Yard Act, Revolution Hall, August 9, 2026
We all need some music
Rock bands are so 2009. Or are they? Last week Leeds’ Yard Act proved that we still need bands that speak in whole thougthts and complete their sentences. Enter James Smith (vocals) and company who together brought a mix of music, bravado, and political awareness to the Revolution Hall’s stage.
Brooklynites Bambara opened the evening with gothy surf rock. Led by twin brothers Reid Bateh (lead vocals, guitar) and Blaze Bateh (drums) the quartet gallantly played a fuzz-soaked set of moody torch songs. Guitarist Lilah Larson delivered sharp melodic riffs and playfully bantered with Reid Bateh as his voice delivered moody gut punches throughout the opening set.
The City of Roses
Yard Act then graced the stage imploring the rowdy, yet thin crowd to rise to the occasion. They began the evening with “You’re Gonna Need a Little Music” (from this year’s release of the same name), a rolicking up number that gently made one of the first political statements of the evening. The band, fresh off their Outside Lands festival set seemed eager to please those in attendance even taking a request “The Trench Coat Museum” from 2022’s The Overload during their encore.
Smith has been lauded for his encyclopedic recitation of the band’s lyrics and dynamic stage presence and this night was no exception. Smith said during his banter with the audience that this show was their fourth show on their US tour and was delighted to know that Portland’s nickname was the City of Roses. This show, my third time seeing Yard Act (previous venues included Mississippi Studios and the temporarily shuttered Doug Fir Lounge) and the band’s sound has become more ambitious and evolved into a sound uniquely their own with elements of Britpop, punk, spoken word prose. Smith’s gregarious energy played well into the band’s strengths. Yard Act’s other members Sam Shipstone (guitar, backing vocals) created buoyancy for the life raft that is the band’s music. Shipstone’s precise guitar playing helped songs like “Dead Horse”, a treatise on their country’s post-Brexit world, shine.
This buoyant panache of Smith’s ownership of the stage and precision from other members of the band also followed suite with band’s rhythm section. Drummer Jay Russell added backing vocals while delving into the band’s intricate parts. Bassist Ryan Needham displayed a Coxonesque cool (Britpop anyone?) on bass making look it easy while devoting himself adding to the groove.
Yard Act continue to evolve. They exist as a young, yet wise, band with a solid fan base and even a new clothing collaboration. The group are wholly aware of their role in the culture: to bring joy and introspection in spaces filled with noise. We should rejoice in their music, in their cool delivery, and finally, in the poetics of their politics, because right now more than ever we really do need a little music.
