YARD ACT + GUSTAF – BRIGHTON DOME 25.3.24
The evening at the Dome Concert Hall featured ‘Sprechgesang’, ‘Speak-singing’ or ‘talk-singing as you might know it better in the English vernacular. The style of vocal delivery has made a resurgence from multiple music acts of late. Those that might spring to mind include The Streets, IDLES, Sleaford Mods, and Dry Cleaning. Though becoming increasingly commonplace this is by no means a new technique. First appearing in pop, rock, punk, and alternative music since the ‘60s. Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, The B-52’s, The Fall, Sonic Youth, They Might Be Giants and many others have utilised the vocal delivery method. Both the headliner, Yard Act, and the support, Gustaf made ample use of the technique throughout their sets.
Arrival at the foyer revealed an initially sparsely filled, but buzzy venue. It didn’t remain so for long. The headliner Yard Act has quickly become a lauded and sought-after live act. Brighton regulars may have caught their earlier sets at various venues in the town and are now renowned for a boisterous and energetic set. Having missed earlier performances, I was looking forward to being entertained. It didn’t take long for the venue to fill with eager gig-goers. Not everyone was primarily there for the main event though.
Gustaf, the support band for the night, is a Brooklyn-based band made up of Lydia Gammill (vocals), Tina Hill (bass), Melissa Lucciola (drums), Vram Kherlopian (guitar), and Tarra Thiessen (vocals and percussion). The Brooklyn natives have been building their reputation since 2018. Known on the New York circuit to be hard workers, diligent musicians, and performers Gustaf has liked to, Blondie, Joy Division, and even Beck, who stated that they were “one of his favourite new American bands’”.
As Gustaf filed onto the stage slowly, they did so to scattered, but enthusiastic applause. Why the name? drawn from a poster of an exhibition in Stockholm of ‘Gustav III’ in Gammill’s room, it was chosen before the band knew what shape they would eventually take. They wanted a name ‘…that was less than five syllables, looked good on a t-shirt, and was somewhat ambiguous’, objective achieved, the band has become renowned for their energetic, electrifying, and humorous live performance.
After an initially slightly mumbled attempt at verbal interplay, the band chose to let the music speak for itself. The first song began with a slow bass riff, and otherwise minimal instrumentation and lyrical delivery reminiscent of Karen O before the rest of the band came in fully. This was the first time we heard Tara Thiessen employ the effects pedal to distort their vocals, lowering their register. A technique used first by avant-garde musician Laurie Anderson, who referred to the technique as ‘Audio Drag’.
Initially disquieting, as the set went on the method proved effective in adding meaning to the interaction between Thiessen and Lydia Gammill. It also (potentially) explains the meaning behind the title of the first album 2021’s ‘Audio Drag For Ego Slobs’. Here, the altered vocals offer a reparative comfort zone as the instrumentalization builds, and then softens. The quiet verse, loud chorus, and build-up of the song make for a gentle introduction to the band for those who might not have known them.
Keeping the audience on their toes Gustaf shattered the former safety net by shifting into a harder and up-tempo delivery finishing on a decidedly punkier edge. Having given the audience a sample of what their set might promise Gammill addressed the audience with assurance this time, “All right let’s get it started Brighton, we’re a band called ‘Gustaf’… and, and we’re happy to be with you tonight!”
Steaming into ‘Dream’, the first of the selection of collectively composed songs Gammill’s delivery is at first reminiscent of ‘Chicks On Speed’, but it’s not long before the delivery and visual aesthetic coalesce and not for the first time over the course of their set, for me evokes their fellow Brooklyn natives ‘LCD SoundSystem’. Gustaf’s visual delivery is cohesive not only in dress but also in dance, often breaking into impromptu routines that mirror and complement each other.
You might be forgiven for thinking that the song ‘Design’ is called ‘Desire’, but the titular design referred to here is the design to steal another’s desire. Originally released in 2020 and remixed in 2021 by none other than Beck. Charmed by the band’s exuberant live act Beck championed them as his “Favourite new band in America”.
In a slightly odd, and seemingly impromptu audience interaction, Gammill asked, “Does anyone else believe water is a choice? Two people? Anyone ‘O Negative’? We got a donor!”. Which on reflection may have been a reference to injuries the band might have sustained during their earlier exuberant performances on tour. Another standout track ‘Cruel’ makes use of a sudden stop-start and a collective backing vocal throughout the song. It’s perhaps this track that has led to comparison with Debbie Harry of Blondie. Gammill does have the requisite blonde mane and ‘New Yorker’ tones, but her delivery might take as much inspiration from Harry, as it does from Patti Smith and David Byrne’s theatrics.
