In pictures: Shame conquer Leeds with a defiant performance

The energy and grit radiating from Shame frontman Charlie Steen is a sight to behold. Spotted in the smoking area just a few minutes before their set, it was a zero to one hundred transition from his calm off-stage persona into the shirtless machine that proceeded to dominate the stage all night.

Lucy Spraggan wows crowds with an intimate acoustic set at The Warehouse

Almost a decade since she first graced our screens, Lucy Spraggan played an acoustic show at The Warehouse on the 4th of November. With support coming from Billy Lockett, a Northampton-based singer-songwriter, the night was a roaring success. In the intimate set, she took the audience through the story of her career. A showcase highlighting the ups and downs of her journey from the X-Factor stage to her latest album Choices.

Heirs to the Throne: DMA’S wrap up mammoth UK run in Leeds

‘Never Before’ (if you’ll excuse the pun) has a band from the other side of the world slotted in so perfectly into the indie scene of the North of England. DMA’S – the honorary Northerners, who actually hail from Australia – finally brought their seminal third album The Glow to our shores with a colossal UK tour that climaxed with two sold-out nights at O2 Academy Leeds.

The reports from Manchester and London’s Alexandra Palace were outstanding. Tales of the best shows of their lives, and of frontman Tommy O’Dell’s voice levelling up to unprecedented heights, were proved incredibly accurate as the band stacked the first part of the set with new material. Matt Mason’s lead tone roared through ‘Dawning’ after the crowd was sent into pandemonium during ‘The Glow’, a mighty release of pent up emotion after such a long wait to hear the track live.

Two offerings from their surprise EP I Love You Unconditionally, Sure Am Going To Miss You came in the form of the epic, nostalgic ‘We Are Midnight’ and the sombre ‘Junk Truck Head Fuck’. In a genre where so many fade into mediocrity, the songwriting ability of these three talents has risen to new heights on each occasion, with their sound a distinct but direct evolution of their dearly loved earlier work.

‘Delete’ and ‘Silver’, as expected, saw the crowd take control with perhaps the loudest sing-along the Academy has seen in recent history, yet it was ‘Hello Girlfriend’ that stole the night. Sounding absolutely gigantic in the flesh, the pounding drums and driving rhythm makes one wonder why the glorious track was not released as a single.

Which brings us to the inevitable climax of ‘Play It Out’ and ‘Feels Like 37’, two tracks that epitomise why DMA’S are such an unbelievable live band. Mason’s enormous tone transforms the room into a stadium, and the magnificent instrumentals of these two tracks, in particular, solidify just why DMA’S will soon be filling arenas and stadiums all over the UK, inheriting the void left by the megastars of the North who came before.

Sydney’s Gang of Youths set to support Sam Fender in Leeds

Following the announcement of their third album Angel in Realtime, Gang of Youths are out to impress in Leeds later this month. As the guests of Sam Fender on his sold-out arena tour, they have traveled the UK playing to crowds of thousands. They will be making their stop at First Direct Arena, Leeds, on the 24th of November. 

Two Months On…Is ‘Donda’ Kanye West’s Magnum Opus?

Over two months have passed since the release of Kanye West’s (now formally known as Ye) 10th solo studio album, Donda, which came to life following three performative public listening events. But how does the final version of the album stack up against his past releases, and the other big-name releases of the year?

Girls Don’t Be Shy, Aim High

Have you ever been told you that you are not good at something because of your sex? Or that it is ‘unusual’ that someone of your sex is doing your degree or has your hobbies? Most likely, you are a woman. 

Things like this can make us question ourselves and doubt our abilities, causing us to think twice about putting ourselves forward or aiming for the top. It’s easy to feel like you’re just pretending to know what you’re doing, waiting all the time for someone to come along and expose you; that you don’t actually deserve your accomplishments. You shouldn’t feel alone if you have these thoughts, as it is so common it has a name: imposter syndrome. It was first identified in 1978 by psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Susanne Imes, in their paper identifying that women are more predominantly hit with this inability to internalise and own their successes. When you experience systematic oppression or grow up being directly or indirectly told that you are less than or undeserving of your achievements then imposter syndrome occurs. 

When you were in school, were you ever too shy to put your hand up in class or answer a question out of fear of being called out by one of the ‘class clown’ boys? We teach girls from a young age that it is cute to seem incompetent and have to ask for men’s help, whereas boys are taught that it is cool to throw their weight around and act like they know what they are doing. It’s simple, girls, we need to fake a little confidence too.

I don’t mean bullshit, just be confident. Don’t make things up or fake qualifications, just be a bit more assertive and positive about things. When it comes to careers, studies have shown that how confident we feel about our own abilities can have a major impact from entry level like the chances of actually applying for a job to how likely we are to ask for promotions. One study in particular by Hewlett Packard found that women only apply to jobs that they meet 100% of the requirements for, whereas men apply for those they only meet 60% of the requirements. In fact, one university advertised a job that was for females only and THIRTY men applied. 

You will always come across people that may criticise you and try to put you down, so you need to believe in your own talents and be kind to yourself. One main reason that girls don’t feel ‘qualified’ enough to take certain career routes is because they don’t hear about women doing those jobs. 

“We are more likely to experience imposter syndrome if we don’t see many examples of people who look like us or share our background who are clearly succeeding in our field” – Emily Hu.

This is why it is important to remember that not succeeding, for example at an interview, doesn’t mean you are a failure, you are just one step closer to where you are going. You just have to remember that there is no prize giving at the end, so you can ignore what everyone else is doing, nobody claims first prize!