The 1975 – at First Direct Arena
Leeds Arena roars with excitement as the room is plunged into darkness, signalling that The 1975 are about to enter the stage. Teenagers of all genders are screaming, hopping up and down and squeezing each other with glee, and I can feel my own heart thumping faster as I am swept up in their giddiness. […]
The National at Leeds First Direct Arena on 8 December
The National enter the stage of the swelteringly hot Leeds First Direct Arena accompanied by adulatory applause, a video screen that reads PLEASE STAND BY, and a crooning Johnny Mathis track. “It’s a great night for heartbreak / A wonderful night to be sad…” It’s true that if we were in need of some collective […]
Review: Anaïs Mitchell at The Brudenell
Anaïs Mitchell, with support from Carsie Blanton, played The Brudenell Social Club on 21 August. Edie Hunter was there. Anaïs Mitchell is an exceptionally talented singer-songwriter who has been compared with the likes of Gillian Welch and Josh Ritter. Her songs are political but never sententious, emotional without being sentimental, and contemporary whilst drawing on […]
Kate Tempest – Exhausting, Thrilling and Emotionally Ravaging
The genius of spoken word artist and Brit Award winner Kate Tempest lies in how masterfully her work marries the personal and the political, micro and macro. Her solo performances are cinematic; panning outwards to survey the whole of society’s frivolities and failings through a wide-angled lens, then zooming close up on a shared moment […]
