Holly Wilson
Yard Act are a recently-formed British rock band, that performed a show at The Bodega in Nottingham on 23rd February 2022. Impact’s Holly Wilson attended the concert, and reviews.
It’s no secret that Yard Act have been touted as a band to watch, and the full, sweaty room at The Bodega on Wednesday night should come as no surprise. Selling out their show at The Bodega, and their show in May at Rescue Rooms, this is a band that will climb and climb. The show on Wednesday night was a perfect distilling of the magic that has made Yard Act so popular.
They play with the figure of Graham, the man down the road with the rover and the Gallagher hair cut, who offers his opinion a little too freely
The concept of their recent release, ‘The Overload’, establishes the Leeds-based indie four-piece as satirical storytellers, as they play with the figure of Graham, that man down the road with the rover and the Gallagher haircut, who offers his opinion a little too freely. At the opening of the gig, vocalist James Smith rapped on the microphone, before asking the audience “Who’s there? Oh look, here he is, Graham”, before the intro bars of Fixer Upper ripped from the guitar.
The bemusement of the band at their success was apparent before they walked on stage, with the guitarist Sam Shipstone turning to me and asking what time the band were meant to start. When I told him, he checked his watch and nodded, “yeah, that feels about right”, before casually walking on stage. Later, when, in a rather confusing moment it must be said, an audience member handed over a battered Co-op bag full of 40 Crème Eggs, Smith carefully distributed them amongst the crowd, before inviting audience members to recite the spoken word portions of the band’s song, Peanuts.
A communal expression of excitement
The powerful bass lines and drum beats of the album were ramped up even further for the show, transforming the songs into mosh-ready anthems that got the crowd pulsating and laughing along with the wry lyrics. The Bodega is always a great place to experience live music, but the venue shines when bands like Yard Act take to the stage, the intimate space becoming a communal expression of excitement. The range of songs from both the album and the EPs allowed for the band to really demonstrate their powerful craftmanship.
Overall, Yard Act own the stage and invite the audience to join them in their pure joy. As one of the first gigs I’ve been to since … well, you know… this gig really reminded me what live music is really about. If you can grab tickets, I highly recommend seeing these guys as soon as you can. One day, it is sure to be a claim to fame to say you saw them back then.
Holly Wilson
Featured image courtesy of Alex Watkin. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
In-article image courtesy of @yardactband via @instagram.com. No changes were made to this image.
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