are people like this on the road?
And so to The Wesley Centre, Maltby where I last saw Grey Lady Down, hence the t-shirt on show today.
The Room
The Room took to the stage promptly. Howard and Hector were happy to have seats at the rear of the tiered seating. The audience was little more than thirty, nobody stood on the floor in front of the stage.
A few verses into the first song, I said to Howard:
That sounds like the singer from Grey Lady Down.
The Huawei was consulted, indeed not only did we have Martin Wilson (vocals), here was Steve Anderson (guitar) also from GLD.
The Room have two albums dating back to their formation in 2010 with a third featuring the present line-up in the pipeline. The lyrics and their delivery were very much in the GLD – Martin Wilson style. It was like hearing a whole new set of GLD songs but without the strength of composition. The songs were fine, Eric Bouillette performing the best guitar breaks.
Mark Dixon on keyboards added very little to the overall sound and looked quite bored at times. Grey Lady Down this was – not.
Landmarq
This evening was the fourth time I have seen Landmarq. The first time was in 1994 supporting either IQ or Pendragon at the Marquee (Soho). Infinity Parade (1993) had just been released, Ta’ Jiang, the epic sixteen minute song, was the standout. Rotherham Rocks in 1996 featured John Wetton, Porcupine Tree, Grace, Landmarq plus others over two days. Damian Wilson was the outstanding vocalist on the first three Landmarq albums but was replaced by the then ubiquitous Tracy Hitchings for the next two. Science of Coincidence (1998) was the featured album at Rotherham Rocks 1998, the only time I would see Tracy Hitchings perform, she now lives in Australia and we are friends on a Social Medium.
Landmarq have a new vocalist, Wolf Campen. I had read reports of a new album and hoped this would appear before this evening, alas not. If any new material was performed this evening at Maltby, then this was not made clear.
The songs I can verify being performed this evening are:
Solitary Witness (Infinity Parade, 1993), Pinewood Avenue (The Vision Pit, 1995), Lighthouse (Science of Coincidence, 1998), Turbulence, Mountains of Anglia, Personal Universe (Entertaining Angels, 2012).
The band were as tight as ever musically though it was interesting to note that Uwe d’Rose has abandoned the very distinctive guitar sound from the early albums. Then we have Wolf. He admitted it was a challenge to learn the material, the Tracy albums in particular in which he would attempt to sing in the original key. 
There were a few fluffs, lyrics forgotten, displays of nerves. He’s a young man who has to start somewhere, and can sing. He just needs to practise his stage craft and come across as a part of the band, not a guest vocalist. When co-founder member Steve Gee (Bass) did some introductions towards the end he displayed the charisma that had hitherto been missing.
After the gig, I hoped to purchase a CD by The Room. All had scampered.
