The Setlist & The Script

Whisper it quietly, but something pleasantly intoxicating is fermenting in West Yorkshire, and I don’t mean a pint of Tetley’s Bitter. Slowly but surely Leeds five-piece Apollo Junction are building up a head of steam. I saw the same band, in the same venue last December and I would estimate that the crowd size had increased by 50%. The band are skilfully developing a loyal fanbase. Watching Apollo Junction, you don’t feel like you’re at a gig, you feel like you’re at some sort of extended family gathering. Bearing in mind there was a national rail strike, I spoke to people who had travelled from all parts of Yorkshire, Lancashire, and southern England to see a band from Leeds play a small club in Liverpool. Something is definitely brewing.

The evening’s entertainment was advertised to start with Worthing based Moonlight Parade but due to Covid the band were unable to perform. They were ably deputised at the last minute by solo artist Liam Hillyer. Hillyer played a number of his own compositions including Get Rid and This Town – a song about small town mentalities dragging you down – as well as number of well executed covers. If you want to gauge what to expect from a Liam Hillyer performance then look no further than the artists he chose to cover – Gerry Cinnamon, Jamie Webster, and he finished off with a sing-along rendition of The Stone Roses I Am The Resurrection. That’s the way to warm up an audience.

Next on the bill were Teesside five-piece Nice Guy. I’d given the band a listen on my music streaming platform and my interest had been piqued. Seeing the band in the flesh only enhanced my intrigue. Nice Guy have a certain energy and vibrancy that when expressed in a sweaty cellar venue brings their songs – like Fake Leather and Last Orders at The Linthorope – bursting into life.

Singer Michael McCluskey has a wistful vocal style; drummer Matthew Bowen is a bear of a man and when he hits those drums they stay hit. The keyboards provided by the excessively forenamed Patrick Michael Oliver raised Nice Guy’s sound above your everyday, run-of the-mill indie guitar noise. Imagine if The Libertines covered Snow Patrol songs with an added touch of Inhaler and you’re heading in the right direction.

One of the reasons that Apollo Junction gigs feel so inclusive is that the band do their best to get the crowd involved. They employ a type of interactive theatre technique. As the rest of the band start the intro to opening song Sometimes, singer Jamie Williamson is no-where to be seen. Slowly, from the back of the venue he proceeds through the crowd towards the stage, and the fourth wall is broken. You are not watching a performance – you are part of it.

Following on from Sometimes, Apollo Junction’s set continued with a number of tracks from their excellent second album, 2021’s All In. Songs such as Light Up The Sky and Porcelain serve to reinforce the band’s next-gen Britpop credentials. The band have cited that musical era as an influence. But listen deeper and there are more primal elements in there – The Cure, New Order – rock bands who knew how to incorporate keyboards without letting them contaminate their indie/rock DNA.

There was a brief acoustic interlude consisting of Rooftops, On The Ropes, and an excellent cover of Sit Down. Drummer Jonathan Thornton left his rear stage position and sat up front playing cajon, and guitarist Matt Wilson edged forward, feet over the stage apron – moves that added to the gigs air of inclusivity.

The set concluded with Forever and the now customary, all-encompassing, James-like, encouraged, stage invasion. The performance ended as it began, no barriers, no fourth wall. While some sang and some danced one fan from Preston ended up on stage playing the drummer’s recently vacated cajon. Band and crowd were indeed all in.

Ian Dunphy.