After three whole years without any Leeds dates, Local Natives finally returned to the city last Monday, with a wonderful set here at Leeds University Union forming part of their world tour.
This follows the release of their third album Sunlit Youth, and they combined brilliant new tunes from this album with older favourites from both Hummingbird and Gorilla Manor. By opening with the energetic ‘Past Lives’, the Californian indie rockers straightaway set the agenda for the rest of the show – hyperactive drumming, an intense mood and entrancing vocals. They soon followed it up with the stunning ‘Wide Eyes’, the musical brilliance of which is an absolutely amazing live experience. With this killer combination of exhilaration and a lingering nostalgia, the atmosphere within the crowd was really something special. I have to say, the way the old guy a few people down from me putting heart and soul into dancing and singing from this point completely made my night.
Taylor Rice (vocals/guitar) kept giving us little stories and bits of context in between songs, which made the gig feel personal to us in that time and place, rather than one of the many shows they’ll be playing over the next few weeks. Before playing ‘Dark Days’, he said how it was time for a romantic song, because bassist Nik Ewing met his now wife at Brudenell when they played it in 2013. Coincidentally, their first wedding anniversary was the next day (the 8th). He also took a bit of time to speak a little about the election and the importance of the younger generation voting, appropriately following with ‘Fountain of Youth’. Local Natives sure know how to create a sense of intimacy at their shows.
Further highlights included a special rendition of ‘Columbia’ – stripped back to just Rice and Kelcey Ayer (vocals/keyboard) – their ‘last’ song ‘Who Knows, Who Cares’, and an extended encore version of the vibrant ‘Sun Hands’. My only disappointment was that they didn’t play the electric ‘Wooly Mammoth’ from Hummingbird, but guess they can’t be completely perfect. Other than that, the set-list was spot on, proving Local Natives are as awesome as ever, eight years into their musical career.
Hollie Griss
[image: Pop Press Int’l]