Russian Circles - 15th May 2018 - Leeds University Stylus - Review and photos


Station opened the gig, and I couldn’t help but nod along as I shot my photos. 3 songs, no flash rule was fine by me tonight, I chuckled to myself knowing how long their songs are =D There's a rather big photo gallery below :)


Last chance to see these guys for a while. I had rotten luck seeing them on their Mastodon tour and couldn't make any of the shows, but to be honest, I preferred to wait until they headline! A 30-40 minute set just doesn’t feel long enough. I was over the moon when they announced a Leeds show, it’s their only UK show outside of London and only a 90-minute train ride away from Newcastle, so what the hell!


Tonight is my first time at the Stylus. It is exactly what I expected; a student union type venue, a nice-sized basement room with good vantage points all around, not as small and in your face as the Brudenell show was in 2015, but it's still a nice size, not too big and not too small, just right!


They have their standard moody backlit lighting and the smoke machine at full pelt. The smoke sat in the air like dense fog, that atmosphere something else, you feel yourself being taken to another world. 309 gets the hairs on the back of the neck standing up, before the bass comes in and wrecks my neck. This is awesome!


They’re a well-oiled machine and they deliver the same setlist they’ve been playing at all shows recently. I deliberately didn’t look up the setlists beforehand, I love the element of surprise, but damn!!!!! What a set!! Lending heavily from Guidance LP with 3 songs from it. It’s great to hear those played live, last time I saw them was on the Memorial tour so at long last I get to witness these songs in a live setting!! They add in a good dose of songs from across their back catalogue, ensuring fans will walk away content.


Setlist;

Station

Geneva

Afrika

Harper Lewis

309

Ethel

Vorel

Mota

Deficit

Mlàdek


Mlàdek and Africa prove to be highlights of the night for me. Such a mesmerising show with pummelling sound. The drums were very high in the mix but I can live with that, Dave Turncrantz is just phenomenal, his subtle playing style is on clear display tonight, all those little details he adds often get lost in the mix, he is one of the greatest.

I walked away from the show with ears ringing and a huge smile, grinning like a madman. As close to perfection as a band can get. They can do no wrong. It might be a year or two before they're back, hopefully with another album to promote. I’ll see you there!


I don't think there's a band as consistently good as Russian Circles at present, except Mogwai. They remain a beloved act, those who have heard them, love them! They seem completely in their element and on top of their game. It's nice to see them grow steadily based on good old-fashioned hard work, touring and of course releasing consistently amazing records.