Artists: Jay Chakravorty / Ruben & Alana / Tom Blankenberg
Venue: Left Bank, Leeds
Date: 22.5.22
There are so many ways to use a piano; from its purest classical form to a tool for experimentation. At these regular sessions curator and host, Simeon Walker, invites a selection of musical contemporaries to perform and showcase the versatility of the instrument whilst making such events accessible to all. Always beautiful, often surprising.
Artist: The Belgrave House Band
Support: Laura Kindelan
Venue: Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Date: 20.5.22
So much more than a covers band; The Belgrave House Band are an incredibly talented collective who carefully consider the albums that they perform, and clearly put their heart and soul into doing so. If you’re gonna do ‘Ziggy’ you’ve gotta do it right. They nailed it!
Artists: Secret Affair / The Truth / The Vapors / Squire
Venue: Old Woollen, Farsley, Leeds
Date: 14.5.22
The old guard met the dawn of a new era as mods and modettes young and old filled the Old Woollen for a Mods Mayday gathering. The ageing fellas with feather cuts mingled with a new generation of the ‘in crowd’ who appreciate the past but bring a contemporary twist to the mod scene. Isn’t that what it was originally all about?
Performances varied in quality with Secret Affair being notably disappointing compared to when I’d recently seen them at Brudenell Social Club.. The Vapours played the standout set, still having the sound and energy of their era.
Artist: Gary Numan
Support: Divine Shade
Venue: O2 Academy, Leeds
Date: 12.5.22
The Numan renaissance continued with the Intruder tour. Songs from the newly released album and its predecessor (Savage) strongly held their own against a back catalogue of pioneering synth sounds and electronic anthems.
Setlist: Intruder / Me! I Disconnect From You / Halo / The Gift / Metal / Here in the Black / Is This World Not Enough / Films / Pure / Resurrection / Down in the Park / Everyday I Die / Dead Sun Rising / Cars / My Name Is Ruin / Love Hurt / Bleed / The Chosen / I Die: You Die // A Prayer for the Unborn / Are ‘Friends’ Electric?
Artist: Mattiel
Support: Le Ren
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 9.5.22
The über cool and ever stylish songstress returned to Brudenell Social Club on her Georgia Gothic tour.
Artist: Stereo MC’s
Support: Clint Boon [DJ Set]
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 6.5.22
Gettin’ Deep Down & Dirty with the Stereo MC’s at ‘The Brude’. Timeless tunes took the roof off a full house.
Artist: Blondie
Support: Johnny Marr
Venue: First Direct Arena, Leeds
Date: 4.5.22
Originally planned for 21.11.21 with Garbage as the support band but rescheduled to 4.5.22 with Johnny Marr supporting (an equally welcome substitution).
Johnny Marr Setlist: Armatopia / Panic / Night and Day / Spirit Power and Soul / This Charming Man / Getting Away With It / Walk Into the Sea / Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want / How Soon Is Now? / Easy Money / There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
An evening of pop art and rock royalty. Blondie toured without Chris Stein (due to a heart condition) but with the addition of Glen Matlock replacing Leigh Foxx on bass. Debbie Harry lacked the moves and vocals that she once had but was still a formidable and focal front woman at 76 years old.
Blondie Setlist: X Offender / Hanging on the Telephone / Sunday Girl / Picture This / Mother / Fade Away and Radiate / The Tide is High / What I Heard / Atomic / (I’m Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear / Shayla / Union City Blue / Long Time / My Monster / Rapture / Maria / Dreaming / Heart of Glass // Fragments / Call Me / One Way or Another
Artist: Gaz Coombes
Support: Piney Gir
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 23.4.22
I saw Supergrass play live a few times during their britpop heyday but somehow I’d managed to neglect Gaz Coombes’ solo career. I was pleasantly surprised and slightly entranced by his beautiful vocals and melodic music at this stripped down performance.
Setlist: Matador / Wounded Egos / Salamander / Oscillate / Sonny the Strong / Deep Pockets / White Noise / The Oaks / Hot Fruit / Oxygen Mask / The Girl Who Fell to Earth / 20/20 / Detroit // This Love / Walk the Walk
Artist: Royal Blood
Support: The Amazons
Venue: First Direct Arena, Leeds
Date: 12.4.22
Back with the rescheduled ‘Typhoons’ tour. Just two men but enough rock to fill an arena. Grrrr!
