Live Report: Years & Years Perform At Olympia Theatre

Years & Years took the Olympia Theatre by storm last night for their Palo Santo Tour, giving an energetic performance to a sold-out audience.

After a percussive intro accompanied by a brief video, Years & Years’ frontman Olly Alexander took the stage. Their set began with ‘Sanctify’, the lead song off of the synth-pop band’s latest album, Palo Santo. ‘Sanctify’ gave the audience a taste of what was to come, as Alexander’s on-point vocals and dancing are well suited to the intimate, yet lively environment of the Olympia.

Years & Years kept the momentum going as they continued to play hits from both Palo Santo and 2015’s Communion, such as ‘Shine’, ‘Karma’ and ‘Meteorite’. Alexander has a knack for fully inhabiting a space by connecting with audience members while still managing to hit an impressive range of notes with ease.

By this point, it had become apparent that the stage design could be improved. A video board served as the backdrop for the band’s performance and the visuals that played were cohesive, but could have been more creative. Three lit-up insignias were spaced out across the stage, but these did not add much to the experience and could have interacted with the music more.

The band slowed things down with a performance of ‘Eyes Shut’. While Alexander played the keyboard front and center, he communicated genuine emotion, singing “Nothing’s gonna hurt me with my eyes shut / I can see through them.” Some of the concertgoers even turned on their phone flashlights as he sang “I’ve got the lights.”

One of the lower moments of the night came with ‘Lucky Escape’. Alexander asked the band to restart the song after forgetting the words, and he continued to falter and trail off in other sections of the song. “I’m really sorry about that,” said Alexander after the song, but the audience’s applause seemed to communicate that they had already forgiven him due to his personable presence and infectious personality.

‘Lucky Escape’ was followed by ‘Gold’, ‘Preacher’ and the tour’s and album’s namesake, ‘Palo Santo’, among others. Throughout all of these tunes the band matched Alexander's energy with polished performances from the musicians and background singers. The background singers were given their moment in the spotlight and demonstrated impressive vocal chops as they covered Ariana Grande’s ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ and Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’.

There seemed to be a dip in the audience’s energy following these covers, but they were able to bring it back with ‘If You’re Over Me’. Alexander moved and danced across the stage in a way that was frenetic, while still managing to look polished as the audience sang along to the hit single.

For the encore, the band performed their recently released single ‘Play’ and ‘King’. Despite the set being nearly 19 songs, with very few interruptions, the band still managed to end their set with high energy from each member and the crowd.

Whatever Years & Years performance lacked in interesting stage design was made up for by their vivacious and dedicated performances. Alexander’s charming personality, involved stage presence and vocals are what set the band apart from similar groups, especially when it comes to live shows.