Live Review + Gallery | Yard Act @ Rough Trade, Bristol

Kaya Oatley

8 years in the game and still at it, I’m a photographer and musician based in Bristol. I love the music scene with my whole heart and capturing the little moments that might be missed is all I want to do. Big canon apologist, tiny camera fanatic and fond of anything that reminds me of Frank Ferdinand.

Following the release of their album ‘You’re Gonna Need A Little Music,’ Yard Act deliver an intimate performance to Bristol’s Rough Trade

It is a true pleasure to be introduced to a band by their audience. On a Wednesday night, in one of Bristol’s teeny tiny venues, Yard Act played one of those Intimate gigs that brought new meaning to the word. When a band that you love makes it big, you often lose out on the chance to really engage with them, to be right there next to them whilst they play and, in Yard Act’s case, to actually dictate the gig itself. Yard Act filled out Rough Trade to the brim and took song requests by polite hands up in the audience.

The band hails from Leeds and have just released their 3rd album; if the crowd was anything to go by, it was well received. The audience didn’t miss a beat or a single lyric, with almost every song they played being known by all. Usually when a band tours with some new material and old, it’s a process of trying to sway their fans to the new songs but this felt more like a homecoming.

The songs themselves ran the full gamut. The title track of new album ‘You’re Gonna Need A Little Music’ was bouncy and catchy and pure unapologetic fun, whereas tracks such as ‘Redeemer‘ were darker with more grit in the vocals and instruments. The crowd was mixed, with seasoned veterans alongside teens all bopping along. Also, despite being packed in like very sweaty sardines, everyone was very kind to me manoeuvring my way through with two cameras and a comically sized kit bag.

Overall, it was a cracking gig – I lost shots due to my own dancing, forgot about the sheer amount of sweat produced by that many people in that small of a space, and despite not knowing a single song, came out feeling like a fan.