I’ve been waiting to see Yak again since their mind-blowing gig at The Great Escape in May. It’s made it a long summer but it was worth the wait. Yak brought their own brand of slightly chaotic rock to Liverpool as the opening set of the Peace tour. The crazed excellence of ‘Smile’ and ‘Plastic People’ was something to behold, and it was easy to see they had their own fan base at the gig, me included. I’d have paid just to see them, and I can’t wait until I get to see them as headliners doing a longer set. They are easily one of my top five favourite bands of the moment.
Splashh weren’t a band that had caused a blip on my radar before, so I was interested to hear what they had to bring to the stage. They were already at a disadvantage sandwiched between two of my favourites, but I thought what they did, they did well. Splashh’s indie rock probably wasn’t something I’d run out and buy, but the band played a great set, which seemed to have hints of New Order about it at times. I thought their sound made them a rousing act to go on before Peace, and the crowd really seemed to enjoy the set.
Peace started their last tour in Liverpool, and chose to do the same this time. I hope that says something good about their relationship with the city, because their fan base here just seems to grow and grow. Starting and finishing with newer tracks, the set brought a wide selection of their output to the stage, including some acoustic-based numbers and lavish renditions of 3 tracks from the 'Bloodshake' EP, which had the audience erupting with excitement. Peace always give beautifully polished yet intimate and exhilarating performances, and this was no different, with ‘Float Forever’, ‘I’m a Girl’, ‘Wraith’ and ‘Bloodshake’ my particular favourites of the set.
The only thing that took away from the night, was that the venue is a sweat box, aside from that it was amazing and definitely a gig I will remember. It was everything I hoped it would be and more.