Live Report: Yard Act deliver barnstorming Vicar Street headliner

Yard Act brought their witty, gritty, punk-infused meditations to life with a vibrant showing at Dublin’s Vicar Street last night.

Touring in support of their sophomore offering Where’s My Utopia? the Leeds noisemakers wasted little time in flaunting the variegated direction the band took on the LP, opening with (as they do on the record) ‘An illusion’.

On a musical front, the tune echoes Gorillaz, perhaps too much so. Lyrically however, it exudes everything this outfit are about – with vocalist James Smith spitting about his struggles with being a cog in the capitalist machine as a touring artist, through frantic episodes of self-criticism: “I started self-destructing, buying fridge magnets everywhere I went to prove I’ve been, It’s fucking disgusting”.

The momentum keeps rolling as they pop back to debut album The Overload with ‘Dead Horse’, a track which reflects on a frustrated relationship with the group’s home nation, or as the singer calls it, “this crackpot country half-full of cunts”. The tune is a scathing account of Brexit-era Britain and its reinvigorated love of misinformation-fuelled, tawdry nationalism. It felt resonant, painting an image which is unfortunately becoming familiar on the greener side of the Irish Sea.

Yard Act at Vicar Street. Copyright Patricia Rosingana.

One might think the subject matter is all a bit leaden, but what makes Yard Act unique is the energy and humour decorating their musings. Already something they’re renowned for on wax, it’s taken a step further in the live setting, with a pair of bouncy back-up singers hopping around, shoving and kicking the expressive Smith in theatrical fashion.

Sonically, things shift between old school disco ( the bouncy percussion and funk riffs on ‘Dream Job’ ), britpop and post-punk heroes of the past (the wah guitars and gnarly bass on ‘Payday’ channelling Gang Of Four.) It’s enough to keep things varied and, more importantly, the crowd swaying.

There’s also a clever segment where the band invite a fan up to spin a wheel, deciding the next song of the set. Much to the delight of the young lady on stage, it landed on ‘Fixer Upper’, a typically wry number written from the perspective of a tacky neighbour from hell (the kind who owns a “prosecco-o-clock” poster) trying to subdue their existential crisis.

Yard Act at Vicar Street. Copyright Patricia Rosingana.

The real star, perhaps unsurprisingly, is the frontman. He’s as skilled as any rapper, with the stamina and flow on ‘Fizzy Fish’ especially impressive. The trademark Yorkshire droll and slang is concise, funny and dark in all the right places. ‘Down by the Stream’ is a model tune in this regard. A tableau of the boredom induced seshes of youth, of coke can bongs in the woods and cheap pills, it descends into a raging monologue discussing the lingering trauma of childhood bullying: “the pain never really goes away, it just finds new places to hide inside the darkest nooks and crannies of your brain”.

With their showpiece song ‘The Overload’ lifting Vicar St's vitality to another level, Yard Act all but solidified their brilliance, and status as one of the most acute, important and entertaining rock bands on today's circuit.

Yard Act at Vicar Street. Copyright Patricia Rosingana.