Yard Act Share New “Live From Utopia” Session Video, Watch “Dream Job” Ahead Of Full Session Upload May 16th

YARD ACT SHARE NEW “LIVE FROM UTOPIA” SESSION VIDEO

WATCH “DREAM JOB” HERE

THE FULL SESSION UPLOADS VIA YOUTUBE ON 16^TH MAY

Yard Act are pleased to share details of a new live performance series, the “Live From Utopia” sessions. Filmed live recordings of “Dream Job” and “A Vineyard For The North” are streaming now, with the full 6-track session going live on 16^th May via the band’s YouTube page.

The “Live From Utopia” Sessions are the brainchild of Yard Act and British director Ja Humby of Molten Jets. The animated, otherworldly set was built with the band’s acclaimed second album, Where’s My Utopia?’s unique, fantastical world in mind, positing a live performance by Yard Act within it, and filmed in 180 degree digital, and utilising Unreal Engine, a pioneering 3D creation tool. It brings the band’s surreal and colourful interpretation of their ‘utopia’ to life, and is soundtracked by the songs that the set inspired.

Yard Act on the set build for the “Live From Utopia” sessions: “Washed up on a tropical island by mistake. It was a party but we were the only ones there, apart from the sea, which was clapping and cheering us on the whole time. Never gonna give it up!”

Jas Humby on directing the video and working with Yard Act: “James’ lyrics are a treasure trove for music video ideas, I had to massively rein it in to create the kind of straight-up live performance they were after.

I thought it would be fun to blend this old school DIY set build approach with modern cutting-edge technology. I’d wanted to do a virtual production for a while, but rather than the photoreal environments traditionally used, creating a slapdash animated 2D scene was actually achievable on our budget. 

The album cover creator Thomas Robinson was heavily involved, giving up several evenings before the shoot to do bespoke illustrations for both our theatrical paper foreground set by designer Lyndon Ogbourne, and the virtual environment. Our animation team at No Ghost animated the illusions and between them and our Unreal Engine operator, Simon Legrand, we were able to create the world you see the band performing in.”

These new live sessions land in advance of Yard Act’s forthcoming first leg of a new US tour later this month, in turn followed by a hectic Summer across the UK and European festival stages. Since the release of Where’s My Utopia? in March, Yard Act have taken the record out on the road for a lengthy live tour of both the UK and Europe, culminating the former with a triumphant set at a sold-out Hammersmith Apollo.

Where’s My Utopia? was co-produced alongside Gorillaz’s Remi Kabaka Jr and found Yard Act plough headfirst into a more sunshine-addled world of acerbic leftfield pop, with the mirror-ball shining back on vocalist James Smith own self-reflection and personal life experiences. It was greeted to much acclaim, with critics almost unanimously lauding it globally.

Yard Act return to the UK for an eagerly anticipated Glastonbury set on the Woodies stage, alongside festival performances at the likes of Tramlines, Truck, Y Not, Victorious, Forwards, and their biggest headline show to date at Leeds Millennium Square on 3^rd August. Remaining tickets are on sale now via www.yardactors.com/live

Yard Act Live:

30^th May – Belly Up, Solana Beach

31^st May – The Regent Theater, Los Angeles

1^st June – Pappy & Harriet’s, Pioneertown

3^rd June – The Catalyst, Santa Cruz

4^th June – The Independent, San Francisco

6^th June – Mississippi Studios, Portland

7^th June – Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver

8^th June – The Crocodile, Seattle

26^th June – Glastonbury Festival

5^th July – Down The Rabbit Hole, Ewijk

26^th July – Truck Festival, Oxfordshire

26^th July – Tramlines, Sheffield

2^nd August – Y Not Festival, Derby

3^rd August – Millennium Square, Leeds

7^th August – Sziget Festival, Budapest

8^th August – Haldern Pop, Rees

10^th August – Øya Festival, Oslo

12^th August – Sziget Festival, Budapest

23^rd August – Victorious Festival, Portsmouth

29^th August – Cala Mijas, Malaga

1^st September – Forwards Festival, Bristol

2^nd October – Fine Line, Minneapolis

3^rd October – X-Ray Arcade, Cudahy

4^th October – Metro, Chicago

5^th October – Grog Shop, Cleveland

7^th October – The Axis Club, Toronto

8^th October – Bar Le Ritz PDB, Montreal

10^th October – Union Transfer, Philadelphia

11^th October – The Sinclair, Cambridge US

12^th October – Irving Plaza, New York

15^th October – Black Cat, Washington DC

16^th October – Eulogy, Asheville

17^th October – Terminal West, Atlanta

19^th October – Foro Puebla, Ciudad De Mexico

www.yardactors.com