Yard Act: Last News

Yard Act and Confidence Man are among 50 new names added to this year’s Latitude Festival – see the full line-up below.The festival will return to Suffolk’s Henham Park from July 20-23 and be headlined by Pulp, Paolo Nutini and George Ezra, with a special performance from Siouxsie Sioux also set to feature.Others in the latest announcement include James, who will perform with an orchestra and choir, alongside Dry Cleaning, Men I Trust, Wunderhorse, The Murder Capital, Do Nothing, Bob Vylan and more.The festival’s comedy line-up has also been revealed, with Sara Pascoe, Romesh Ranganathan, Ed Gamble and more all playing.See the full and updated Latitude line-up below.

Mercury Prize have confirmed the line-up of live performers for this year’s rescheduled award ceremony.The 2022 prize had been due to be presented last month at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London, but the ceremony was called off on the night (September 8) following the death of the Queen.The 2022 Mercury Prize ceremony will now take place on Tuesday (October 18), with the show set to be hosted by Lauren Laverne and broadcast on BBC TV and radio.This morning (October 13), the Mercury Prize organisers have confirmed the line-up of live performers on the night.

Yard Act have spoken to NME about what this year’s shortlist for the Mercury Prize 2022 says about guitar music – as well as plans for their next album and working with Elton John.The Yorkshire band were speaking to NME from the London launch event for the prize yesterday (Wednesday July 27), where their acclaimed debut album ‘The Overload‘ was named as one of the Albums Of The Year alongside albums by the likes of Sam Fender, Nova Twins, Harry Styles, Little Simz, Self Esteem and more.They were in attendance without frontman James Smith, “because of the trains,” said guitarist Sam Shjipstone, adding: “support the strikes.”Asked what the Mercury Prize shortlist says about music in 2022, Shjipstone replied: “There’s quite a lot of guitar music on it, which is quite weird. People are finally realising that the guitar is the greatest instrument ever made!”Bassist Ryan Needham added: “There’s quite a lot of rage and unrest lyrically across the whole thing, which is nice to see.

Mercury Prize shortlist for 2022 Album Of The Year has been revealed.At 11am today (July 26), the Mercury Prize – in partnership with mobility app FREE NOW – confirmed that the 12 albums that have been shortlisted for the Album Of The Year award include Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’, Little Simz’s ‘Sometimes I Might be Introvert’, Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’, Wet Leg’s self-titled album and Yard Act’s ‘The Overload’.You can find the entire list of albums shortlisted for the coveted award below.The awards show for the event will take place on September 8 at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. Tickets for the event are now available for purchase here.It was announced yesterday (July 25) that a handful of musicians including Anna Calvi, Lanterns On The Lake’s Hazel Wilde, Loyle Carner and Jamie Cullum helped judge this year’s prize, alongside a range of broadcasters and critics.The Mercury’s official website has also noted that the 12 nominated artists will “receive a specially commissioned ‘Album Of The Year’ trophy, with the overall winner also receiving a winner trophy and a cash prize of £25,000”.This year’s Mercury Prize has also announced that it’s new headline sponsor is the FREE NOW mobility app as part of a “multi-year commitment from FREE NOW to support British music”.Last year, Arlo Parks walked away with the 2021 Mercury Prize for her album ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’.

Yard Act singer James Smith has spoken about the “amazing” experience of collaborating with Elton John for their new version of ‘100% Endurance’.The pop legend, who is a fan of the Leeds-based band, contributed piano to the new studio recording. ‘100% Endurance’ is the latest single released from Yard Act’s debut album ‘The Overload’, which was released in January.Speaking to Matt Wilkinson on Apple Music 1 today (July 6), as part of his UK City Spotlight on Leeds, Smith said: “We had a lovely afternoon together at Metropolis Studios in London.

Elton John has joined forces with Yard Act for a new studio version of ‘100% Endurance’.The pop legend, who is a fan of the Leeds-based band, has contributed piano to the new version. ‘100% Endurance’ is the latest single released from Yard Act’s debut album ‘The Overload‘, which was released in January.Explaining how the collaboration came about, Yard Act frontperson James Smith said: “Within our camp we have a saying, ‘Mad shit happens when you do art’. It means what it means.

Yard Act are set to release a new studio version of their track ‘100% Endurance’ featuring Elton John.The reworked track is slated to release on July 1, and will feature vocals and new instrumental arrangements from John, per a press release.Yard Act first released the original cut of ‘100% Endurance’ in January as part of their debut album ‘The Overload’. The track served as the album’s closer.In a press statement, Yard Act’s James Smith revealed how the collaboration came to be: “Elton John saw our stuff and he started telling the press he thought we were good and then we chatted on the phone and after a few calls I said ‘Elton, do you want to come to the studio and play piano on a tune?’ because, fuck it, it doesn’t matter if he says no.

