Years & Years

"Thanks for coming out so early this morning, there's so many of you", applauds Olly Alexander, the hipster-looking frontman of Years & Years. For a 1pm set on the final day of Bestvial, the electro/pop three piece who formed in 2010 drew a sizable growing crowd to the Big Top for their impressive set. While the rest of my friends stayed back at the camp nursing hangovers, I braved it alone, heading to the set by myself, and I'm so glad I did.
Olly who is also an actor (he appeared in the final series of Skins as Jakob and also features in new film The Riot Club) and script writer, proved to be formidable frontman - quite the man of many talents. Live, his voice is a combination of Justin Timberlake's R&B crooning and The Weeknd aka Abel Tesafye's soulful ‘What You Need’ haunting tones. Add some infectious, perfect for a summer festival, synth and bass lines courtesy of band members Michael Goldsworthy and Emre Turkmen and you've got pretty much the perfect mix.
Current single 'Take Shelter' received an early but impressive outing, with most of the crowd singing along happily. A daring move, but it proves that Y&Y have plenty more pop hits in waiting ready to smash the chart. One of these pop-hits-in-waiting is the especially brilliant 'Real', with its slinky electronic synth beat gliding along an infectious chorus; hand claps included.
Later, the tempo is slowed down during ‘Eyes Shut, which sees Olly sit down at a piano where he is able to showcase his impressive vocal range. Wearing an oversized Stussy t-shirt and skinny jeans, while Michael wears a loudly printed flowery shirt, they are a boy band technically, but as far away from manufactured “pop”. so to speak, as possible.
They close with an as yet untitled, but perfect new single, which will undoubtedly send them further up the charts upon its release. By the time they tour with Clean Bandit in October, Years and Years will be close enough to household names satus!

Fantastic show!
From the staging, to the outfits, and to the amazing dancers, Years & Years really gave the fans a flamboyant show - more than what was expected. The set list was perfect with a mix of songs from their new album Palo Santo to their 2016 album Communion, which kept the fans hyped throughout the show. Olly encourages the crowd to sing, dance & be as crazy as ever, keeping up the high spirits from the start of the show!

The only negative I have was the support act Astrid-S, I felt underwhelmed by their performance, more towards their music, it’s more of a preference than anything. But Astrid (the lead singer) had an absolutely phenomenal voice and definitely knew how to own the stage!

I first heard them play when they were supporting Sam Smith. I love a good beat, and I think they complimented him well. The sound was amazing, when I heard ther recorded music I thought this is great-but I know how much better is live. However when I watched them at The Thekla in Bristol this week is as a bit disappointed. The bass was good, however there was definitely something missing from the background and I can't quite put my finger on it. I would still love to hear them play though. Perhaps hey we're just trying new things, which I can understand in a small venue like that.

Honestly words can not describe how amazing this concert was! IT WAS AWESOME! Years and Years have this energy that just makes your day! The atmosphere was brilliant and the performances were stunning! I wish it went on forever! Olly even jumped over the stage to hug and take pictures with his fans quickly! I touched his hand (AAAH!!) And credits to the lighting crew because the lighting was fantastic!! Also Olly's dance moves were superb :)) Definitely recommend going to a Years and Years concert!! I know I'm going to their next one!

Great concert - this band/group is so talent. Olly's voice is amazing and literally every song on the album is amazing. (This is rare for me to say because I normally only like 2-3 songs on any particular album)

Wish that it would have been longer though. They only played for about an hour or so. With the opening acts taking longer than that.

Dream come true to be able to see Years & Years live nonetheless.

I saw Years and Years last night, and i was not dissapointed, the only downside was the opening acts took 3 hours, which only left just over an hour for Years, but hey, the waiting was totally worth it, i enjoyed every second of it, and i would love to go and see them again, this means wuite a bit, due to the music i listen to, rock and metal xD, honestly, they were amazing and performed absutely amazingly

A great voice but think Years and Years need to rethink their stage presentation . Ended with King which was a joyful number but this was out of step with rest of material . I've listened to the album but the performance seemed far flatter than on album . I enjoyed the gig but think they need to rack up the tempo and then they will be great . 6/10

The show was great because of the lead singer Olly. he made everyone feel welcome and happy. In the audience there were some pretty annoying people who were pushing me for no reason and talking about me getting out of their way, but I think that's always a case at concerts. Overall the show was great and the music was amazing as I expected.

The concert was amazing!!! Lightening and sound were just perfect, and ofc Olly's voice was on point. The only thing that bothered me is that the first two rows of seats upstairs were not allowed to stand up during the show. I mean I really enjoyed myself, but I wish I could dance more too ahaha. Overall Years & Years never dissapoint me!

Het was echt geweldig!!! Het was mijn eerste concert en ik was heel zenuwachtig, want ik wist ook niet waar ik heen moest enzo. Ik heb alles heel makkelijk kunnen vinden en was zelfs nog optijd om voor het podium te kunnen staan. De muziek was goed (wel raad ik aan oordoppen in te doen) en de act was ook super.