Live Review – This Time Last Year @ Boom, Leeds

Date: 22/01/22

Support: Pray For Hayden, Lyon Estates, Shark Bait, Stray Weather, Plot 32

The time has come. The first show of the new year. 2022 is finally here and now for some Pop Punk? Yes. Punk? Damn Right and Ska? only joking, who doesn’t love a bit of Ska? Time for a little bit of a boogey.

Kicking things off are the Yorkshire based Pray For Hayden. This is one of their first shows back as a band after the pandemic with heir previous shows being forced to be cancelled right at the beginning of the pandemic all those years ago now. But it was totally worth the wait because it’s fantastic to see so many talented musicians from the area all coming together again. Hitting the notes where they count, it’s thet kick off to the Pop-Punk-y goodness that gets people in.

Heading over to the next act in Lyon Estates with one member Mr Johnny Gill fronting and on main vocals for this band, there’s a definite Jimmy Eat World vibe to what I remember most but with a little more kick. Heading in with some excitement, they continue to keep the crowd in the palm of their hands and settle into their set very well. Every since their formation, the band have always produced some solid sets and fit perfectly within any bill and always looks s if they’re enjoying themselves.

Next up the ever energetic Shark Bait. One band that’s guaranteed to get you moving no shatter what, they always keep the crowd in the palm of their hands, they perfectly roundhouse kick their way into everyones hears. With one of their mainstays for their set ‘Better Late Than Never’ gets the warmest welcome of the show of any set so far which proves yet again to be a great banger.

Giving us a good pallet cleanser is the punk trio Stray Weather. Exploding into some riffs and political views, you forget it’s a Pop Punk night for moment and sometimes that is a good thing. For one, when you get to the proceedings, it all kicks off with a luminescent bang and they’re as sweaty as they can be with all the trashing they’re doing . Hitting the sweet spot, they’re nothing if not a fun watch.

Now I know what you’re thinking, Ska. possibly some memes come to mind and I get it Ska isn’t everyones cup of tea but does Plot 32 care? I think not. and the answer to that question is because they’re having a massive good time. Whenever this band were on stag, it was as if I was watching a dysfunctional sitcom TV family play out to their hearts content and that is always such a beautiful thing to be watching. It’s easy to forget that in an instant, especially when you see some members of the crowd performing a ska dance but do we laugh? no. we join in as if there’s no tomorrow.

Now the community here today has just pure been mind blowing, everyone’s come together for the music that’s played today and that couldn’t be better. By the time the headliners in This Time Last Year take to the stage, everyone is just warmed up that more the more moshes can happen and the vocal singalongs can happen. In fact, every moment of the show on the day has been intricately woven together to the collective goal of continuous entertainment where there’s not a moment of silence during the sets where you can take your eyes off it all.

There’s more life injected into the crowd during TTLY’s set, they’re an absolute powerhouse of crowd pleasers in the best way to say that the setlist just feeds off one another, with a little help at the end int he form of some covers to just help lift the roof off its hinges more.

Rating:7/10

Live Review: Pray For Hayden @ The Fulford Arms, York

Date: 30/03/19

Support:  Lyon Estates, Wrthless, Mr Shiraz

Getting in on the local gigs this week, I’m always excited to head over to The Fulford Arms and see the exciting local talent York’s always been great for. This was Pray For Hayden’s EP launch show to celebrate the release of Second Chances, the follow up to their debut EP which was of course called… Chances.

Opening up things were Lyon Estates, a band which does share one thing in common with the headliners, their member Jonny Gill but here, they do prove to be something grand and I generally hope they’re able to get there more on the touring cycle, considering the talent they have behind them. They’re arguably the strongest band on the scene tonight and always favourite’s to play on York and hopefully, we’ll see more of them during the course of 2019.

Up next, trekking all the way from Glasgow were the lads from Wrthless which says one thing, they’re nothing if not loyal to the scene and to their friends down in Yorkshire.

It’s bands such as this is why I love coming down to shows and will keep coming to them in the future. With such a dynamic range in their set, they’re showing that the Scottish bands are coming up in full force and their focussed sounds are one that’s also refreshing.

