On Tuesday night, we managed to catch the penultimate show of Yard Act’s Dream Job UK tour, located at Brighton Dome. Yard Act was accompanied by a high-charged American art-punk band, Gustaf.
Gustaf kicked off the night with a setlist that certainly got the crowd moving. They came on stage rather casually and started the show with a very slow and minimal song, “Here hair/ hard hair.” It was mesmerizing to watch each member play their instruments before the end kicked in and they showed how loud they could be. The group leaned heavily into their release, “Audio Drag For Ego Slobs” by playing 8 out of the 10 songs originating from the album. As well as treating the audience to 3 of the songs from their upcoming release Package, pt 2.
Images above: Gustaf, Support act.
After Gustaf left the stage, the time finally arrived for Yard Act. The band launched into An Illusion, just after lead singer James Smith addressed the crowd with “Hello Brighton, how you doing?“ the first song of their newest album “Where’s my Utopia?” released March 1st. Despite being such a fresh album, the crowd shouted along with all of the lyrics whilst James took full advantage of the stage and the incredible setup. I have not had the pleasure to see Yard Act live previously but was charmingly surprised by the chaoticness on stage accompanied by one of the most enthusiastic, passionate crowds I have ever had the pleasure to be surrounded by.
In the most memorable moment of the night, lead singer James Smith took time to address the crowd, before inviting a fan onto the stage with some playful banter to spin a wheel for their next song, the wheel was brought out to a fun gameshow instrumental and magically showcased by Backing vocalists Lauren Fitzpatrick and Daisy Smith. The wheel landed on “Fixer Upper” and the audience member was ushered off the stage to James uttering “Strange man” before kicking off into the song.
As the band reemerged for the encore they burst into their song from their debut album “100% Endurance” which gave a much slower pace from a lot of the previous set “Make some noise Brighton!” James called out to the crowd, followed by “Now make some noise for life” which was met with a lesser cheer prompting James to respond “You’re meant to make more noise for life than Yard Act!” which funnily enough perfectly summed the show up, Yard Act’s performance was just the best thing in that moment.
Closing out the show with “The Trenchcoat Museum” From my spot in the venue, I felt an energy shift as the cheers and shouts mounted. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of freedom as I watched crowds bounce and mosh along to the loud instrumental, knowing unequivocally I was surrounded by love and acceptance, and a rough-around-around-the-edges crowd coming together through music and support for one another. This song was special as it brought the return of support act Gustaf onto stage joining Backing vocalists Lauren and Daisy causing the stage to become a giant dance floor. The audience continued to moshed and crowd-surfed the never-ending song as the dancing continued until the end of the song when they all crawled off the stage.
Overall the evening was both full of absolutely talented music and an insane theatrical show. After a packed evening performance, I walked away feeling a deeper understanding and appreciation for Yard Act, both as performers and as people, and with a renewed love for the genre. It was truly the show of a lifetime.