2 gigs in one week, who would've thought that possible at the start of the year? A week on from making my return to live music, I headed for a short Yorkshire trip to Leeds, to see Led by Lanterns and supports at the famous Key Club!
Artio
Artio were the local support for this gig, but could have been playing as main guests for the entire tour I thought. Vocally, Artio were exquisite and sounded to me as though Lynn Gunn had been giving her vocal lessons, a unique range which is a huge benefit for any band. As always with openers, the sound system wasn't perfect and so often drowned out the speech. They kicked it up in a notch with their second track, which sounded almost anthemic and will be a song on many playlists in years to come. Hol Brazill (vocals) was energetic on stage, and was really good at engaging with the crowd. A great heckle speech at Boris (with a mop on his head) and the governments mishandling of the covid-19 pandemic was met uproariously with the crowd. Last note: the break down in "Dracula" will be met with a messy moshpit when they're playing big venues.
Shark Bait
This was the second time I have seen Shark Bait, and they still didn't fail to impress. Their pop-punk vocals with metal-ish instruments stand out like a younger Four Year Strong. Frontman Nik Worsley was riled up from the start! Jumping into the crowd before the opening track even started, clearly is one of their most well performing tracks, as half the room was singing back the lyrics. Nik was seriously energetic, running, jumping around the stage, no matter how many times he complained about drinking too many ciders too early! This, this was entertainment from the South Yorkshire 5-piece. A cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun" was met with great energy from the crowd, as well as their relatable track to being stuck in a dead end job and just being grateful to have a roof over their head. Watching their faces, you could tell they were so happy to just be back on stage doing what they love.
Led by Lanterns
The main event. After getting to interview Chris and Shaun before the gig (keep your eyes peeled for it this week), I knew just what to expect from their set. Opening with Paralysis led to a night of head bobbing, crowd-moshing and stage-diving, just like any pop punk show you'd ever expect!
This may have been a returning show for a lot of gig-goers and boy it was something special to come back to. Shaun and his guitarists were leading the energy from the stage, with a resounding vigour coming back from the crowd, helping the mood was Chris' insane light show. There was a quintessential split down the room "give us a scream" which makes any performance complete. LBL went on to perform 16 tracks in this setlist, every released song on their discography, as well as Dua Lipa's 'New Rules' and 2 un-released tracks, which you now know you cannot wait to hear.
Chris and Rob did their usual mid-set spin arounds, with Chris taking this a step further and pretending to be a sniper? Or so it looked like this anyway...
Shaun kept impressing the spectators with euphoric screams, something he learned to do by surprise. None more so than Chris' heart warming speech regarding mental health and that we can all help each other through tough times.
Lastly, we were met with a blackout. Cries of "One more song" rang around the room, and to no surprised, out they emerged to perform a couple more tracks. Ringing back in with Catacombs was met with a disastrous push to the front, Chris came down into the crowd, fantastic to see after the year we have all had! Typically Dan (tour manager) came on to do Tobi Duncan's feature of "Alive" to finish off the night!
As always, I'd recommend you checking out each band, but more so, catching them live if you can!
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