Photo Credit: Ola Hac
Ten years on from the release of their debut EP ‘SKRWD‘, Wrexham pop-punk act WSTR celebrated with a UK headline tour which saw the band perform their EP in full, plus all the hits from the last decade.
Scotland pop-punkers HAPPYDAZE kicked off the show, bringing their energetic sound to the sold out Leeds crowd with full force. Opening with ‘Left Off‘, the Scots wasted no time in packing in as much as they could with thirty minutes to play with. Nine songs spanning across the last four years, their latest single ‘Daydreaming‘ quickly featured while ‘(Full Free) Radical‘ clearly remains a favourite amongst their fans in attendance. Soon coming around to their final track ‘Go Wrong‘, a common theme throughout their performance was that all four members truly put every ounce of effort into their live show, and the crowd certainly played their part too to kick off the show in style.
Following on from the opener were Welsh post-hardcore outfit DREAM STATE. No strangers to delivering a performance to remember, the South Wales quartet really made their stance in Leeds once and for all. Opening with their 2024 single ‘Bloom‘, Jessie Powell’s powerful vocals really give these guys the edge. From vicious screams and quickly switching to more elegant singing, their tracks are very unpredictable with which direction the song can go at any moment. The much more heavier addition to the line-up was certainly welcomed as mosh pits quickly formed in the centre of the room and huge applauses were heard after every track. Their latest single ‘Words Unsaid‘ went down a treat with the crowd given it was only their second time performing it live, while fan favourite ‘Primrose‘ continues to deliver live and is given a new lease of life with Powell’s vocals giving it a fresh sound.
Just two years after their performance at Brudenell, UK pop-punkers WSTR returned to Leeds and captivated the audience the entire time. The band began by playing their whole six-track EP, but after the sixth, they briefly left the stage to perform an encore, using a significant amount of the set for hilarious effect.
Just two years on from their last visit to Leeds at the Brudenell, WSTR increased the capacity for their 10 year anniversary of ‘SKRWD‘. Selling out the Belgrave this time around, fans old and new gathered for a night filled with their greatest anthems over the last decade. Kicking off their set with the EP in its entirety, ‘South Drive‘ picked up the energy from where Dream State left the Leeds crowd. The opening lyrics saw Sammy met with a sea of people throwing their hands in the air and repeating the words back as loud as they could.
‘Fair Weather‘ and ‘Graveyard Shift‘ remain fan favourites ten years on and with only six tracks to complete the EP, WSTR exited the stage to create an encore style atmosphere as bands typically would from playing a full length. A very swift return to the stage for comedic effect set up the stacked set list to go through all the bands releases. Unleashing with ‘Lonely Smiles’ to keep the energy flowing, with crowd surfers and stage divers persisting into pop-punk rippers ‘Crisis’, ‘Footprints’ and ‘Featherweight’.
As the set entered its final section, there were no indications of slowing down the pace. Fan favourite ‘Eastbound & Down‘ as expected had the audience singing at their peak, which then lead into the more modern material of ‘3 Days Sober‘ and ‘Filthy‘ before WSTR climaxed their return to Yorkshire in typical fashion with ‘Break Stuff‘ (Limp Bizkit). The entire room erupted for the breakdown of the song, with Happydaze’s Rory joining in for vocals to round off the bands most triumphant show in the county to date.
After performing ‘SKRWD‘ in full, it not only feels like a celebration of those first ten years for WSTR, but also a perfect way to close that chapter of the band and move on to whatever is next for them. New music? soon.
Taped Magazine 