Photo Credit: Alex Brown
In honour of their recently released self-titled album, the ‘Kings of the New Age’ made their return to the UK. With a jam packed set that included songs from all five albums, the New York pop punkers, who are no strangers to performing across the pond, not only give their new songs a chance to make their debut in the UK, but they also bring back some of their fans favourite tunes.
For the third time in twelve months, Florida outfit BROADSIDE travelled back to the UK, this time to perform in front of much bigger crowds. One aspect that the band values is vocalist Oliver Baxxter’s continuous interaction with the audience both during and in between songs. With a more pop approach to their later material, ‘Stranger’ and ‘Dazed & Confused’ from their most recent album opened the show and were equally well-received as their hit song ‘Coffee Talk‘, which came shortly after. The band wasted little time in ploughing through their set, continuing to entertain the Leeds audience before ending with ‘Foolish Believer‘, which had the major portion of the audience dancing along.
Seattle pop-rock band THE HOME TEAM arrived back in Leeds, just two months after their last appearance. Their performance at Project House served as only their 12th UK show, and in front of one of the biggest crowds yet. The lively quartet began with ‘Brag‘, with the Yorkshire crowd joyfully leaping to every song from their energetic performance. Frontman Brian Butcher thoroughly enjoyed entertaining the attendees, remaining attentive to the action unfolding in front of him, whilst Olsen and Baran continuing jumping and stomping across the stage. Broadside vocalist Oliver Baxxter reappeared to join in for ‘Somebody Else’s Face‘, with the Washington foursome concluding with ‘Loud‘.
This was STATE CHAMPS‘ most significant performance to date, marking their third visit to Leeds in twelve months. Predominantly showcasing their fifth album, the set also featured songs from each of their previous albums. The set started out with ‘Silver Cloud‘, which launched the album’s self-titled promotion in August 2024. The Leeds audience was enthralled right away, anticipating a trip down memory lane while simultaneously taking in some of the Albany band’s best songs to yet. The enthusiasm in the crowd continued to grow with each song as they pushed through their career-spanning set, with highlights including ‘Losing Myself‘ and ‘Mine Is Gold‘. As DiScanio kept the audience engaged with the words, bassist Ryan Scott Graham’s unceasing spinning on stage was nothing short of captivating.
‘Light Blue‘ and ‘Clueless‘ carried on the self-titled tracks, before combining ‘Perfect Score‘, ‘Frozen‘, and ‘Fake It‘ into a medley for a quicker but no less impactful approach. Additional crowd-pleasers followed as the New Yorkers carried on with their high-energy performance, demonstrating that songs like ‘Hard to Please‘ and ‘Just Sound‘ are still mainstays on set lists years later. With ‘Elevated‘, ‘Dead and Gone‘, and ‘Save Face Story‘ to round off the evening, STATE CHAMPS left the stage to a roaring applause, leaving the audience clamouring for more.
After a brief break, the Albany quartet returned to the stage for two final songs, starting with ‘Everbody But You‘ and concluding with the powerful ‘Secrets‘ to cap off their Yorkshire comeback, which was undoubtedly their most electric performance over the pond to date.
Taped Magazine 