On the main support slot were Huddersfield’s own, Mr Shiraz who were able to fill in at the last minute for Blueprints whom has to cancel after one of their members fell ill.

I don’t know if it’s their charisma, their vocals or their range of their performance, but they were just hard to take my eyes off. they’re a pure gem in the scene that you don’t get to see very often and they’re one I hope is still around for years to come.

Onto the headliners now. I do have to say, how long could they have their jackets on for?! It must’ve been boiling up there! You had to be there to believe it, but from start to finish Pray For Hayden’s set was a welcomed one and especially with them, they’re a band who’ve been truly missed within York.

But in all seriousness, they just showed us why they’re headliners here tonight. Hitting the stage with a fresh new sound, you can see their energy electrify their performance where this is the new Pray For Hayden, ready for new heights with this dream of an EP showing us that good things come to those who wait. They’re a band that are fantastic to see one the scene once more and hopefully we’ll see a lot more of them within the next few years.

Rating: 7/10

Live Review: Lyon Estates @ The Fulford Arms, York

Date: 17/02/19

Support: Chris Laycock, Safeguard, Guts, Holispark

So, I haven’t been to The Fulford Arms in a while. And that truly pains me. It’s because when I’m there, there’s a real sense of community and everyone feels as if they’re friends or family. It’s a truly special place. And the feeling kicked off on the night with Chris Laycock, someone I’m sure the community knows but I had never seen perform before. And I can honestly say, I just wanted to see more of him. His acoustic performance was charming, entertaining and funny. For him, his personality when he’s on stage just takes over and draws the crowd in and with his music, he’s slowly becoming a legend in the making.

Next up was Safeguard, a local band who’ve been around the block a few times.  The first band for the evening who began to tear up the stage at first but I feel that their pending hiatus did overshadow them in places, where they just rose and fell between their sets but did this stop the crowd enjoying it? Certainly not, because it was a fun and fond look back at their discography discography and there’s certainly enough flame to keep them going if they decide to return in the future.

I will say this about Guts. They’re a difficult band to place. It’s a sort of band I have a love/hate relationship with but I didn’t dislike them. I’m quite fond of them. Their music was quite different to anything I’d seen perform here before, as it was a little more alternative than most. This is what I enjoyed most about them because they jsut didn’t conform the norms of the current musical genre’s. They’re a band that have branched out and if they continue to do so, will really help them in their future as a group.

Now, Holispark. More recently than anything else, if a band playing at a gig I’m attending, I will not listen to any of their past material. But, I have a good reason for that. I wanted to experience the music they play, not from anything I’d hear on a CD, or a streaming application, I wanted the first experience right there in front of me. When the first note was played, the whole room just exploded, everything about the gig now went to the next level and I don’t know if it was because of the band’s experience or how they played but it changed the room. Honestly, I felt as if their set was a little short because I got so lost in listening to their music, it was as if time sped up and I think I speak for the entirety of the room on the evening, we wanted more. Although, Holispark are one of these bands which will be a treasure for a lot of people, with their set being one of the finest I’ve seen in a while. It was a sense of community when one of their guitars (if I’m remembering the correct instrument.) broke and one of the members of Lyon Estates stepped in to lend their equipment for the common goal of playing. That’s what I do love to see and that’s one reason everyone loves coming to this venue and seeing everyone play.

And finally we came to Lyon Estates as the headliners in the evening. You can tell these guys mean business because they performed a stomping set with love, laugh and a few human pyramids (I’m not joking, this actually happened) to everyone’s amusement in a way that felt as if it was their homecoming, which it was. And you can say a lot about York bands but we stand by them, just as the crowd did. They sang, they cheered, especially when they had to choose between one or two tracks which were an on the spot decision for the band on the night.

What’s more, is that it didn’t take long for everyone to be joining in with their tracks. The great thing about Lyon Estates is they know how to respond to crowds which helps with the consistency of their sets and this makes them a band that when playing live never falls but just constantly keeps raising the bar for what they’re going to be doing in the future. I do hope more people get to see them in the future because they’re a band that just goes criminally under the radar but in the same sense of that, they’re a band that’s just a gem as well.

