Leeds embraced The Twilight Sad early in their career, putting them on at The Brudenell and featuring them on a compilation album on the now-defunct On The Bone label. It’s a mutual appreciation, and James Graham is uncharacteristically chatty at points during tonight’s show, one of only a handful of special dates to reflect on their 2007 debut, ‘Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters’, which was recently re-released for Record Store Day with a slew of additional material. The band clearly appreciate the support, and there’s no questioning the enthusiasm with which they’re received. The Twilight Sad are a band who deserve such adulation.
It’s a characteristically receptive and encouraging crowd that witnesses an impressive performance from newcomers Vladimir. Hailing from Dundee, their brand of indie rock is wiry, solid and boasts an abundance of Cure-esque basslines and a surprising, inspired – and barely recognisable – rendition of ‘Born Slippy’. Forging a maelstrom of guitars underpinned by some powerhouse drumming, it’s not hard to see – or hear – why they’ve been picked as openers for The Twilight Sad. They make a decent fist of getting things warmed up, and looked to be making a fair few CD sales after.
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It’s hard to think of another act that pour so much into every show, every song, every note. Andy MacFarlane doesn’t pluck or strum notes from his guitar: he scours screeds of sound from the fretboard, sculpting dense, textured clouds of noise. Mark DeVine pounds the skins with immense focus, and James’ intensity as a front man and focal point is consistent and unrivalled. Tonight is no exception: he spirals and spins about the stage, eyes closed or to the ceiling when he isn’t singing, as always in his distinctive side-on to the crowd stance. At various points during the set I can’t help but think that this is what it must have been like to see Joy Division, to witness a band so completely immersed in the music and the heightened emotional states that music evokes.
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