Against The Current / Yours Truly / Halflives
Leeds Stylus – 08/04/2022
Friday nights in Leeds are usually fairly lively, but with the addition of a jam packed line up of explosive music on show at the Stylus for the ‘Fever tour’, this night’s going to be something special. Against The Current return to the UK for the first time since December 2019, and this time they’ve brought great company with both Yours Truly and Halflives to really get the part started.
Halflives (7.5), now a solo project by Linda Battilani, kick off the evening to an excitable early crowd and ‘Vibes’ is the perfect opening song to get the everyone moving. Linda glides around the stage with great intent and seems to relish the challenge of loosening up an early crowd with Halflives’ synth Pop-Rock, and it seems to go down a treat as they fire through ‘Mayday’ and ‘Fugitive’ with its huge bouncing chorus.
Linda takes to the keyboard for a mid-set cover of My Chemical Romance’s ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’ which displays her vocals perfectly in a stripped back approach as she sets herself aside the band for a beautiful moment shared with the Stylus.
The short and sweet set concludes with party starter ‘Rockstar Everyday’ and the more recent ‘Victim’ which has the room swaying from wall to wall. It’s a solid set from Halflives who certainly will have picked up some new fans on this tour, and we for one will be keeping our eyes peeled for their return in the future.
The room seems to be nearly full and just in time for Australian four piece Yours Truly (8), who are itching to get going. The stage glows pink and blue as the band drive through the intro for ‘Walk Over My Grave’ as frontwoman Mikaila Delgado dances her way onto the stage. Where Halflives brought some modern synth to the stage, Yours Truly bring more of a classic alt pop-punk set to Leeds with infectiously driven drums and riffs. The upbeat ‘Circles’ is a prime example of this with its infectious energy which keeps the momentum of the set flowing at pace.
It’s a perfect set from the Aussie outfit and they definitely lived up to our expectations live. Their recent single ‘Lights On’ sounded fantastic and full of energy, meaning you can’t help but join in with the band as they bounce around the stage. Fan favourite ‘High Hopes’ which put them on the map back in 2018 closes out the set perfectly. Make sure you catch them tearing up Slam Dunk Festival when they return to Leeds in June!
Deafening screams fill the room’s darkness as the sound of white noise and strobe lights indicating the start of Against The Current’s return to the Stylus stage for the first time since 2018, which back then launched their successful album ‘Past Lives’ across the UK. This time Against The Current (9)return with a little more edge to them with their recent release of the ‘Fever’ EP, which brings a whole new dynamic to the band and their live shows. Chrissy Costanza and co take to the stage and dive straight into the new material with ‘That Won’t Save Us’ and ‘Again & Again’ and the energy built within the first couple of songs is emphatic.
The frontwoman pauses for a moment to address the elephant in the room to explains the absence of a third of the band, Will Ferri who’s unable to take part in the evening in his usual spot behind the drum kit. But fortunately, the trustworthy drum tech could confidently fill in the void left from Mr Ferri and does continue to do so as he drives us into the lively ‘Running With The Wild Things’.
The Poughkeepsie outfit power through a set of Alt pop-rock bangers built up of their back catalogue of EP’s and Albums, including some fan favourites from their 2015 ‘Gravity’ EP and their debut full length 2016 album ‘In Our Bones’. ‘Blood Like Gasoline’ and ‘Gravity’ both still go down incredibly well with the Against The Current followers who never seem to get bored of the older material, and further proving this by bouncing throughout ‘Talk’ like a pogo party has hit the Stylus.
‘Past Lives’ their last full-length album still builds up a slice of the set with its upbeat and light-hearted pop synth vibes, including highlights from the huge ‘Voices’ which really gets the crowd bopping along with the band. Will Ferri also temporarily making a quick appearance to Join Chrissy on stage armed with an acoustic guitar for the stripped back version of ‘Almost Forgot’ adds a new dynamic to the show.
Anyone who knows Against The Current well knows how much they love a good cover, and they couldn’t help but throw in a nice surprise with the inclusion of a beautifully unique cover of Taking Back Sunday’s ‘MakeDamnSure’ which really was excellent.
It’s worth noting how Chrissy’s Vocals have been second to none throughout the night, and even when throwing herself across the stage, bouncing around like the Energizer bunny, she still seems to somehow hold her voice incredibly well throughout every song of the set. The band hold themselves superbly too throughout the show considering they’re having to mix things up a little with a stand in drummer, but it hardly goes unnoticed as everything sounds almost perfect.
After the back-bending ‘Wasteland’ the show comes to a close with an encore featuring ‘Paralyzed’ which really gets the room moving. ‘Legends Never Die’ has everyone swaying along before it finally falls to ‘Weapon’ to close out the ‘Fever tour’ in top form. Its driven verse and furious chorus under a sea of red smoke, leaves us all seeing red with the lively frontwoman for one last blast of Against The Current.
It’s been an energetic night packed with talent from start to finish at the Stylus, and one that leaves us all wanting more. Fortunately for us Against The Current have already planned ahead as they announce they will be returning as support for Pierce The Veil at the back end of the year, and you can bet we’ll all be there to welcome them back!
(PLEASE DO NOT CROP OR EDIT PHOTOS)
Photo Credit: © Danny Peart Photography 2022
Check out the full set of live photos here for: AGAINST THE CURRENT / YOURS TRULY / HALFLIVES
