The synth-pop trio know how to put on a show
It’s hard to deny that Years and Years are one of the biggest bands in the country right now. The chart-topping three-piece have already topped the charts and won more awards than we can shake a stick at, and now they’ve set their sights on conquering some of the country’s biggest venues on their first-ever headline arena tour. We knew that this was a tour that we’d be foolish to miss, so we packed our bags, jumped in the car, and headed down to Plymouth Pavilions, and it’s fair to say that we were majorly impressed by what we saw. Here are a few of our highlights:
Their space-age neon light show was insane
Believe it or not, it’s actually pretty rare to see a wall of lasers in Plymouth. That’s why we were so impressed by the fact that the band were masked for the first part of the show by a solid block of lasers, lights, and smoke. They brought a full-sized arena show to a venue that only holds four-thousand people, and the end result was a spectacle for sore eyes:
Olly Alexander’s vocals were fantastic
Geez, the guy can sing. Lie, seriously – he can really sing. Not only did he sound great on the upbeat tracks (like rave-pop banger ‘King’ or the always-euphoric ‘Shine’), but some of his strongest vocal moments came when he sat down at the piano and performed stripped-back versions of tracks from the band’s debut album, Communion. Heck, we’d even say that he sounded better than he did on the album…
The setlist was perfect (and included a Katy Perry cover)
Yes, it had variety. Yes, it had ‘the hits’. Hell, it even had a mashup of Katy Perry‘s ‘Dark Horse’ and Drake‘s ‘Hotline Bling’. More importantly, though, the show’s setlist really did have something for everyone. Fan favourites were scattered amongst an hour-and-a-half long setlist comprised almost solely of tracks from their debut album, with a couple of new songs thrown in for good measure.
So, all things considered, was Years and Years’ show at Plymouth Pavilions worth checking out?
YES.
