My final gig for this year’s run at The Piece Hall had arrived.Two dates remained, Turnstile and Bastille, and, moreover, the event was framed by Public Service Broadcasting commitments.
Turnstile is a difficult midweeker.
So my final gig I’m attending for this year’s run of gigs at The Piece Hall had arrived, with just 2 more dates remaining, one of which is Turnstile, a difficult midweeker, and Bastille, who I’ve tried to watch twice and only lasted a few songs in before getting bored and leaving, so that left it down to tonight.
As the last band to be announced, I was all over this like a tramp in chips for a couple of reasons: 1, this would be by far the boys’ biggest gig outside of London to date, and 2, what would they pull out of the bag for such a gig?
After the initial disappointment that the band I thought was supporting when the girls walked on stage wasn’t The Big Moon (that would have been Scottish duo Man of Moon…)
I quickly realised I’d also seen these girls before but I couldn’t place where – no wonder, it turns out it was almost 9 years ago to the week at the sadly missed Bingley Music Live Festival.
I instantly recognised the opener, Wide Eyes, which is a much later track from them when I saw them in Bingley so they clearly have been floating around in my subconscious for a few years and to be fair, they delivered an enjoyable if somewhat unremarkable set which included some small talk about Meal Deals during it to which I think my mate Nick, who attended the night with me nailed it with “It’s all a bit Lighthouse Family!”
I got exactly what he meant, nice tunes, very MOR, a bit samey and you’d struggle to pick out a classic belter in the set ( well bar the cover of Fat Boy Slim’s Praise You but that really doesnt count does it). It wasn’t a massively long set either, just 45 mins, meaning a 45 min changeover time between bands, which was rather excessive, so the night got off to a bit of a mixed bag.
A cause for concern rocking up to the venue was the queues, or rather the lack of them. We entered about twenty minutes before The Big Moon were due. Visiting the bar, the number of people serving contrasted with the night before for Hollywood Vampires.
I’m sure the other band that goes by Public Service Broadcasting could fill a week-long residency at the Piece Hall. We can but live in hope. However, the social media advertising I’d seen over recent weeks was noticeable. The venue was only around a third full an hour after the gates opened. It wasn’t looking great for this particular one.
Thankfully, as we moved towards the 8 pm entrance cut off, the venue started to fill, and whilst we weren’t packed in like sardines ( that wasn’t the case the previous night either tbh, which was a sellout), by the time the Piece Hall closed off entry, the venue was looking busy – the gamble had paid off!
Opening with Electra from their latest album it was good to see they have brought along EERA for vocal duties, the sound from where we were stood was crisp, punchy and clear non more so than Wigglesworths drumming during Night Mail where unfortunately Mr B
suffered the only technical hitch of the night, when the visuals from his MacBook lost communication with the rear screen, which in turn highlighted the importance of the visuals to the music in a PSB show, typical, it would be during my personal favorite PSB track, eh but hey ho, shit happens.
One thing that stuck me during the entire performance was how respectful people were in the crowd; there was hardly any talking going on. When the band played a quiet track like The Other Side or Blue Heaven, you could “hear” the silence around the plaza during Go! It was the crowd’s voices echoing around and with Gagarin, the cheers and whoops during the freeze point, where everyone on stage stops moving, was spontaneous.
Everybody seemed engaged in what was happening on stage and not using the gig as a social event, a refreshing change for once. The silences made moments more poignant; I don’t think you could get anything much more “Yorkshire” than hearing brass instruments play out loud and clear across the Piece Halls plaza, and at times the band’s live brass section brought a lump to this old cynic’s throat as the sound reverberated around the building’s walls, really mesmerising stuff whilst lost in the moment…
There aren’t many bands out there that can go from electronic to guitar to brass band within a few minutes.
Public Service Broadcasting is one such band.
Moreover, it’s something that makes them stand out from whatever else is out there.
I don’t think there’s another band doing what they do and I like the way they tackle each project differently with their storytelling on each new album, but listening is only one part of the plan with this band. To see them live is to see the whole project; when you’re just listening, you’re only getting half the story. To see them with the visuals brings everything together, and that’s what really makes this band special.
And so my run ended on a high and the biggest thing I took from all this? Could it be in all the previous years of doing gigs at the Piece Hall, both paying and press before this year I could count the amount of times I didn’t get soaked at some point during the night on 1 hand; this year I didn’t get wet once, a few spots on the 1st night at Shed Seven landed but it wasn’t even enough to warrant putting on a coat, the rest I’ve done it’s been bone dry – who said the Piece Hall could do with a a roof eh?..
But no, the biggest thing is 2026 has set an incredible bar for the venue & the town, with some acts previously you would have only dreamed about visitng a tiny mill town nestled amongst the Yorkshire hills playing, this incredible venue has really put itself on the map and artists want to play the venue so I’m super excited for what 2027 will bring, so come on Cuffe & Taylor, let’s hear some announcements for whose playing next year soon!
📸 CREDIT CUFFE & TAYLOR
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