Coal Mob at the Pack Horse

Support: Split the Ticket

What happens when you get arguably the greatest grassroots promoter in Leeds today and give him complete creative control over a space with a band just as brilliant and willing to push the envelope? You get Coal Mob’s gig at the Packhorse with Mucky Pup promotions at the helm. 

From sitting in the greenroom at Packed in at the Pack Horse the night before, you could tell this was going to be a good one. Like a military command meeting, Will of Mucky Pup and Dom Armstrong of Coal Mob sat planning out details of the night. Most importantly, its core feature of being a concert in the round. The main room was set up in the style of a living room. At the centre of it sat a side table equipped with a vintage lamp, a vase of cut flowers and a red rotary telephone. The room itself was likewise equipped with houseplants galore, sheets on the wall, and most notably paper cutout letters with the new single’s title, ‘What Do You Think I Said?’ hung over a sheet. It even featuring an armchair and a sofa for those brave enough to take them. This level of set design is rarely seen outside of the likes of touring bands at large venues yet here it was, in the heart of the Leeds grassroots scene, solely because they could do it. 

It wasn’t just the setup that was impressive; the bands were also on top form. Supported by the amazingly moody Split The Ticket, whose set was heartfelt, grizzly and intimate, Coal Mob put on a masterclass in performance. Be it getting the whole crowd in the round to light the room with their phones or walking through them when leaving his homely perch in the centre, Dom displayed the finest level of frontmanship in the Leeds scene. Charismatic and fun but never missing a beat. His infectious energy is a large part of why this show was as great as it was. Hell, their new single was so popular, they even played it twice! Also, remember that red phone? Well, surprise! It was a hidden microphone made by the incredible Jamie of Contact Buzz, and Dom would frequently pick it up and speak into it to use its low-fi grit to punctuate key parts of his performance. All of this while the rest of Coal Mob were utilising the stage and even the furniture during the performance to further ratchet up the sheer level of fun in the room. Combine this with Will’s signature promoter move of getting everyone to the front and moving, and you had a venue so charged with electricity, it could have given you a static shock. The work of Mucky Pup, Coal Mob and the extra sprinkle of Leeds flavour from Contact Buzz show that grassroots doesn’t have to just mean back of dodgy pub indie, but that the show itself can be just as artful as the performance. 

Words by William Hatfield. Picture by Natasha Dobson.