Electro-pop trio Years & Years truly brought Cardiff to life last night, 12th August 2016, at the ‘Party In The Parc’ festival. This show marks the start of Pride celebrations in Cardiff this weekend and Olly, Emre and Mikey definitely did not disappoint.
After waiting around for four hours to get a spot near to the stage, we were finally allowed in at 6pm when gates opened in Cardiff’s Coopers’ Field, Bute Park. Hundreds of people were queued up, patiently waiting for the night to commence and many of them had pride flags with messages to Olly which could be seen from afar. They consisted of university students, teenagers, and parents with children. Once into the field, there were many attractions and rides along with various food stalls (however, we just ran straight to the stage to get a good spot).
Four support acts came before the headline act Years & Years: up and coming five-piece band Nimmo, singer-songwriter Izzy Bizu, electronic duo Maribou State and DJ Jax Jones. Each varied in music genres, however, they all succeeded in gearing up the crowd for what was ahead.
At around 9:30pm, the iconic start of ‘Foundation’ crept onto the stage along with Emre and Mikey taking their places. Olly sang the first verse offstage, keeping everyone in suspense, and then came on to cheers and screams. This first song allowed him to show off his outstanding vocal ability and set the tone of their show. Jumping immediately into upbeat dance track ‘Take Shelter’, the crowd felt electric.
The band proceeded to belt out an older single ‘Shine’, which again highlighted Olly’s beautiful vocals but also allowed the crowd for the first time in the concert to properly sing all of the lyrics with him. The atmosphere was magical, with the booming of the music, the bands’ eye-catching graphics and the multi-coloured lights supporting the theme of Pride. Various songs followed which shared the same amount of energy, like ‘Desire’, ‘Worship’ and ‘Real’. Throughout these songs, Olly expressed himself fully with his dance moves and proved to everyone that he is a natural performer.
Olly made a heartfelt, on-the-spot, speech about what the festival meant to him. He told the crowd that he grew up in Wales and felt privileged to be performing here. Olly explained that this was the first Pride event the band had played and that he never imagined he would be here. Also, he said that the LGBT community had come so far but there was also so much more to be done.
During ‘Eyes Shut’ he asked fangirl Holly to come up onto the stage and sit with him. This was a special moment in the concert which gave the crowd the opportunity to realise the recognition Olly gave to fans.
The show ended with the all-time classic of ‘King’. The graphics were truly amazing during this track, as the beams of lights shone brightly in the colours of the Years & Years ‘Communion’ album cover and the crowd and band both had the most energy, giving everything they had for the last song of the night. Olly emitted so much love and happiness to the crowd, jumping and dancing right up until the last note.
It was an unforgettable night which truly lit up Cardiff. We hope Years & Years will come back soon, as they would be welcomed with opened arms.
Did you go to ‘Party In The Parc’ festival last night, or have you had the chance to go to a Years & Years concert before? Let us know over on Twitter @CelebMix!