Before Dominic ‘Yungblud’ Harrison sets Cardiff’s Utilita Arena alight with a fiery floor-to-ceiling energy few can contend with, we get two sterling support slots. The Molotovs, a sibling duo keeping the golden age of rock’n’roll alive, released a charismatic album in January and plan to return to Cardiff in September; they’re certainly worth having on your radar. The familial band theme continues with a ferocious set from The Warning, a Mexico-born trio of sisters who bring grit, bite and a Spanish-language moment before showcasing unreleased track Ritual.
Lights fade, the air falls still and the screen flickers, first with archive clips, then a live backstage feed. Yungblud, Welsh flag in hand, walking to the stage and sparking up Hello Heaven, Hello isa perfectly iconic way to ignite the fuse on the anticipation of this explosive crowd. Elevated further by a roaring “diolch yn fawr” into a whirlwind of fire, theatrics and raw, relentless stamina. “Are you crazy?” he asks us. “Good! Because I’m Yungblud and I’m fucking CRAZY!”
His instinct for creating moments hits hard – knowing when to let the reins loose, explode or pause in a glance to etch a scene into memory. A fan has written a sign requesting they play guest guitar on Fleabag. Yungblud asks them, “Are you good? Are you from Wales? Can you actually play it?” With all answers satisfied, he screams “Then get up here!” It encapsulates the spirit of a Yungblud show: an anthemic wave of sound, crashing from all corners, draws him to connect directly with the crowd, held aloft before diving into the adoring front rows on Fleabag’s (ironic) final line “nobody loves me at all”.
A cover of Black Sabbath’s Changes, which Yungblud performed at the band’s final show last year,serves as an emotional tribute to Ozzy Osbourne. It’s accented, too, by Harrison calling his fanbase a family, urging the crowd to turn to someone they don’t know, make a new friend and spread love. Yungblud has built a family-like community with an enormous strength, but he doesn’t forget that it’s the community which built him, too.
Loner, a 2019 single, precedes a flurry of microphone swinging and athletic leaping, with Yungblud crashing to the floor and promising to visit Wales every year until he’s dead. We then get Zombie and Suburban Requiem, and the house lights come up, before Yungblud returns to savour one final connection.
Yungblud, The Warning + The Molotovs, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Sat 18 Apr
words JOSEPH ELIJAH photos TIM ALBAN