Yard Act have been named in a new study as this summer’s most-booked new music act on the European festival circuit.The annual study, which is conducted by the European talent exchange programme ESNS Exchange, sheds a light on “the most promising European emerging acts of the moment”.Yard Act have come out on top of this year’s study, racking up 11 bookings at ESNS Exchange-affiliated festivals in 2022.The four-piece are three ahead of Ukrainian rapper Alyona Alyona, Priya Ragu and Wet Leg, who have eight European festival bookings each.

Yard Act frontman James Smith has shared concert footage of him with his grandad covering Tom Jones‘ 1966 classic ‘Green Green Grass Of Home’.Smith took to Instagram to share a snippet of their cover at a recent gig in Warrington. You can view the footage below.“A few weeks ago my grandad Dave asked us if we knew ‘Green, Green Grass Of home’ by Tom Jones,” Smith wrote.

Yard Act have announced their biggest headline show to date and shared the new video for their track ‘100% Endurance’ – you can watch the clip below.The song is taken from the Leeds four-piece’s debut album ‘The Overload’, which arrived back in January.The video for ‘100% Endurance’ was filmed in Blackpool and directed by Yard Act’s longtime collaborator James Slater, with the clip starring the actor David Thewlis. “I’ve told my agent I’m only doing Yard Act videos from now on, though next time on a tropical island or a big yacht,” the Fargo and Harry Potter actor said in a statement.Speaking about the ‘100% Endurance’ video, Yard Act frontman James Smith added: “It was great shooting this video.

Yard Act have collaborated with mental health charity Mind on a new poem for Mental Health Awareness Week.Frontman James Smith shared the poem on social media, explaining how he worked with Mel, a young woman who suffered from an eating disorder (bulimia), to create the poem.“When we first met on zoom, I instantly clicked with her,” Smith said of meeting Mel. “Myself and Mel talked for an hour or so about her life and the condition she lives with.

Yard Act, Billy Nomates and Billy Bragg are among the leading names on the line-up of Glastonbury‘s Left Field for 2022.The stage is celebrating “20 Years of Pop and Politics” at this year’s Worthy Farm festival, which runs from June 22-26.Left Field will host a mix of live music and debate next month, including the Bragg-hosted ‘Radical Round-Up’. The war in Ukraine, Black Lives Matter and “what’s next for the climate emergency” will be among the topics discussed by Left Field’s panels this year.Live music will come from the likes of Yard Act, Billy Nomates, Bragg, Jamie Webster, Brooke Combe, The Magic Numbers, Kam-Bu, Yola and The Regrettes.Speaking about this year’s Left Field line-up, stage co-curator Bragg said in a statement: “So much has happened in the three years since we last gathered under the Left Field big top.

Benefits have announced details of their first ever 7″ single, to be released via Yard Act‘s Zen F.C. label.The new release will land on June 3, the day of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and feature recent singles ‘Empire’ and ‘Flag’.To celebrate the announcement of the new 7″ single, Benefits – aka Teesside-based artist Kingsley Hall – has shared a new video for ‘Flag’, which sees him taking a dip in the North Sea.Discussing the link-up with Yard Act, Benefits said: “In late 2020 we released a song called Traitors and I got a message from Yard Act saying they liked the song, in particular the line ‘we get the future you deserve‘.

Yard Act, Frank Turner and Tears For Fears have scored the biggest selling vinyl albums and singles so far in 2022 – check them out on NME first below.‘The Overload’ was the biggest selling vinyl album so far with 11,000 units sold since its release in February, according to the Official Charts Company.Yard Act’s debut album was closely followed by Tears For Fears’ first album in 17 years ‘The Tipping Point’, while Black Country New Road came in third with their second album ‘Ants From Up There’.Elsewhere, Fleetwood Mac’s classic album ‘Rumours’ went in at four, The Wombats‘ ‘Fix Yourself, Not The World’ finished fifth and Charli XCX came sixth with ‘Crash’.“It’s ace to have won music for at least one quarter of the year,” Yard Act said of their accolade. “Clearly it has made some form of connection with enough people, for this to happen which is the most important thing.”“We are incredibly grateful for that and will never forget that. To all our team and the whole crew at Island Records for believing in us, working so hard and chucking loads of money at it, thank.

