The idea of seeing Yard Act twice in one day felt mischievous, indulgent, and absolutely necessary. Once news broke of a matinee show at Rough Trade Bristol — freshly refurbished, buzzing with anticipation — the decision made itself. You’re Gonna Need a Little Music had already sunk its hooks in after a single listen, and its title couldn’t ring truer. We need live music. We need independent venues. And on this particular afternoon, Rough Trade was exactly the right place to be.
The room filled quickly with familiar faces and excitable gig‑goers, including one fan who’d flown in from Brisbane only to discover Yard Act were playing that very day. That kind of cosmic luck jolts you out of any post‑work slump. Sweat gathered early, the air thick with the kind of communal eagerness only a matinee can conjure.
The band took the stage with a grin and a warning: this would be a freewheeling set. No drum kit, no fixed plan — just Jay armed with a toy drum‑sampling pad and the rest of the band ready to follow wherever the beat landed. It instantly shifted the energy. This wasn’t a run‑through; it was an experiment.
New Beginnings opened the show, a non‑negotiable starter that felt both familiar and triumphant. Yard Act don’t always lean into singalong choruses, but this one hit like a communal ignition switch. The band were buzzing, and the crowd matched them.
The freeform nature meant the setlist was chosen on the fly. Jay would tap out a beat, the others would scramble to remember the song, and occasionally it all felt like a gloriously messy jam session. Thrill of the Chase — already an instant album standout — arrived drenched in riffs courtesy of Sam Shipstone, whose guitar work ricocheted between Electric Six swagger and Gang of Four angularity. James Smith’s vocal delivery was breathless, intense, and met with the same cheers that greeted Sam’s axe‑slinging heroics.
This was a happy room. Toddler Rory — perched on his dad’s knee like a tiny rock critic — leapt to life and requested Redeemer, which the band delivered with a grin. It was that kind of show: spontaneous, absorbing, and shaped as much by the crowd as the performers.
As the set wrapped, James beamed: “It is great to be back.” The band headed off to Chilli Daddy to line their stomachs before round two.
If the matinee was a warm‑up, the evening show was Yard Act in full flight. The sell‑out crowd arrived raucous, ready, and already half‑buzzing from the knowledge that they were about to hear brand‑new material played twice in one day.
New Beginnings returned, but this time it was belted out by both band and crowd with doubled excitement and doubled volume. Singing it back word‑for‑word felt electric — and you could see what it meant to the band. That validation in the nervous new‑album stage is priceless. The second set leaned into spontaneity again, but with more structure: hands went up for requests to avoid the chaotic matinee shouting match. You even had to wait for the room to quieten before slipping your own request in. Dead Horse landed with classic Yard Act groove — up‑tempo funk, sax loop, and Ryan Needham shamed into standing up, which made absolutely no difference to the sound but somehow felt morally correct.
From there, the band revisited Where’s My Utopia? to James’s delight. Petroleum hit with its crisp, prominent bassline, culminating in a wild, ad‑libbed cacophony from Jay as he hunted for new sounds on the pad. Every time you looked at him he was grinning, having the time of his life — still seated, still unstoppable. Talky Talky People followed, another example of Yard Act’s mastery of simplicity. Simple songs are hard to write well, but Yard Act make them feel effortless. Lyrically, they’re never simple — James crams songs with lines you wish you’d written. “Do you want to be tired and bitter? Or tired and kind?” landed with alarming wit and precision.
Then came an extended, requested Trapper’s Pelts, sandwiched around a heartfelt message of gratitude. By this point the room was a pressure cooker — sweaty, loud, euphoric — proof that the new album sounds just as good live as it does on record, even when played in a completely different way.
You’re Gonna Need a Little Music is out now to purchase at all good outlets
Catch YARD ACT live in Bristol at The Beacon on 21st November and at Plymouth Arena on 23rd November - For more info and ALL dates, head to https://www.yardactors.com/
Words and Pictures by Matt Barnes