Rating: 6.5/10

 

A Conversation With… Lyon Estates

I thought to myself for the duration of the weekend, the amount of local bands I’ll have seen by the end of the festival, there won’t be any more new bands to see in York. But the advantage is that I get to see them all again, hopefully with some playing with others again under another roof. I’ll have to see what’s coming up when I’m home from University to catch up and possibly talk to them again. On that note, I got to speak to another local favourite, Lyon Estates on the Friday of the festival.

 

Jack: So you guys, Pop Punk Pile Up, you’re a York band playing this.

John: It’s amazing to be playing this and like you said, it’s only down the road from York as well.

Jack: that comes to my next question. It must be a massive plus for the local scene and for you.

Chris: Aye, it’s fantastic to be able to play

John: Plus I think it’s the biggest thing to happen in Selby. 100%

 

Jack: Well, you never know. Kaiser Chiefs or someone could rock up at any moment.

John: Maybe. I’m pretty sure Adam’s got something up his sleeve.

Rich: Didn’t the Pigeon Detectives play the town hall once?

John: They did, many years ago. Old school there.

Jack: I’ve heard of them recently, I’m can’t place them where I’ve seen the name.

 

Jack: And this isn’t the only tour date for you as of late, how have the shows been?

John: Not so bad, we played in Warrington right now. Equidistant between Liverpool and Manchester.

Chris: We got lost on the way back, the sat nav took us the wrong way.

Jack: It had one job.

Rich: We ended up driving down either side of the motorway for ages before we found our way.

John: Then we all had work at 8 this morning. Back for half two, up for half 7.

Jack: just a bit of coffee and you’ll be fine. Last night, I just couldn’t sleep, I woke up twice from about half 11 to three in the morning and up for about 8.

Rich: A few solid hours though.

Jack: Aye. Hey if I can write a presentation in an hour and present it in the next four, there’s no problem.

Chris: It’s all good.

Rich: Who needs sleep anyways

Jack. Exactly. Your EP last year, Fir Tree is reaching the one year mark now.

John: That’s flown by.

Jack: How do you feel about the tracks now?

John: It feels as if we’ve been playing those songs forever. We’ve kind of had a solid set list for a year now and we play those about 3-4 times a month on average so we’re not gigging that heavily but it’s enough to say we’re ready for something else. We’ve started recording a new single and we’re hoping to have a new EP soon so that’ll be what we’re working towards at the very least.

Jack: On touring ambitions, who’d you love to open for. I mean there,s blood youth and room 94 tonight, tomorrow altered sky, Mallory Knox, and Sunday king blues and Louise Distras. Is there anyone you’d love to though apart from the bands on the bill?

Chris: New Found Glory.

John: Straight in there a dream come true.

Rich: A Day To Remember, Four Year Strong, that sort of stuff.

John: We just need to take Neck Deeps slot on that, don’t we? Aha

Chris: Neck Deep, New Found Glory and A Day To Remember.

Jack: So you guys would be the new generic pop punk?

John: Yeah. That’s it.

 

Jack: And you said you’re recording a single, what’s the plan after that?

Chris: Hopefully, the single will be out in the next two months and a tour with a few EU dates followed by a string of UK shows and then there are two videos we have planned and an acoustic track off Fir Tree which is kind of like a B-side to the single of the new track and hopefully push that.

Rich: Finally branching out of the UK will be fantastic and amazing to do.

Jack: One thing you never hear about these days is a B-side.

Chris: Absolutely, we’re all so old.

Rich: Well, Fir tree is on cassette which is the only physical form of it you could purchase so the next one is coming out on an 8 track

Jack: and you can have the next one on Laser Disk

John: Yeah, that could work.

 

Jack: If you could sum up Lyon Estate in three words, what would they be?

Rich: Smelly

John: I’d go with something realistic for the last two. It’s kind of like using up three wishes. One’s locked in now. I’d say energetic, we always try to put on an energetic live show.

Rich: And the last one, I don’t know.

Chris: Throw one out there.

Rich: Fun.

Chris: We’ll go with that one

Rich: Smelly, energetic and fun.

John: It’s a just summary right there.

Jack: The new fragrance from Pop-Punk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can view the music video for Lyon Estates track, ‘Venom’ below.