Foals have announced the acts that will support them on their upcoming UK tour – see the names below.The Oxford band will hit the road later this month, kicking things off in Edinburgh on April 20, with shows set to follow in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, London, Brighton and more.Today (April 11), Yannis Philippakis and co. announced the six acts that will accompany them on the tour, with names including Shame, Goat Girl, Yard Act and Wet Leg.Shame, who released their second album ‘Drunk Tank Pink’ last year, will open for Foals on their four dates at London’s Olympia (April 29 and 30; May 1 and 2). Other names supporting on these dates include Goat Girl and Egyptian Blue.Goat Girl will also provide support on several other nights in Edinburgh (April 20 and 21), Birmingham (23), Hull (25), Newcastle (26), Brighton (27) and at London’s O2 Brixton Academy on May 8.Wet Leg and The Regrettes will open up for Foals at their massive Castlefield Bowl show in Manchester, while Yard Act will support on two dates at Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom (May 5 and 6).The support for the band’s Leeds show at Millennium Square on July 8 is TBC.You can check out the full list of dates and who will be supporting below:Ten days til the Life Is Yours Tour starts! Where are we seeing you?!?Can’t wait to play the new songs live plus all the classics…Goat Girl, Shame, Egyptian Blue, Yard Act, Wet Leg & The Regrettes will be joining us on select dates.

Yard Act made their US TV debut last night (March 24) with an electrifying performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – watch it below.The Leeds band played the title track from their acclaimed debut record ‘The Overload’, which hit Number Two in the UK albums chart upon its release in January.Appearing live in Fallon’s studio in New York City, Yard Act delivered an energetic take on the song as their circular black-and-white logo spun behind them. Later, a series of strobe lights flashed while guitarist Sam Shjipstone shredded towards a thrilling finale.You can watch the band’s appearance on Fallon here:Taking to Twitter after recording their first Fallon performance, Yard Act wrote: “What a rush to be a part of that. Didn’t dare look up to my left to see what [Fallon’s house band] @theroots were making of all our nonsense.

Yard Act have cancelled their scheduled performance in Edinburgh tonight (March 2) due to frontman James Smith’s continued illness.The band are currently on a headline tour of the UK in support of their debut studio album, ‘The Overload’, which was released on January 21.In a statement posted on social media yesterday (March 1), Smith told fans that he’d been “battling a sickness bug since Sunday” after performing a homecoming show in Leeds the previous night.As a result, Yard Act were forced to cancel their gig at Newcastle’s The Cluny last night.Smith’s statement added that he hoped the band would “be able to be back on the road” for tonight’s show at The Caves in Edinburgh. However, he’s since informed fans he’s still not well enough to perform and they’ve had to cancel.“Hi, James again.

Yard Act have cancelled their scheduled performance in Newcastle tonight (March 1) due to illness.The band are currently out on a headline tour of the UK in support of their debut studio album, ‘The Overload’, which was released on January 21.In a statement posted on social media today, Yard Act frontman James Smith told fans that he’d been “battling a sickness bug since Sunday” after performing a homecoming show in Leeds the night before.As a result, the group have been forced to scrap their gig at Newcastle venue The Cluny this evening.“Was hunkered down in the hopes I would’ve shaken it by now, but I still can’t move an inch without running to the toilet. I’m gutted,” Smith explained.I hate canceling shows, I'm so sorry.

Yard Act and their support act Baba Ali covered LCD Soundsystem at a hometown show in Leeds this weekend (February 26) – see footage below.Yard Act are currently mid-way through huge run of UK tour dates on the back of debut album ‘The Overload’, which reached Number Two in the UK charts upon its release last week after a heated chart battle with Years & Years.On Saturday night, they played a hometown gig at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, and ended the show with a special cover.“We had to do something special for Leeds,” they told the crowd before tearing into a rendition of LCD Soundsystem’s early hit single ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’.Check out footage of the performance below.Yard Act ending their set with a cover of LCD Soundsystem’s Daft Punk Is Playing At My House pic.twitter.com/b98iTNCS7m— tom skinner (@TomSkinner_) February 26, 2022Yard Act’s tour continues tomorrow (March 1) with a show at the Cluny in Newcastle, with dates running until the end of May. See the full list of dates below.MARCH 202201 – The Cluny, Newcastle02 – The Caves, Edinburgh03 – Mono, GlasgowAPRIL 202205 – Earth, LondonMAY 202211 – Trinity, Bristol18 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham19 – Zanzibar, Liverpool20 – Irish Centre, Leeds21 – Band on the Wall, Manchester22 – The Foundry, Sheffield27 – Arts Centre, NorwichReviewing the band’s London gig earlier this month, NME wrote: “Yard Act should rightly be congratulated on all their successes, and tonight is another one to add to the list.

Yard Act have issued a statement following reports that a woman was harassed in the crowd at one of their gigs this week.The Leeds band played their biggest headline show to date at London’s Village Underground on Thursday (February 17), and wrote on Twitter that they’d been alerted to a young female fan being treated inappropriately by an older man during the show.“To be clear, Yard Act shows are for everyone, and we absolutely need everyone to feel safe at our gigs,” the band wrote. “If you are a fan of our band, that means it’s your responsibility too. Work with us.