Saturday 11th June 2022
Now entering its 11th year, Long Division is an inner city festival that takes place across various venues around the city. Last year was my first visit to Long Division and it was a pretty inauspicious start. The sound in the main venue was terrible, we struggled to get into some of the other places because they were too full, and then a secret cocktail bar that had been recommended to us turned out to be closed. Bad times. Happily, the 2022 edition was much more successful…
Due to the shambles that is Northern Rail, we arrive in Wakefield too late to catch The Clockworks (which had been our original plan) and instead we find ourselves in a burger joint called Bear Kitchen. Now, obviously this is a pop culture website not a food blog, but let me say that if you are ever in Wakefield, Bear Kitchen is the place to go for food. Delicious.
Suitably fed and watered (following a pint in a fantastic pub called Henry Boons – later in the evening I would go on to knock over a table and two full pints in here like a lunatic), we head over to Venue 23 – Wakefield’s premier music venue and a place that was still closed for Covid during the 2021 festival.
Purpose built for music, Venue 23 has a fantastic sound system and platforms on either side of the room so short people can see better. A simple but wonderful idea. LIFE are the first band on our list and the Hull post-punk band deliver a spirited and well received set that calls to mind fellow shouty heroes Yard Act, Idles and The Fall. ‘Big Moon Lake’ sounds massive in such a small venue as does latest single ‘Almost Home’, but it is set closer and highlight ‘Friends Without Names’ that provides the band’s best moment.
Next up is Yorkshire-via-South London post-punk outfit Deadletter. While they do sound pretty similar to some of the previously mentioned artists, the addition of a saxophone helps them to stand out from the crowd and they deliver their punchy, offbeat songs with a swagger and style that suggests that larger venues beckon.
We take a break from the music at this point so I can throw a table of beer over me and my wife and to watch a bit of the England game which inevitably ends up being incredibly tedious. A cracking set from Lyr – a band that consists of Poet Laureate Simon Armitage delivering spoken word monologues over majestically and enthusiastically performed ambient sounds – lifts the mood and while it is difficult to make out Armitage’s words over the general din, the whole thing still sounds great. It’s also worth noting that Wakefield Town Hall is a beautiful venue for live music. All high ceilings and wooden beams.
And so, to the main event. Fate has thus far kept myself and Sea Power (formerly British Sea Power) apart over the years, despite my attendance at numerous festivals at which they have appeared. And while this is a shame, the release of their latest critically acclaimed album Everything Was Forever suggests that this is a band still at the peak of their powers.
A set that takes in the full breadth of their vast discography sees the Wakefield crowd go wild as every song seems to contain some kind of overwhelming emotional arc. ‘Two Fingers’, perhaps the best cut from their latest LP, sits snugly alongside old favourites ‘No Lucifer’ and ‘Waving Flags’ and the whole set flies by in a sea of singalongs, soaring guitars and pounding drums. Indeed, hearing ‘Waving Flags’ live, a song I’ve always adored, is a personal highlight for me, but nothing prepares me for what happens next…
I should caveat this next section by first admitting that my wife wasn’t that excited about Sea Power as it’s not really her thing (her words). And yet… when I looked over at her during a jaw-dropping rendition of instrumental track ‘The Great Skua’ she literally had tears in her ungrateful eyes. A glorious victory for both me and the sheer majestic beauty of Sea Power’s final song. It really is one of those songs that you should see performed live before you die. Incredible.
And so, this year’s Long Division far surpasses that of 2021 and this little festival has now won a place in my heart. We shall be back.