On Friday, local rock band The Receivers took the stage at The Fulford Arms. It was a celebratory gig, announcing the band had just been signed to Alya Records. Joining them on the night were Lion Papers, Foreign Lives and Vuromantics.

Review and Photos by Graeme Smith

Kicking things off were local indie-folk duo Lion Papers. It’s always a sign of a good night when these guys are on the bill, and they didn’t disappoint, warming the room up nicely will songs from their Long Time Coming EP as well as new track Anticlimactic which followed their inimitable formula of guitar, stripped back drums and energy.

Lion Papers are currently the only York band in the running to make it to the stage of Y Not festival this year, and we highly recommend you throw a vote their way to get them there because the world needs to know about them.

Next up was indie five-piece Foreign Lives. Sounding a bit like if emo had grown up, the band filled a niche somewhere between Brand New, Bright Eyes and The Editors. Their theatrical frontman lived every word he sang and they mastered the climatic chorus, building with plenty of reverb.

Foreign Lives have just released their new EP Conversations and have a BBC Live Session in the pipeline.

The final warm up act was Sheffield’s Vuromantics. With charismatic frontman Sam Christie leading the indie-disco five-piece, it felt a bit like watching Black Kids if they had been fronted by the Kaiser Chief’s Ricky Wilson, but the super-group had formed in the height of the ‘80s wave of new romantics.

Vuromantics set was pure party, with a cameo from a set of maracas and songs about love’s power sung with the conviction and charm of a gospel preacher. Though Sheffield-based, Vuromantics have been making their way over to York quite regularly, so definitely worth catching them next time they’re over.

Then finally, it was the party’s main guests as The Receivers took the stage. Buzzing from their recent signing to Sheffield’s Alya Records and the imminent release on their EP, the brit pop four-piece kicked off a high-energy set that set the nicely-simmering crowd to boil.

The Receivers are one-part ‘60s troubadour, one-part ’90s shoegaze and one-part ‘00s indie rock to the extent that their appeal is clear. They’re true crowd-pleasers with a sound that could fill stadiums. It’s worth catching them before they’re big.

Lion Papers, Foreign Lives, Vuromantics and The Receivers played at The Fulford Arms on Friday 12 May 2017.