Shame, Leeds University Union (Stylus). 5th March 2023

After a brisk drive over to Leeds on which a stone annoyingly says hello to my windscreen, I land in the rather lovely Stylus venue at Leeds Uni Union. It’s the perfect sized room. Not too big, not too small, with a sunken square floor space and a wrap around mezzanine above. No pillars in the way and The Cure playing on the warm up track. Details are important and you notice stuff when you visit somewhere new. I’m here to see Shame, who are up for a big night. Storming the stage with ‘Fingers of Steel’. “We’re gonna have the best fuckin Sunday night you’ve had in your whole life” shouts Charlie. I believe him, he’s already in the crowd, legs flailing. He’s a ball of pent up energy hell bent on a raucous release. It’s hard to take your eyes off him. The shirt removed as they tear into ‘Six Pack’. The new album is fantastic and this for me is a highlight. They’re five lads with guitars, but somehow they don’t don’t really sound like anyone else. The first two albums were a bit more ferocious and that sums the live experience up well. Especially on stuff like ‘Concrete’ with the crowd shouting “I hope that you’re hearing me”. Loud and clear, thankfully the sound in here is pretty decent. Half the crowd are swept up in joyous chaos, the other half look shellshocked. Happy, but stunned. I’ve not seen Shame live before. I’ve heard they were good, but this is beyond expectation. I think the slowest we get is ’Adderall’, which although slower tempo, still packs a grin enducing punch, ironically. It’s that part of the set, where they show just how much they’ve grown as ‘Orchid’ builds up through the gears, from an almost solemn lament to its brutal finale. Bassist Josh is an energetic bastard too, he bounces around like a madman without ever dropping a note. The place erupts for ‘One Rizla’, which is a brilliant piece of defiant pop, before the glorious rock stomp of ‘Gold Hole’ snakes it’s way through the collective consciousness and brings things to a close. Some bands are worth traveling for and Shame are one of them.