Having said that the first drum intro to ‘Book’ has Clem Burke written all over it, that’s before the chorus comes in making the song much more reminiscent of the B-52’s speedier upbeat tracks. Moving on to ‘Dog’, which is pure joy. Featuring a whistle used as percussion the song is a meditation on a failed relationship where the owner’s dog held more allure and loyalty than the owner. ‘Starting And Staring’ features the band acting the lyrics out together in dance, with Theissen’s distorted vocal repeating the title and a slow rhythmic beat underneath. ‘Best Behaviour’ again utilised Theissen’s distorted vocal to underscore it, but has Gammill been as ‘very, very good’, as she explores the listener she has been?
At this point during the set, the auditorium was filling rapidly as Gustaf had lured the assembled crowd in from the bar. The audience looked on attentively, almost mesmerised as the song rolled to a close the applause, whistles, and general appreciation abounded. The band enjoyed this song, as did the audience. Sensing this Gammill told the audience “This is our first time of getting to play the Dome.” Theissen echoed, “The Dome”, in her modulated tones before Gammill attempted to get the audience to participate in a game they had been playing with their touring merch guy, urging them to make a few purchases while they were at it.
The drum intro of, ‘Weighing Me Down’, (which features on the 2024 album release ‘Package, Pt, 2’) kicked in. More frantic and up-tempo the whole band threw themselves into the performance, winning the audience over completely. Gammill intoned “It’s true that I sound like a scorned woman up here, but I’m just trying to shout at all of our ghosts”. Making a return to the first album the next song ‘Mine’ had a slower start building to something altogether more frenzied on the chorus with the whole band joining in again finishing with an abrupt end.
‘Happy’, a much slower and parred down offering, led with a spoken lyric before the flute and bass kicked in. The rest of the band joined with Gammill lamenting and offering a lovelorn hope to absent others’ happiness. As we neared the end of the set Theissen informed the audience “We are Gustaf!” over the opening bars of ‘Close’, a slow burner, which I suspected would build like others in the set as the tempo sped up pleasingly to induce a frenzied close to the set. As Gammill offered up a joyous “Thank you, Brighton!” and the audience called for more with enthusiasm, but the changeover for Yard Act had already started.
Gustaf:
Lydia Gammill – vocals
Tina Hill – bass
Melissa Lucciola – drums
Vram Kerlopian – guitar
Tarra Theissen – vocals and percussion
Gustaf setlist:
‘Here Hair/ Hair Hard?’
‘Dream’
‘Design’
‘Cruel’
‘Book’
‘Dog’
‘Starting And Staring’
‘Best Behavior’
‘Mine’
‘Weighing Me Down’
‘Happy’
‘Close’
The interval underscores how popular the main act has become. The foyer was standing room only with orderly queues for all facilities and the merch desk was swamped. The auditorium is also fit to burst.
Yard Act, hail from Leeds, and is composed of James Smith (vocals, lyrics), Ryan Needham (bass) Sam Shipstone (guitar) and Jay Russell (drums). For the ‘Dream Job Tour’, they are joined by vocalists Lauren Fitzpatrick and Daisy Smith.
The band took the stage bang on time to rapturous applause. “Hello Brighton, how you doing?” lead James Smith asked the audience as the opening bars of ‘An Illusion’ started up. Smith immediately made good use of the whole of the stage, supported by a simple, but colourful stage setup, the band, and backing vocalists, this is altogether a bigger production than the first album.
If you know the band, you’ll be used to the familiar speak-singing employed by Smith, but it’s the addition of backing vocalists Lauren Fitzpatrick and Daisy Smith that mark them out from other similar acts. Smith was chatty on the night telling the audience “So good to be back, it’s been a long-time long time, we f**king love you!”. It was at this point that the backing vocalists made their first journey to the back of the stage to accompany Smith for ‘Dead Horse’ the catchy and somehow upbeat meditation on the state of the country.
Comfortable with the Brighton crowd, foot-on amp Smith spoke again “How we doing Brighton? Are we good? ´This is lovely, I love this venue!” All three vocalists began to dance as the track built into an instrumental and offered an almost relentless wall of sound featuring freestyling solos. Next came a segue straight into ‘When The Laughter Stops’ (which features Katy J Pearson on the album). It’s on this track that I start to notice where the comparison with Damon Albarn’s delivery might come from, though for me on this track it’s only very slight. Toward the end of the song, the backing singers start to climb over and feign beating Smith among other things repeatedly as the outro moves into an indefinite musical end.
So far there had been no let-up, with every song moving straight into the next without pause. The only pause given here is from the intro to ‘We Make Hits’. The infinitely catchy chorus kicks in after a lengthy vocal lead-in. If the majority of the audience were slightly younger the whole of the auditorium would probably be moshing by now, but a split-second break in the music revealed the audience was singing with as much gusto and volume as the band. “Much appreciated Brighton” Smith told the audience, before equipping himself with a tambourine.
It’s here that the band hit the audience with a surprise (for some) cover of XTC’s ‘The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul’. The delivery changed significantly. If it wasn’t already clear from their near-constant touring the band can deliver a stadium-worthy set this track and performance confirms it.