Setlist: Typhoons / Boilermaker / Lights Out / Come on Over / Trouble’s Coming / Hook, Line & Sinker / Honeybrains / Little Monster / How Did We Get So Dark? / Blood Hands / Million and One / Limbo / Loose Change / Figure It Out // All We Have Is Now / Ten Tonne Skeleton / Out of the Black
Artist: Wolfgang Flür
Support: Peter Duggal
Venue: Old Woollen, Farsley, Leeds
Date: 9.4.22
An apt industrial setting for the ex-Kraftwerk percussionist to perform contemporary techno with a nod to his past.
I briefly met the ‘Man Machine’ himself after the gig and came away with a signed Magazine tour poster.
Artists: Adult Cat / Mangorata / Blackson
Venue: Left Bank, Leeds
Date: 29.3.22
Support for a country and community rocked by Russian aggression.
Every cloud has a silver lining. In this case it was the discovery of Mangorata who instantly became a favourite band on the local jazz scene.
Artist: Curtis Harding
Venue: Brudenell Social Club
Date: 26.3.22 [Cancelled]
The last of my postponed/cancelled COVID gigs. Let’s hope that we never return to such dark and devastating days. Thankfully many live music venues survived lockdown and the aftermath of COVID complications but some simply couldn’t carry on. Hard times lead to hard decisions.
Artists: The Ukrainians / From East to East / Brigadistas
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 6.3.22
An evening of sorrow, solidarity and defiant celebration as the Ukrainian community of Leeds came together to raise awareness of Russian atrocities and the invasion of their homeland.
Artist: Yard Act
Support: Baba Ali
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 26.2.22
Yard Act – again! The 4th time I’d seen them in a month. Perhaps you can have too much of a good thing? Worth it one more time though to see the magnificent Babi Ali supporting and collaborating on the encore.
Setlist: Strip / Payday / The Overload / Witness (Can I Get A?) / The Trapper’s Pelts / Fixer Upper / Peanuts / Dark Days / Tall Poppies / Pour Another // Rich / Dead Horse / Daft Punk Is Playing at My House (with Baba Ali)
Artist: Sons of Kemet
Support: Algernon Cornelius
Venue: Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Date: 22.2.22
A tour de force of contemporary / nu jazz, ferocious funk and blusy beats.
Setlist:
Artist: Dry Cleaning
Support: PVA
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 20.2.22
Wordy Rockinghood.
Setlist: Leafy / Unsmart Lady / Strong Feelings / Her Hippo / Sit Down Meal / Viking Hair / More Big Birds / Traditional Fish / New Long Leg / Magic of Meghan / Scratchcard Lanyard // TBC
Artist: Secret Affair
Support: The Deep Six
Venue: Brudenell Social Club
Date: 3.2.22
The mods march again, albeit at a slightly slower pace – but the beat goes on . . .
Artist: Yard Act
Support: Cheap Teeth
Venue: Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Date: 1.2.22
BBC Radio 6 Music’s band of the moment take to the stage at Belgrave Music Hall to promote Independent Venue Week. Having done his live broadcast and compère duties, it was great to see Steve Lamacq in amongst the crowd from the support band onwards.
Setlist: Dark Days / Witness (Can I Get A?) / Dead Horse / Fixer Upper / The Incident / Pour Another / Rich / The Trapper’s Pelts / Human Sacrifice / 100% Endurance / Payday / The Overload
Artist: GoGo Penguin
Venue: Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Date: 28.1.22
Blue Note x breakbeat at Belgrave. The epitome of cool.
Artist: Yard Act
Support: John Moss [DJ Set]
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 27.1.22
A late night final push the get Yard Act’s debut album ‘The Overload’ to the top of the charts upon release week. Crew cajoled the crowd into buying additional copies of the album with cassettes being the only remaining format as the chart sales deadline loomed.
In the end the album entered the charts in the highly commendable no. 2 position with ‘Night Call’ by Years & Years claiming the top spot.
Setlist: The Overload / Witness (Can I Get A?) / Payday / Dark Days / Pour Another / Rich / Tall Poppies / Human Sacrifice / The Trapper’s Pelts / 100% Endurance / Land of the Blind
Artist: Yard Act
Venue: The Vinyl Whistle, Headingley, Leeds
Date: 25.1.22
And so it begins; the year of Yard Act and their assault on the charts with their debut album, ‘The Overload’. Cracking on with an afternoon appearance and signing session at The Vinyl Whistle as part of an intimate instore tour.
Setlist: Witness (Can I Get A?) / Rich / 100% Endurance / Pour Another
My Gigography 