Of Dogs and Prophets: Live at Leeds in the Park

Yard Act v Fat Dog

Temple Newsam Park

Saturday 24th May 2025 

A year ago, in the heart of Leeds, Millennium Square was blessed by an evening headlined by hometown legends Yard Act. A packed space full of energy and reverence in the aftermath of a new album that every single fan in attendance knew the words to. Supporting Yard Act on that fateful evening, alongside Ultimate Thunder and English Teacher, was Fat Dog. A year later, on different stages, in a different part of Leeds, Fat Dog and Yard Act were once again at the same event, and it's these two acts that this review will look at. 

Fat Dog are loud. 

Fat Dog are in your face. 

Fat Dog are Energy.

With fans turning up 45 minutes before their set just to get to the barrier, the DIY Big Top was chomping at the bit for Fat Dog. By the time they got on stage, fans were spilling out of the massive tent, all trying to squeeze into the mayhem about to occur - no easy feat given that the legendary Natasha Bedingfield was performing at the same time. Speaking of coming on stage, it was not long until the crowd were throwing themselves at each other. Joe Love commanded the crowd, not just with his voice but with respect, as he spent a good two-thirds of the set on the barrier, inches from the crowd relishing his role as their conductor. 

About halfway through the set, like a bucket of ice for an increasingly hot crowd, came Fat Dog’s biggest hit to date, ‘Peace Song’. This isn’t to say it was a crowd killer but, true to the song's name, a crowd uniter as a chorus of exhausted fans proclaimed their love for the world. With sax solos and dances, Fat Dog ended their set as riotously as it started, with what must have been over a thousand people running in a giant circle.

Like Fat Dog, the crowd for Yard Act started to arrive early, some being there over an hour before kick-off. The name 'Yard Act' and Leeds’ music scene are synonymous, and every single person there knew it. While the neon lettering of 'Where’s My Utopia' remained from the year prior, it quickly became clear that this Yard Act was a different beast. Gone was James Smith’s signature trenchcoat, floppy fringe, glasses and wry grin - instead replaced by an intense stare, a gritty moustache and Beethoven-esque hair befitting Leeds’ finest co-composer of post-punk. The ever-impressive Ryan Needham, Sam Shipstone, Jay Russell, as well as Daisy Smith, were as tight of a unit as ever seen, and every single note was both flawless and impactful. 

Anyone who has seen Yard Act live, and that should be everyone at some point, will know of the almost stream-of-consciousness pacing of their live lyricism compared to their studio work. This new look brought a new attitude to this and lent this frenetically paced work a sense of manic brilliance. There was a rush of oddly cathartic angry energy that lent every piece of sarcasm and satire a much-desired gravity that was utterly all-encompassing. Smith cut an oddly preacher-like figure for a rabid crowd that had come to share in his sermon warning of 'the national front’s new hairdo' in a year that had seen so much turmoil. Where Fat Dog was a beacon of carefree fun, Yard Act felt like a shared space of musical relief for a conscious crowd that revelled in the lampooning of the causes of their anxiety, with 100% Endurance standing as Yard Act’s ever-present beacon of unity despite this. 

Words and pictures by Natasha Dobson (@n_j_dphotography).