Yard Act, Yes (Basement), 31st July 2021

I’m at another gig, two in a week. This is starting to feel like normal but cool your jets, we’re not out of this mess yet and headliners Yard Act know it. It’s not venue policy but the band have asked everyone in here tonight to provide a negative test and wear a mask as much as possible except when “supping fresh pints of lager”. This I cannot commend enough and even if their set was shit, I’d tell you it was brilliant. It’s not shit, but before we get to Yard Act, I need to tell you about Bleach Lab, the band I’m gutted I missed. Sadly I couldn’t get here early enough to catch their set, but seriously give them a listen. First thing I did when I realised I missed them was to grab a ticket for their next Manchester show. I did manage to catch Nuha Ruby Ra, who’ll I’ll say is pretty interesting, but with most of the sound coming from the stage being a backing tape, for me it didn’t work live. To Yard Act then, four lads from Leeds who belt out sharp sounding sharp witted deadly indie bangers. I’ve had their Dark Days EP on very heavy rotation, but as awesome as that record is, live they’re even better. James Smith’s deadpan vocals are the calling card, but it wouldn’t work without the shithot band with him and they are shithot. With a tight post punk sound that sets the sold out room to a setting somewhere around “fuck yeah!” it’s nothing short of magnificent. The rhythm is tight, the guitars squall, as Smith stalks a spits lyrics of withering social commentary peppered with dry humour the place goes off. This is the kind of gig I’ve been missing!