Journalist and promoter popular on Sheffield club scene who helped Arctic Monkeys early in their career dies aged 47

Tributes have been paid to Matt Evans, who worked for the Sheffield Telegraph before going into public relations and events management.

Matt covered Sheffield’s club and music scene between 2003 and 2007, as well as Chesterfield Football Club for three seasons.

He emerged as a successful club promoter and was credited by Arctic Monkeys after one of their early gigs, earning the name Curly Matt on the band’s Beneath the Boardwalk collection of demo recordings.

Neil Anderson, who also worked for the Telegraph and wrote Sheffield’s club bible Dirty Stop Outs, said: “Matt made a significant contribution to the Telegraph’s listings, which was something he enjoyed. He knew the scene, had his ear to the ground and wasn’t afraid of putting his view forward.

"He was a name and a massive force in clubland, a cornerstone of the clubbing and promotional scene. It is a tragic loss and he wil be fondly remembered by everyone in Sheffield who worked with him.”

More recently, he served as Clitheroe Grand Theatre’s programme manager and was promoter of the Cloudspotting music festival.

He told the Grand’s website: “I joined The Grand in 2009 after a very happy 14 years in Sheffield, Yorkshire.

“I grew up in Whalley and secondary schooled at Clitheroe Grammar. My year was the first one after the merger of the Girls and Boys grammar schools. So I was one of about 40 boys amongst a school of 500 girls. Happy days.”

He was as a trainee reporter in Lancashire and after three years went to Sheffield Hallam to study BA Film and Media Studies and graduated in 1998.

Matt told the website: “In Sheffield, I co-founded an eclectic club night The Remedy, which went on for 7 years. I also helped in the launch of 1500 capacity Plug venue and ran a number of independent social events, parties and small festivals.

He was reported to have previously had heart surgery. Matt, who was married to Judy and had two sons, Roscoe and Marlon, died last month.