Yard Act Leeds review: Local favourites deliver triumphant homecoming show at the Millennium Square

Far-right protests and counter demonstrations meant there was a tense atmosphere in Leeds city centre on Saturday.

Fortunately at the Millennium Square local favourites Yard Act were set to play their biggest headline show yet in an event that acted as a huge show of love, solidarity and pride for their city.

The group, which formed in 2019 before making waves during the long months of lockdown, were heading back to the place where it all started to mark the end of their tour in support of second album ‘Where’s My Utopia?’. The immensely impressive record sees the group veer from the acerbic post punk of ‘The Overload’ to a far more expansive sound that is a step up musically, lyrically and conceptually.

Electrifying support sets from fellow Leeds groups Ultimate Thunder and English Teacher and a heart-stopping set from London group Fat Dog had the crowd in high spirits for when the four-piece - joined onstage by two singers/dancers and a saxophonist - take to the stage.

There’s no sense that the group have hang-ups about their earlier material as they kick off with riotous versions of ‘The Overload’ and ‘Dead Horse’ to send the crowd into bedlam. The new material holds up no end as well, as ‘We Make Hits!’ and ‘Petroleum’ show that while the sound may be more Gorillaz than Blur now, their ability to marry the meandering, self-referential lyricism of singer James Smith with infectious melodies is still in full supply.

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Smith is also on great form and carries the crowd through the show with an easy familiarity and sincerity. An old school friend is brought out to crowd surf to ‘Down By The Stream’ before he talks of his love for the city and his bandmates during the triumphant set-closer 100% Endurance, which is given extra gravitas with a pinch of pyro.

“I don’t know if we’ll make it to the arena and I don’t know if we care”, he says. “As long as we do something that’s interesting and excites me we’ll play to a half full Hyde Park Book Club if we have to.”

A raucous finale of first single ‘The Trapper’s Pelts’ and the brilliant ‘Trenchcoat Museum’ indicate their next stop off in the city may only be bigger.