If you’ve ever allowed me to talk about music and great live performers for more than five minutes you know exactly how I feel about Young Fathers. The Edinburgh trio have a sound unlike any other. Their music transcends genre and their live performances are in a field of their own. This Saturday alongside Dictator, Callum Easter, Noname and Self Esteem they took over City Park in Stirling.
With a backdrop of Stirling Castle, Dictator kicked the day off with style.
This was ‘the dream support slot’ for the Scottish band who are still making their mark on the scene. They are massive fans of fellow Scottish band Young Fathers and they warmed the crowd up perfectly today.
Next up was another Scottish musician, Callum Easter. He has been touring with Young Fathers for over a year now covering glockenspiel and guitar within their lineup and opening each show with his own set. On the last UK tour he was accompanied by The Roulettes but this evening it’s only him, his accordion and a drum machine. Easter covered tracks from his latest release ‘Get Forever…Delete Don’t Want’ and its predecessor ‘System’. ‘Feelings Gone’ was an undeniable highlight of the set as the crowd danced along to the dystopian track. Callum is a no-frills musician and maintains a stoic face throughout his set focusing on adjusting his drum machine in between tracks rather than talking to the crowd. This only adds to the feeling his music has to it as he embodies his sound.
American rapper and poet Noname followed. Her lyrical ability is incredible and she got the audience involved as she taught them some of the lyrics to ‘Track 32’. Focussing on the ‘Yippee-ki, yippee-ki-yay, with the Noname hook she teased the crowd as they struggled to keep up with her effortless rhythm. We got there in the end and while she has nothing to worry about anytime soon it certainly warmed up our vocal chords.
Playing older tracks as well as a few from last year’s release ‘Sundial’ she continued to make jokes as the crowd grew and grew. As the end approached she shared “I’ve only got five minutes left but It feels like I just came out!.. l only just got my shoulders out”.
Her humour and musical ability shone through in today’s set, she is a truly incredible artist.
Rebbecca Lucy Taylor better known as Self Esteem graced the stage with backing vocalists and dancers Seraphina Simone, Levi Heaton, Marged Siôn and Mike Park on drums as the recorded opening snippet of ‘I’m Fine’ played to the crowd. Taken from a National Youth Theatre workshop on the topic of consent, a woman states “There is nothing that terrifies a man more than a woman who appears completely deranged”. From this moment it’s clear that Self Esteem’s set is about more than great music, there’s a message behind her performance and lyrics. The group are dressed in grey sweatshirts and shorts, an outfit that instantly brings to mind the casual street/loungewear worn by endless British men.
Their choreographed dances for each song made their performance reminiscent of musical theatre. The new track ‘Big Man’ was an instant hit, written from the perspective of a supportive boyfriend. It flips the narrative and is incredible to sing along to.
Lapping up the last moments of proper sunshine the group took a bow before breaking into a dance party and doing the conga off stage. Their set was equal parts silly, chaotic fun and culturally relevant. They address important topics in their lyrics and communicate them in a lighter way than usual.
The crowd brimmed with excitement as Young Fathers set time drew nearer. What can only be described as an eruption of sound began as Kayus Bankole, Graham Hastings and Alloysious Massaquoi walked out alongside permanent additions to their touring lineup Callum Easter (glockenspiel, guitar), Kimberly Mandindo (vocals) and Steven Morrison (drums).
It’s hard to describe the presence they have on stage to anyone who has not already witnessed it. From the minute they take their places tonight the crowd is in their command. When they dance, we dance, when they sing, we sing, when they lose themselves in the music, we do the same and when they clap, we clap. Well, we actually clap a lot more than they do with rounds of applause lasting longer and longer after every song.
Early track ‘Get Up’ does exactly what it says on the tin and gets the crowd moving with all the might of the band. It is soon followed by ‘Wow’ and we all sing/shout the phrase at the top of our lungs.
By the time ‘Drum’ from the Fathers’ 2023 album ‘Heavy, Heavy’ began the crowd was dancing like their life depended on it. We jumped up and down and flung our arms in the air, truly infected by the rhythm.
During a brief pause, Alloysious informed everyone that a person was wandering around with a bucket to collect money for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). He encouraged any who could to donate. The crowd cheered in support of this incredibly important cause. The band are known to use their platform for good and released a limited edition Ceasefire EP alongside Massive Attack and Fontaines D.C. at the end of last year the profits from which went entirely to Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières).
It has become customary for Kayus to grab a light from the stage and illuminate the audience as well as the band during ‘Geronimo’ but with this being a Scottish summer evening the light source would have had very little impact on the bright night sky. So, in its place he grabbed a camera. A live feed of what he was recording was played onto the two screens at either side of the stage. It was fascinating to watch as he captured angles of his bandmates that the professional camera operators were unable to and honed in on fans singing the song word for word.
‘Toy’ drew their action-packed performance to an end. The track constantly feels like it’s about to brim over the edge to a point of no return but collects itself in time to simmer and build again.
Young Fathers are something else. Simply put, there is absolutely nothing I would change about any aspect of the band. It’s impossible to imagine anyone coming away from a gig of theirs feeling anything other than sheer amazement. They are the type of band that come around once, maybe twice in your lifetime and the kind you remember forever.
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