Last night, British-Japanese melodic metal band Esprit D’Air stopped by The Fulford Arms as part of their Oceans tour, celebrating the release of their latest album. Having covered the guys on the blog before, back in 2018, I was keen to get a taste of their live set.

By Graeme Smith

Review and Photos by Graeme Smith

I love the Fulford Arms. There’s just something unique in how they bring an arena-filling sound to a small pub room in Fulford. The two bands on last night could definitely fill arenas. Ben Christo’s Diamond Black were on first. Ben plays guitar with The Sisters of Mercy and takes the lead role in Diamond Black. I found his performance mesmerising as the trio cantered through a set of emo rock. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that emo and metal music is necessarily depressing, Diamond Black’s set was uplifting and rich with positive messages.

But it was, of course, Kai from Esprit D’Air that truly stole the show. His charisma behind the mic was irresistible as he and his band played a set focussed on tracks from Oceans, but with a few old favourites in there for the long-time fans. Even Starstorm made an appearance, the track that got Esprit D’Air on my radar back in 2018.

Ben made a couple more appearances on stage, once to perform a song he and Kai had co-written, and again during the encore. It was an encore that could have gone on forever as far as the diehard fans in the venue were concerned. Alas, it was a Sunday, technically a school night. York wrapped up, Diamond Black and Esprit D’Air are headed up to play Newcastle tonight. I highly recommend the live experience, but if you can’t get out to see them, they’re offering a free livestream to their Patreon subscribers too.

Diamond Black and Esprit D’Air played at The Fulford Arms, York on Sunday 19 February 2023.