Words – Bill Adamson (main), John Hayhurst (a bit)
All Photos – John Hayhurst
Live at Leeds (In The City) returned once again in November to finish off festival season 2024, and many of the venues were packed out and on a ‘one in – one out’ arrangement. Live music certainly isn’t dead in this city and rising Mercury Music award winning English Teacher were certainly a main draw, but what about the other bands playing the smaller stages – we despatched Bill Adamson and John Hayhurst to find some new talent and your next favourite band.
The first act for us was Hungry at the Leeds Beckett Student Union 2 Stage. I think they are from Manchester. Their name is great and Hungry are certainly not starved of a good tune or three. The sound is post-punk with a heavier emphasis on the punk, a bit like Yard Act on amphetamines. The song about eating yourself was a highlight and the front man channels some great charisma. Next up it was Marika Hackman on the Leeds Beckett Student Union Stage. She is in possession of some sublime emotional and spellbinding songs that are fleshed out with some great rock sounds. Her voice is truly immense, and she knows how to draw her audience into her musical world. There was some psych, almost mystical, prog sounds later in the set.
We stayed at Leeds Beckett for one more act and this meant a return to the Student Union 2 Stage for Aimee and the Parade. Aimee dressed in the “I am auditioning for Fleetwood Mac” style. But her and the band are much more enjoyable than that. Her voice is like an animalistic, operatic roar. She has a great stage presence and some stylish rock poses. I would like to see them play for longer as I felt they started on a great high but kind of deflated a little toward the end.
Next it was a brisk walk across the city to Oporto for Ruby Duff. She was incredibly nervous before her set began, but once she started singing and performing, she owned the stage. I certainly think she is ready for some bigger venues. There are elements of Kate Bush and Bjork in her voice and performance. “Idol” is a great song, but I was a little disappointed that she played a radio friendly version, leaving out the f-bomb in the “I’m a motherfucking idol” refrain.
Gravy was our next choice in the Belgrave Music Hall. The sound was poor at first, but the band was playing their nuts off. Gravy is a particularly good band, and their guitarist channels a young Bernard Butler really well. I think he could move on to a bigger band more suited to his guitar skills.
Casisdead took the stage at Leeds Beckett Student Union Stage. The sound mix was awful for the first half of the set, and it was really hard to hear his voice. He performs some great modern rap over some old school electro sounds. Sadly, the sound meant I didn’t really pick up on his lyrics and voice. But having listened to him since I can say that he is bloody good!
We skipped over to the Leeds Beckett Theatre, a new venue for this event, for Irish chanteuse Lucy Robinson. She has some great pop country jazz-tinged songs which occasionally reminded me of Kindelan and Marnie Glum.
The band everyone is talking about – English Teacher were next in the Beckett main room, the queue was down the street, so many people lost out and had to find other bands to see, but those inside witnessed a return to hometown Leeds like the 2nd coming. Lily Fontaine with her Afro hair up for a change was master of ceremonies, this was her poetry set to indie music of an intense and high calibre, I can see why they won the Mercury Music Prize this year and the set went by so fast it was a blur of bliss, ‘Nearly Daffodils’ a favourite.
A trip to the Brudenell Social Club beckoned next where we caught up with funky scousers the Kairos. They struck me as a heavier take on another classic Liverpool band, the Farm. They also had some (whisper it ……… Madchester vibes). On first impressions they looked like what Gravy might look like after a few years of gigging.
The Manatees were next in the Brudenell Community Room. This bunch are purveyors of some fine soulful electro prog with a few dancey nods to the Talking Heads. They have a huge sack full of hooks and I bloody love them! The singer has a bit of younger Bono about him (in the years before Bono became a mega twat).
The Kites from Newcastle were on stage in the Main Room and were initially marred by a few sound check issues which led to a late start. But they clearly didn’t let this deter them and kicked off on an absolute high. They have the spirit and feel of early Razorlight, and I do mean that as a positive comment. The riffs on the new song they played were majestic and huge.
