I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: November 5, 2023] Yard Act 

I had tickets to see Yard Act last year.  I bought the ticket mostly because I wanted to see the opening band, Gustaf, whom I had recently seen and really liked.

That show was cancelled at the last minute because Yard Act was called back home to do a live TV appearance for the Mercury Prize (surely a lot more lucrative than playing a gig at Underground Arts).

When this new tour was announced I decided to give them a go.  They are very British (being from Leeds).  On record, “singer” James Smith mostly rants and speaks angrily.  His lyrics are placed over some very cool guitars from Sam Shipstone and some really grooving bass from Ryan Needham.  Drummer Jay Russell keeps things together.

For this live show they had a keyboardist/saxophonist who seemed to allow Shipstone to go even more berserk.

I really had no idea that Shipstone would be playing the kind of noisy, feedback drenched sounds he did.  Which is not to say that he was not playing melody because he was, but as the rest of the band took over a song, he was just wild on the far side of the stage.  I was a little annoyed that I couldn’t see him well.  The woman in front of me was dancing and taking up a lot of real estate so I couldn’t lean in around the guy next to me.

Needham’s bass had a great sound and was often the only thing holding the melody down while Shipstone went nuts.  He also provided backing vocals.

But the focus of the show is clearly James Smith.  And the best part of the show is that he doesn’t casually recite his lyrics.  He is a non-stop machine of gestures and quips, singing and screaming lyrics.  Whispering and delaying satisfaction.  He has the entire audience in his hands and he is not afraid to make then do what he wants.  It was amazing to watch.

He was also quite taken with Philadelphia (he apologized that they missed last year’s show…but they had other commitments).  There was even a point where he shouted I love Philly!  And then fell to he knees shouting “And I’m not just saying that!”  He also said if he HAD to move to the States, he’d want to live in Philly.

So I’d listened to the album a couple of times and knew what the band was about, but I didn’t know any of the songs really.

Really, it’s the lyrics though, that keep you coming back, even if they are spoken like in “Dead Horse:”

I wasn’t the one lied to and I’m not scared of people
Who don’t look like me, unlike you

…

And we’re supposed to let it slide
Because the press have normalized
The idea that racism is something we should humor

But even the songs that have a lot of spoken parts have super catchy choruses in which most of the band sings along like, yes “Dead Horse.”

“Dark Days” is primarily a bass line and drums with Shipstone making all kinds of noise on his guitar until it builds to a “chorus” changing “Dark Days” (and live the chorus is HUGE, as is the “Take the Money and Run” chant for “Payday.”

They played a new song called “Petroleum.”  And all along, Smith had a setlist on the floor next to him.   Throughout the night he kept stepping on it and kicking it around–it was a good indicator of just how busy he was.  By the end of the set, it sat torn and soaking in a puddle from whatever was in the can he was drinking from.

It’s kind of surprising how dance a song like “Dream Job” can be and how much fun everyone was having.  So much so, that when he introduced “100% Endurance,” he observed how fast the show as going.  “100%” starts out quietly and then build to a big ending.

It was followed by the raging blast of “Witness” which is 80 seconds long on record but may have been even faster.   They raged into the final two songs–the stupidly catchy chorus of The Overload and the moody “Land of the Blind.”  As they paused before the final song, people shouted out the songs they wanted to hear.  James said that they might considered playing those songs if we would graciously allow them to play the songs they wanted to play first.

The final song was the seven minute “The Trench Coat Museum.”  There is a long guitar solo in the middle, during which James sat on the drum riser with his head in his hands as if he were miserable.  It was funny to see, especially when it was his turn to sing again and he jumped up happily, grabbed a little sampling device and started having a ball throwing out all of the samples from the song and manipulating them on the fly.  I only wish they were a little clearer.

When they came out for the encore, he asked what do you want to hear and immediately someone shouted “Peanuts.” He recited the spoken word part first in a “Tom Waits” voice and then like a vampire–there was very much laughter during this section.  Someone shouted out another song title, but they decided to play “Fixer Upper” and everyone was okay with that.

It was a really fun set.  Everyone was into it, the band gave it their all, and we were back on the road by 10:30.

This whole show was so much better than I had hoped it would be.

SETLIST

1. Dead Horse ♠
2. Dark Days Δ
3. Petroleum ⊗
4. Payday ♠
5. Dream Job ⊗
6. Pour Another ♠
7. 100% Endurance ♠
8. Witness (Can I Get A?) ♠
9. The Overload ♠
10. Land of the Blind ♠
11. The Trench Coat Museum ø
    encore
12. Peanuts Δ
13. Fixer Upper Δ

⊗ Where’s My Utopia (2024)
ø single (2023)
♠ The Overload (2022)
Δ Dark Days EP (2021)