Circa Waves Album Release Show  



After following Circa Waves for a few years now, I have no reservations when I say they bring something new, fresh and energetic with each song, album and performance.

Only one day after the release of their fourth studio album, the indie band brought their album release show to Leeds’ own Brudenell social club. The band played an intimate 45-minute set which left those who attended wanting more. The social club in Burley was filled with an ecstatic audience whose age range reflected the diversity that is shown in their discography. Circa Waves’ latest album ‘Sad Happy’ is one that perfectly encompasses their range. This new album, which is split into two halves, allows listeners to match their mood to their listening in an ambitious and creative way.

The combination of catchy choruses and frontman Kieran Shudall’s obvious passion delivers a performance that I believe will fill arenas (possibly in the not so distant future). While Circa Waves may not yet be filling arenas, they are certainly not flying under the radar, their latest album comes as their third studio album to have reached the top ten in UK album charts and I only expect these four lads to continue to grow and present us with things as daring as this latest release.

In a setlist that drew on both new and familiar material, the new songs ‘Be your drug’, ‘Jacqueline’ and ‘Move to San Francisco seemed right at home amongst fan favourites ‘Stuck in my teeth’ and ‘Fire that burns’. There’s always a risk of a lull when debuting new material to a crowd but any fear of this soon left when the opening of ‘Be your drug’ was met with an encouraging response from the crowd.  ‘Fossils’ and ‘Movies’ appeared to be popular amongst the crowd, these tried and tested tracks have proved successful at gigs and festivals in the past and yet again did not fail to keep spirits high during the set. The decision to close the set with ‘T-shirt weather’ came as no surprise with it being the band’s most well-known song, a summer anthem for many was very well received at the social club.

When attending a gig, the crowd says as much about the band as their stage presence, their sound and their lyrics, and the crowd’s energy was a testament to their performance. Despite the growth of Circa Waves in recent years, they remain true to their roots and they guarantee ticket holders a gig with crowd participation. This is a band who have been known to start chants, wear shirts and hats that have been thrown on stage and Leeds was no exception. As one hopeful lad passed his CD to the front, he could not have asked for more when the CD was signed live on stage by all four members of the band.

Though I have no doubt that Kieran, Joe, Sam and Colin will continue to take Circa Waves to new heights, I hope this does not come at the cost of their closeness to fans as I believe that this is one of the many thing that sets them aside from other indie/alternative bands and is evident in their performance.











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Saw the band the following night at Gorilla Manchester and they did not disappoint there either! Even got to meet Sam, though he was trying to explain to the security guard that he was in fact part of the band, awkward.

Think my excitement is shown in this picture.