With Nuha Ruby Ra opening up the night, the crowd is already immersed into the evening. Yard Act frontman James is first to walk on, and is welcomed by an eruption of applause and whistles.

Opening the set with the title track from their debut album, the venue is already drenched. The high guitar tones of the opening of ‘The Overload’ kick off the night.

The rather politically heavy song ‘Dead Horse’ calms the crowd down a bit with a slower tempo followed by ‘Payday’

My favourite from the Leeds outfit’s album is up next, ‘Land of the Blind’. The “ba ba ba ba ba baows” swallow the room as James owns the Rescue Rooms stage. James is greeted by many offers from fans for their fifty pence pieces to help conduct his magic trick.

The heavy bassline from their track ‘Rich’ is almost ear-wrenching to listen to, the sharp bass-tones carrying the track, accompanied by James’ monotone vocals. This was then followed by a comedic speech by the frontman about his beloved football club, Leeds United, and their incompetence.




A song that wasn’t initially on the setlist, written down at least, was ‘Witness (Can I Get A?)’. Before they decide to play the track, the lead guitarist - Sam Shjipstone - shares a small anecdote about some bloke the band met at a signing. As the story was being told, I could see the bloke in question stood there - about to enter a door that leads to the stage. The young man is welcomed on and given a guitar to play with the band, minus Sam (he’s now at the man’s feet, triggering the appropriate pedals).

‘Peanuts’, ‘Tall Poppies’ and ‘Pour Another’ close the eventful set. Yard Act weren’t my cup of tea before I saw them, despite my mates trying to convince me they were class - I could never see it. Yet after their set ended, all I wanted was more.