Yard Act throws punky dance party at Free At Noon
The UK outfit showcased their signature attitude, energy, and danceable tunes to a packed Free At Noon crowd Friday here at WXPN.
Yard Act, the UK’s eminent post-punk export, played a high-energy Free At Noon gig Friday as they wind their way around the Eastern seaboard on their North American tour in support of their latest album, You’re Gonna Need a Little Music.
They kicked things off with two new songs, “Tall Tales” and “Talky Talky People,” after getting a hearty applause when they emerged onto stage.
Frontman James Smith’s attitude was on full display from the get-go, seemingly ready to leave no gas in the tank despite a show later Friday night in the capital. Touring keyboardist and saxophonist Christopher Duffin served up a fun solo that helped Smith spur the packed room into grooving along with the band.
Pun intended with the gas reference, as their third song was “Petroleum” from 2024’s Where’s My Utopia.
They played You’re Gonna Need a Little Music‘s single “New Beginnings” next, and guitarist Sam Shipstone ripped a mini solo that marks the song’s halfway point.
An unreleased song titled “Fixer Upper” came next, as a treat to the lucky Free At Noon crowd. If you make it to Underground Arts Saturday, you’ll likely hear it for yourself.
Yard Act tapped their debut 2022 album, The Overload, and played “Pour Another” before closing the show out with the title track from You’re Gonna Need a Little Music.
Smith and Shipstone throughout the performance were the most animated, but their antics would fall on deaf ears and blind eyes without Duffin, bassist Ryan Needham, and drummer Jay Russell laying the foundational grooves and beats for Yard Act’s signature dance-worthy post-punk stylings.
Check out Yard Act’s 2022 Indie Rock Hit Parade live session here and their World Cafe interview from the same year here.
Yard Act is headed to Washington DC for a Friday night gig before coming back up in Philly for a show at Underground Arts Saturday night with The Armed.
