Visiting the Service Station at the End of the Universe with Antony Szmierek

On the back of his hugely successful debut album ‘Service Station at the End of the Universe’, Antony Szmierek played the University of Leeds’ very own Stylus and I was lucky to attend the show. On this tour, Szmierek has invited an act from the BBC introducing roster to join him on his packed out shows. This show we were blessed with Spielmann as well as main support Getdown Services. 

Szmierek began the show with the title track of his album which a few hours before the show knocked Charli XCX off of the top spot of the UK dance charts. Clearly in good spirits he immediately commanded the audience’s attention and used every scrap of space on the Stylus stage. From the jump, he had the crowd on his side and continued to keep their attention by speaking about past gigs which many fans in the crowd remembered. After performing ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Fallacy’, he began speaking about how appreciative he was for the crowd’s continued support throughout his career. The former English teacher then went on to thank the crowd yet again for their love for his song ‘The Great Pyramid of Stockport’ which in his words is a ‘song about a f*cking insurance building’. After nailing the first three songs despite some technical difficulties he moved on to some of his older hits. ‘Working Classic’ and ‘Rock and a Calm Place’ were of no mystery to the fans who recited almost every word.

Back to the album, Szmierek then performed ‘Yoga Teacher’, a personal favourite. The song came out as a single at the end of 2024 and has been on my ‘On Repeat’ playlist on Spotify ever since. In a surreal turn of events, I was picked out of the crowd by Szmierek and serenaded briefly. Definitely my highlight of the show! Just when I thought the show couldn’t get any more personal, Antony covered my favourite Robbie Williams song ‘Feel’ but with a UK Garage twist. No notes from me. Onto another oldie with ‘Twist Forever’ which got the old timer fans moving in unison with a coordinated arm twist dance move that Szmierek himself was also partaking in. Another few anecdotes about his last show in Leeds were told. The star of one story, a man whose shoulders he climbed on, was in the audience a few rows behind me and got a well deserving shoutout. Moving back to the album, a personal favourite of mine called ‘Crashing Up’ was played. Just before starting, Antony picked the least active side of the crowd to torment. The back right were blessed with his presence during the instrumental. Pulling focus from the amazing band, Szmierek ran through the crowd to the very back and created a mosh pit. Whilst this was occurring, the band, which consists of his brother Martin on guitar, producer Robin on the keys and borderline hype man Tom on the bass smashed it. Sticking with the album, ‘Big Light’ was up next- another personal favourite of mine. This was swiftly followed by the last single release ‘Angie’s Wedding’. Sensing the crowd may have been flagging from the late night, Antony made it clear that he was here to create a space for us to have fun and encouraged us to embrace this. Immediately people began to move and jump around, taking this fact into their stride. As soon as ‘Rafters’ began, everyone had their arms up in the air in an almost religious way. Feeling the music with their whole body, the audience continued to stay in the palm of the main man until the very end. 

Screaming ‘one more song’, me and my friend were not out of place. Eventually, after lapping up the applause, he came back out and performed ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’. This one felt different. Instead of the emphasis being on his unique style of dance music, Szmierek showed off his spoken word background by commanding the crowd through his words rather than his moves. The song ends with very passionate and heavily autotuned vocals from Szmierek which sounded beautiful in this live setting. The mesmerising performance came to a close and the gears shifted once again back to the upbeat tunes we became used to. With ‘Take Me There’, once again the crowd started moving back to their familiar pace. The show ended with ‘The Words to Auld Lang Syne’, one of his most popular songs. Preceding the finale, Antony counted down from 10 with the audience in a faux New Years celebration. One last instruction from Szmierek to us was to tell the person next to us that we love them just as the song begins. Along with the rest of the crowd, me and my friend partook and danced the rest of the night away with the fans both new and original. 

The gig wasn’t just good, it was inspiring. The way that Antony commands the crowd is not something that is seen as often as it once was. As an audience member you can tell that he’s having the time of his life, and it feels so special to be seeing someone living out their dreams right in front of you. I’ve been a fan of Antony since I first heard ‘How Did You Get Here?’ on 6music back in 2023. After a few failed attempts of catching one of his many sets at Glastonbury, I felt extremely lucky to see him thrive in a venue I have frequented so often. If I learnt anything from the concert it’s that it is never too late to follow your dreams. A former English teacher turned into a superstar right in front of my eyes. I wish him all the best with his career but I’m certain he will defy any expectations that I already had! 

Words by Kate Moxon.