You'll Live + Nai Harvest + We'll Die Smiling + Walleater @ Wharf Chambers, Leeds

 You'll Live + Nai Harvest + We'll Die Smiling + Walleater

25th June 2013 @ Wharf Chambers, Leeds

You'll Live

Nai Harvest invite Floridian label mates You'll Live on a countrywide tour, and their stop in Leeds is met with a healthy turn out and a good sing-a-long. 

First shows can be important to a band for more than one reason, but any doubt Walleater had about their live presence should be sizeably reduced after this show. With only 2 songs floating around online for less than 2 months, the turn out is admirable for any first band on a line up, not to mention for a first ever gig. 

Walleater

Opening with the lyrically bleak Pig Pen (I hail my butcher/ but can't he take me any sooner?), the set continues in the wake of it's slow burn, culminating in an inverted battery. I'm genuinely excited about this new local band I'll hopefully see much more of.

It's been some time since I've delved into the kind of math assault that We'll Die Smiling do so well, but tonight they had me questioning why I ever left it alone. Their set recalled days spent listening to bands like Cats and Cats and Cats, only much less cutesy and with the tightly woven psychosis that Leeds bands have in spades.  

We'll Die Smiling

Mesmerising time signatures jerk and bust with insane precision. A few songs in and the bass players strap somehow completely falls off, seeing him shamble through a kind of messy solo without a single thought of stopping the song to sort himself out. Show off.

One half of cat-worshipping duo Nai Harvest, Ben Thompson takes it off the stage to turn the cold innards of Wharf Chambers to a more intimate affair. Restarting opener Whatever half way through means we get to sing it back twice, in fact I'm sure the same happened when they played Leeds' Fox and Newt in January… Has Leeds cursed this song? Regardless, it's patrons love it. Sitcom Fade-In stands out when scratchy guitars and aggravated screams are met with stop-start jingly riffs.

Nai Harvest

Bordering on self-deprecation lyrically, Ben's energy and Lew's youthful ferocity meet with pounding certainty. Ben jokes about needing more members when it comes to struggling to tune his guitar quickly and continue, but 'less-is-more' works in abundance for these guys. Ben announces they'll be back in Leeds to play with Dads later this year, so get to that if you missed this.

'Don't go home' begs Nai Harvest's Ben to the crowd, in fear people will leave before You'll Live even hit the stage. As a touring band from the States, it's pretty sad to see the crowd seemingly cut into two for the headline band, but those who stick around pile down the front and headbang along. It appears most were here for the previous band before having to leave for the last train, so while it was a brave choice to have You'll Live top the bill, it wasn't a wasted opportunity. 

Rocketing through tracks from last year's 'Above The Weather'; a record mostly about saying "get the fuck over it", they overturn the quietened surroundings with aplomb. When asked what people want to hear, the response was, well a non-response (Honestly, they'd already played the songs I was familiar with!). Irregardless, when You'll Live fire into Pretty Good Rainbow and It's Never What I Expect,  they bring a grieved, yet wholly welcome summer to one of the dingiest venues in the city. 

You'll Harvest

As Nai Harvest's Ben joined them for a final song, it's clear these bands have a connection beyond just being on the same label, and I kind of wish I could be at more shows on the tour. This was an incredible night all round.

***Sadly, Scottish lads Cavalcades had to drop out. After seeing them play recently with Grappler, I was prepared to be writing a fair few good words on them, but there's always next time.