Written by Rowan Howard

Yes, you did read that title right, Canadian crazies Sumo Cyco actually came to Leicester! On the 7th December 2019, Sumo Cyco played at The Soundhouse!

As the last show of their tenth UK tour, the band were joined by supporting acts As Sirens Fall and Suburban. I could not believe my eyes when I saw their updated poster back in October when they announced the new dates! Before you could say ‘I wonder if they’ll pronounce it Ly-cest-er’, I was straight on their site. They didn’t, by the way.

Wandering into the tiny but authentically alternative venue that is The Soundhouse, it was unclear how a band as tireless as Sumo Cyco was going to control the audience. It was already pretty full of fans that had followed from Southampton to Birmingham; there were probably only a few that were seeing them for the first time.

Inside, The Soundhouse mirrors your average local with a space in the back for bands to jam, so it was a humbling experience to suddenly see guitarist Matt Drake emerge from the men’s toilets only a few hundred yards away. I’ve been following this band’s global adventure on social media for years and now here they were, just walking around in a pub in Leicester!

The loyal CYCO’s packed to the front of the floor when the band surfaced on stage. There weren’t enough of us to fill even the floor, but enough to get the place pumping. They played Fighter from their 2015 record Lost in Cyco City, an unapologetic, punchy track – a personal favourite, so my contribution to the uproar probably didn’t go unnoticed.

Frontwoman Skye Sweetnam’s vocals were canorous and her screams sonorously uncouth but in all the right ways. Her charismatic and sexual attitude on stage fuelled her talent and subsequently the band’s ultimately sick image. The arduous touring did not halt her energy to get involved with the crowd; she continuously climbed into the swarm to drive the mosh pit and marched to the bar for some tequila as a toast to their last show.

The band continued to animate the short acres of space with effortless punk flair, whilst the small but savage mosh pit snarled for every chorus. To finish off their vivacious set, Sweetnam merged into the crowd to get us all up and jumping for the final chorus of the show.

After all the sweat and possible blood of the last play of a tour, it would be time for a well-deserved rest for the band, but you’d be wrong. They don’t seem like the type of guys that will ever quit!

It’s clear that these guys are heading for bigger things and it’s great to see them firing up the moshers of the UK, a country that they claim is their second home after touring here twice a year since 2014. One day they’ll be igniting the floors of the likes of Brixton Academy, but for now, they seem pretty content with blowing the roof off of any hidden venue they can find across the country.