Review: Nothing But Thieves steal the show with scintillating hits set in Yorkshire

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On trend indie-rock band Nothing But Thieves delved into a theatre of hits and dreams at Millennium Square in Leeds.

Just coming off an unmissable Glastonbury performance, the Southend-on-Sea band treated a northern audience to a setlist of heavy energy driven rock tracks, ranging from all four of their acclaimed albums.

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A legion of fans turned out in force, their masses dressed head to toe in their merch to witness the sell out show in the heart of the city centre.

The Essex quintet started their set with the flashy and brilliant Oh No :: He Said What? from their deluxe release of Dead Club City.

Nothing But Thieves.Nothing But Thieves.
Nothing But Thieves.

It sparked a match of energy that burnt through the hearts of die-hard fans and a flame of unmatched passion that drove the concert until its conclusion.

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Bittersweet heavy hitter Is Everybody Going Crazy followed on, keeping the sugar-rush high, as the addictive chorus was led by frontman Connor Mason and repeated back to the band in full.

Bleakly bright sounding Tomorrow is Closed is an amplified reflection of our future and its powerful message reached out to the northern audience as it's catchy poignant lyricisms on a doomed future ringed out through the urban landscape of Leeds.

Powerfully sweet track Real Love Song was romantically serenaded by Mason, and was repeated thunderously yet beautifully back to the band.

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The dramatic and pulse raising City Haunts carried on their set into a hypnotic daze of vocals and a guitar riff that was sure to melodically haunt the surrounding area and all ears around for the next few days.

Slowing down the set for a second, frontman Mason asked for some support with the sweetly sounding chorus for the dreamy ballad Impossible, which was then made possible with the Leeds crowd returning their lyrics back to the band at full volume.

During a break in performance it allowed the crowd to chant the unofficial anthem of God's own county "Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Yorkshire".

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This led to Mason jokingly pointing out it sounds awfully close to "You're sh*t, you're sh*t, you're sh*t", which he then slyly pleaded to the audience that he hoped it wasn't the latter.

Eerily catchy synth based track Welcome to The DCC was definitely a highlight for many as the strobe lights grazed across the northern sky, accompanied by a futuristic yet nostalgic guitar hook, turning the surrounding landscape into an 80s disco-rock hybrid dance floor.

It was then back down to earth as once again the set was slowed to allow the audience and onstage performers to catch their breath – slow by their standards anyway.

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But even with their more melodic and calmer outputs it's still a tough time resisting to headbang or move along to their prettily sounding tracks and that was the same to be said for Do You Love Me Yet?, which was another song of heart ache and longing that resembles the same dramatic tone of Muse's inspiring catalogue.

Keeping the sorrowful and emotional feeling prominent, the compelling and passionate Sorry was a spiritually poignant anthem that was serenaded movingly by the composed Mason.

On this tour in particular, the band have been featuring a cover of one of the most identifiable rock tracks to ever grace the radio waves, and their cover of the track did the original justice as Where Is My Mind? by the Pixies was wonderfully performed by the group.

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It was then onto arguably their biggest track to date Amsterdam, an addictive assortments of vocals, drummings and reverb-soaked guitar hooks, so its easy to see why it's a festival favourite.

The band then proceeded to leave stage and return only a few minutes later for a two song encore.

They finished their set of wonders with I'm Not Made by Deisgn and the blissfully pure glowing Overcome.

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This date marked their last for the Dead Club Radio tour in the UK and was a collection of atmospheric soundscapes that truly felt like a celebration of their current tour and all their prior accomplishments.

Leeds Millennium Square will definitely have to be eyeing them up on their next tour, so they can make a return to one of their future summer rosters.

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