A quick return to the Brudenell Community Room gave us probably the best experience of the day with Neckbreakers. I knew nothing about them until now, in fact looking at the band name I thought they might be a hardcore metal band or speed core punk band. But they are not either of those. Their harmonies could split a million atoms, and their songs are so perfectly formed for a young band. Imagine a universe where the Mamas and Papas sing heavenly harmonies for a first-class metal band and then turn up your expectations to the stratosphere. Even then you might not understand just how good they are. They are fronted by three superb vocalists with a guitarist that plays like a Prince protégé. If this band does not become huge then the world really has turned to shit!
Humour was next in the Main Room they play some hard, grungy, garage sounds from Glasgow with some freaky, weird, and wonderful vocals. This lot are not just post punk they are post post post post post punk. John Peel would have loved them. I had a strange interlude watching them and a warped thought struck me. What if Lego bricks were possessed and could be used to build bands? Well Humour would be built from a Lego set that included pop punk bricks, post punk bricks, a couple of Lene Lovich bricks and a handful of different sized Richard Jobson bricks accompanied by an enormous range of simply weird Lego pieces!
Back in the Community Room it was time for EBBB. This was ethereal, choral styled dream pop from a happier dimension than the one we occupy. EBBB’s songs will lift even the lowest of moods. Then when they get their formidable dance groove on, we are taken on a journey to a different galaxy. If you don’t want to dance to these sounds, then you are unwell and possibly dead!
The final band on our sojourn to the Brudenell Social Club was KEO. They are originally from Devon and now based in London. There are some very Kurt Cobain vocal stylings in there sound along with a spoonful of Gavin Rossdale. I like KEO!
A quick cross town cab took us to the Key Club for Swim School, Alice Johnson has a star presence with her unique vocal style. ‘Bored’ might be being played but we were certainly not. I hate The Key Club with a passion, and it takes something special for me to be there, this was such an incredible gig. ‘Kill You’ showed a softer side to Alice’s vocals and then ‘Give Me A Reason Why’ revealed a slight squeak, which I still can’t decide if I like or not, pretty sure it would grate after a while. ‘Delirious’ sparked some moshing at the front from a handful of people and shortly after that it was all over.
Then a final visit to The Wardrobe for Brighton indie popsters Lime Garden, I can’t get enough of trippy hippy Leila Deeley’s guitar poses, it’s like she’s in another world, while vocalist Chloe Howard’s deadpan delivery reminds me of Louise Wener (Sleeper) at her very best ‘Pop Star’ is a resounding hit and they should be packing out venues bigger than this next year.
Finally, we took a refreshing walk to the Hyde Park Book Club where we caught just a couple of songs from No Windows. They sound a little folky and write some great songs. When trying to talk about their merch they said that we might think they were shite. Well, I can tell you categorically that they are not shite they are fucking great. I also bought the CD of their EP and a sticker which is sitting proudly on my laptop.
There was only one band that I had to see at Live At Leeds In The City this year and that was Avalanche Party. They were a last-minute booking for this event and as expected they fucking owned it. They had an extra guitarist with them, none other than their good mate Tom from the Blinders! Front man Jordan was in full moody rock god mode and played most of the set just off the front of the stage in this exceedingly small venue. The band’s intergalactic garage sounds fit in any size venue. In some ways it is even more powerful in a small venue like the Hyde Park Book Club. The twin guitar attack from Tom and Jared (the 12-string maestro) was stunning. The combined attack of Kane’s mountainous drumming and Joe’s thunderous bass rocked this place to its foundations, and I can still feel that beat in my chest. All of this was overlaid with some stylish and superhuman keys playing from Glenn. It was a relatively short set including a few newer songs. (I have their new album for review, and it will certainly be a contender for album of the year 2025 when it comes out). In a set full of towering highlights “Rebel Forever” was my favourite. This was a band on fire and as a good friend of mine once said, “there ain’t no party like an Avalanche Party.”
Sadly, that is it for Live At Leeds In The City 2024. We’ll be back in 2025, will you?