Next up ‘Fizzy Fish’ on the surface an ode to childhood penny confections, but in essence a cleverly worded riff on the gullibility of consumerism in the face of capitalism. “Nice one Brighton it’s good to be back! This is cool. I love it, we love you”, Smith enthused. At this point, he stopped to discuss previous Brighton shows at Patterns, Chalk, and the ‘Mutations’ performance while a ‘wheel of fortune’ style game was set up on the stage behind him. It was the final show he mentioned that prompted an audience member to holler “It was sh*t!” in response Smith asked, “Who said that? We’re having a good time here!”.
Calling the audience member up onto the stage to spin the wheel Smith maintained a jokingly outraged tone as he playfully berated the audience member while the band played faux game show music as he made his way to the stage to spin the wheel. Once he arrived Smith attempted to trip him up by asking if he was a big fan and what was his favourite song from their first offerings. His response was ‘Trappers’, the spin of the wheel settled on ‘Fixer Upper’. Pausing only to give said audience member time to make his way back and for Smith to utter “Strange man” as he did so before the band leaped straight into ‘Fixer Upper’. Far from being dismayed by the negative comment it only serves to further energise an already exuberant band.
The next song ‘Witness (Can I Get A)’, a rapid and short up-tempo track builds on the upbeat frenzy the band has been in since the start of the set, abrupt ending to rapidly burst into the next track, ‘Down By The Stream’. A slower narrative of youthful shenanigans, featuring a discordant brass underscoring the main musical composition and the lyric ends in a long apology to one of the other boys discussed in the song and a potential reprimand for a future son. Smith ended the song lying flat out on the stage with a squeaking brass playing out.
Order returned to the stage with the onset of ‘Dream Job’ with the backing vocalists making a return to the front of the stage to join in with the chorus which will undoubtedly echo in everyone’s head all year. Speedily moving on to ‘Payday’ featuring funk guitar and an instance to “Take the Money and Run!” while Smith slowly runs around the stage and the backing vocalists run on the spot at the back of the stage.
Only a brief pause took us straight into the fast tempo of ‘Overload’. This is the song you’ll have heard the most of from the first album, and perhaps the most relevant to the current zeitgeist. The audience was now thoroughly whipped-up; a small central group is moshing with abandon.
As ‘Overload’ finished Smith observed “Brighton comes alive!” he continued “This has been wonderful, Thank you!”. The crowd enthusiastically shouted tracks back at him. Ignoring the requests Smith asked “Is everyone alright yeah? You look like you’re having a good time, so are we!”, he continued, “So much of a good time we’re going to f**k off after this one, and never come back”. To which the audience collectively booed. “Thanks, Brighton, it’s been great, this one’s called ‘A Vineyard For The North’.
Perhaps the most radio and soundtrack-friendly you can expect to hear this song everywhere from now on. The audience was now thoroughly caught up in the moment and dancing or singing along as the backing singers came down again to dance and sing behind Smith.
As the final bars of the song play out, the band took the opportunity to stage a false exit before the encore. The stage went dark, and techies scurried around before the band returned to a thumping drum machine and a quick mini tune-up. The bars of the last track on the first album ‘100% Endurance’ made for a slower pace. Smith encouraged the audience to “Make some noise for us Brighton!” to rapturous applause, before coming back saying “Now make some noise for life” only to be met with less applause than previously, “You’re meant to make more noise for life then Yard Act!”, he admonished before saying once more “This has been beautiful Brighton sincerely”.
The final song of the night was ‘Trench Coat Museum’ which welcomed the backing vocalists’ return wearing… you guessed it… trench coats. Gustaf also made a return to the stage sporting the same clothing item, joining the backing vocalists to dance along at the back of the stage. The long instrumental built and became more frenzied as all of the band and dancers freestyle their way to the end of the seemingly never-ending track.
It was now that Smith took the opportunity to introduce the rest of the band, backing vocalists and support band before taking time to address the audience on the importance of freedom and remembering those currently without it.
With the band and audience built into a collective mutual frenzy, Yard Act decided to take their leave of the Brighton Dome stage to deafening cheers leaving their instruments to drown in reverb. and rapturous applause.
Yard Act:
James Smith – vocals
Ryan Needham – bass
Sam Shipstone – guitar
Jay Russell – drums
Yard Act setlist:
‘An Illusion’
‘Dead Horse’
‘When The Laughter Stops’
‘Grifters Grief’
‘Pour Another’
‘Fizzy Fish’
‘We Make Hits’
‘The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul’ (XTC cover)
‘Fixer Upper’
‘Witness (Can I Get A?)’
‘Down By The Stream’
‘Dream Job’
‘Payday’
‘The Overload’ (randomly selected by Huey from the audience spinning a wheel on stage)
‘A Vineyard For The North’
(encore)
‘100% Endurance’
‘The Trench Coat Museum’ (with an extended outro with Gustaf dancing on stage)
