The Snuts bring the energy to the O2 Academy
The Snuts made a triumphant return to Leeds on Saturday night on their UK tour, performing at the O2 Academy to an expectant sell-out crowd. The Scottish quartet are no strangers to the city, having played both Leeds Festival in 2021 and Live at Leeds in June this year. Having spent the last few weeks listening to the band on repeat, I was desperate enough to see them live that I took the colossal risk of buying a pair of tickets from some random off of Twitter on the day of the gig. By some miracle, I was not scammed, and I somehow found myself on the bus into town in possession of two face-value standing tickets.
In typical fashion, we arrived late and missed the entirety of Heidi Curtis’ opening set, which was a shame as I’ve only heard good things about her performances supporting The Snuts on this tour. Spirits weren’t dampened, however, as the crowd were already buzzing with anticipation for the main event. Although I had already seen them perform supporting Courteeners three years ago, I knew that I was in for a completely new experience. After the release of their number one debut album, and Burn the Empire which reached number three at the start of the month, The Snuts have cemented their place at the top of the indie rock scene.
The band have received significant praise, for their unrelenting commitment to putting their fans first. Upon finding out their album would not be released before their tour began, the band pushed an online campaign to pressure their record company into pushing the release date forward by a week, to allow fans to have a chance to listen to new songs prior to the tour. Having also capped ticket prices due to the cost of living crisis, resulting in no profit for the band, The Snuts have undoubtedly shown where their priorities lie.
Entering the stage to a rapturous reception, the band opened their set with the rather unusual choice of ‘Pigeons in New York’, one of the more understated tracks off of their new album. Enigmatic frontman Jack Cochrane was quick to get the crowd ramped back up, following up with the fan-favourite ‘Glasgow’, the band’s debut single. From there on, the West Lothian four-piece never looked back, storming through their set and finding the ideal balance between old sing-along classics and their newer, heavier politically-infused tracks.
The intense bassline of the anthemic ‘All Your Friends’ and the immediate race into the more heartfelt ‘Always’ were personal highlights for me, and exemplified the band’s versatile range of sounds and pace. ‘Hallelujah Moment’ stands out as the finest track off of the most recent album, an opinion seemingly shared by many of those in attendance who were singing along word for word. It was only at the request of Cochrane before playing ‘13’, a deeply personal song written about the persistence of violence and poverty and its cruel consequences, that the crowd returned to a sense of calm. One of their more overtly political tracks, it is clear that The Snuts haven’t been scared to voice their opinions and wrestle with social issues on a more emotional and intimate level on their latest release.
The band continued their set at a lightning pace, with ‘Somebody Loves You’, an upbeat crowd-pleaser, and ‘Elephants’, another frenetic song from W.L. (the album). As they approached the end of their non-stop set, it became apparent that the band has developed considerably as performers. While they maintain a slightly unassuming stage presence, the graphics and lighting used on stage take their performance up to the next level, which is typical of their all-round growth as a band. ‘Seasons’ and ‘Maybe California’, both indie-pop fuelled anthems, proved popular as ever, before Heidi Curtis was brought back onto stage to sing ‘End of the Road’ with the rest of the band.
The Snuts returned to the stage for their encore with their rampant punk-inspired title track, ‘Burn the Empire’. The song opens with a speech from Tony Benn, epitomising the explicit sense of protest and somewhat on-the-nose lyricism present throughout the album. Repeated chants of “Fuck the Tories” from the crowd all through the gig suggest these feelings are shared among many in Leeds. Indicative of the current state of British politics, lyrics criticising Boris Johnson and on-stage graphics of Liz Truss were both already out of date – I imagine Rishi Sunak will be the next target at the band’s upcoming shows. The floor-stomping ‘Fatboy Slim’ was the perfect choice for their final song, leaving the crowd with one final emphatic festival-ready banger.
Upon leaving the venue, it was obvious to see why many consider The Snuts to be one of the most exciting live bands in the UK at the moment. The omission of certain songs from the setlist, such as ‘Coffee and Cigarettes’ and ‘Blur Beat’, is only a testament to the volume of quality tracks they have to choose from. Having spent the summer supporting big-name bands, including Kings of Leon and The Kooks, it seems it will only be a matter of time before The Snuts are moving onto bigger and better stages.
