The Xcerts Provide A Haunting Performance in Leeds
Published
As part of their All Summit No Plummet tour, The Xcerts played Brudenell Social Club and I took the opportunity to see them.
The trio, made up of members Murray Macleod, Jordan Smith and Tom Heron and formed in 2001, released their third album, There is Only You, on 3rd November of this year. The Leeds date came towards the very end of a long string of performances, the 40th of 44 if I am not mistaken. However, the energy the band emitted did not make this obvious.
Prior to The Xcerts set, the small venue, the Games Room of Brudenell Social Club, is abuzz with anticipation. I meet someone here to watch The Xcerts perform their fourth time, and an old friend of the band’s, keen to see them again after a few years. The band and their repertoire are clearly popular and, from the show itself, it’s easy to see why. There is a broad mix of fans at the Leeds show, but all are alike in their excitement to see what The Xcerts have to offer.
The set lasts approximately an hour and has a good mix of songs from the new record and their previous two albums, In The Cold Wind We Smile (2009) and Scatterbrain (2010). The crowd is huddled around the stage as the band opens with "Live Like This", which is really enjoyable and energetic. But it's when The Xcerts play "Young (Belane)" that the audience really begin to open up and get involved in the show and sing along. Throughout the entire set, in fact, if people aren’t singing along they are at least mouthing every lyric with precision and wholeheartedness.
Two songs really stick out as crowd pleasers in a show that has already won everyone over, the emotionally imbued tracks, though emotional they are in very different ways. When Macleod announces "Pop Song", the crowd lights up and buzzes enthusiastically. To paraphrase the chorus of "Pop Song", you haunt me like a pop song in my head, it is the second of the aforementioned songs that creates a haunting atmosphere: Macleod’s acoustic rendition of "Aberdeen 1987" comes across as truly enthralling.
The rest of the band vacate the stage, leaving The Xcerts’s front man alone, centre stage. If the spotlit backdrop of Brudenell’s Game Room stage never felt so atmospheric, as it does now. Macleod demonstrates his impressive vocal ability before the crowd soon join in; whilst The Xcerts have a brilliant range of songs and obvious, undeniable talent, it seems that "Aberdeen 1987" really makes the show for the crowd.
Before ending the show with two final songs, Macleod jokes that he is imagining that The Xcerts are in fact playing an arena show as opposed to the current setting. Whilst it would be great to see them progress on to such things, and potential the band does not lack, I am content with the gig’s intimacy and the opportunity to be a part of a crowd, keen to demonstrate their genuine appreciation for The Xcerts. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable evening and really promising.
Words by Ellie Brown
