The Brit School grad effortlessly performs her Mercury prize-nominated album and proves she was born to perform.
Fresh from delivering a show stopping set at Coachella, Olivia Dean comes to the Leeds University Stylus which is just the second stop of her UK and European tour.
Her crowds have seen a meteoric rise over the past year, having been nominated for three brits and poised for the Pyramid stage at this year's Glastonbury festival.
So it's no surprise that her Leeds gig is a sell-out with many still hoping to bag tickets on the night.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
But it's the intimacy of the University Stylus which makes the evening so incredibly special.
Sporting a yellow denim two piece complete with black knee high boots, the 25-year-old musician looks calm and at ease on her largest headline tour so far.
Gracing the stage with a seven-piece band behind her, she says "I'm very excited to be here this evening with you, it's Friday night in Leeds!"
Kicking things off with an atmospheric UFO, Dean wastes no time in showing off her hit heavy repertoire as she swiftly follows with Ok Love You Bye - a track that gets the whole crowd moving and singing along.
Her debut album Messy, nominated for the acclaimed Mercury Prize, is all about self-discovery and dealing with the turbulent aftermath of a break-up.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Tambourine in one hand and pint of beer in the other, Dean stylishly executes her big tracks whilst seamlessly interacting with the audience.
Introducing the titular track, she says "I wrote this song to feel like a big hug. I wanted it to feel like a big bowl of tomato soup."
And we can't put it better ourselves.
Dean glides through Messy, almost as if singing a lullaby, holding us in the palm of her hand as we slide up and down the catchy melody with her.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Later comes Carmen, a song dedicated to Olivia's Guyanese grandmother which sees the entire band come together in what can only be described as a real dance party.
Of course she ends with Dive, the standout track from the album that perfectly depicts the exhilarating feeling of falling head over heels for someone.
She thanks the audience and bids her farewells: "Hopefully see you again soon" she says, "You coming Glastonbury? Gosh pyramid stage, I'm bricking it."
And on that note, we were all left wishing we had a ticket to the farm this summer just to see this shining star who no doubt will pull big crowds to one of the biggest stages on earth.
It's clear that Olivia Dean was born for the stage, and the bigger the stage the brighter she will beam.
Veteran British musician Morrissey has just announced a very limited run of tour dates across the UK, including one right here in Leeds.
He's also overlooked one very obvious location...
The iconic singer-songwriter, legendary lyricist and former Smiths frontman is a controversial one these days, but he still has a fervent following of die-hards.
With that in mind, despite some recent cancellations, Morrissey will be coming to just a handful of British cities later this year.
🚨NEW SHOW ALERT!
Live In Concert, Morrissey is bringing his tour to Leeds! 📆Saturday, 19th December 2026
🎫Venue Presale - Wed 20th May, 2026 🎟️General On Sale - Friday 22 may, 2026
Selecting just five cities to play in winter 2026, these latest live shows will be in support of his most recent record, Make-Up Is a Lie.
The 14th studio LP of his solo career, the reviews have been almost as divisive as the man himself, but his most passionate fans have praised it as one of his best.
Have you listened to it yet?
Most notably on this tour, however, the Greater Manchester-born artist has chosen to skip performing in his home city for some reason.
He did make his Co-op Live debut last June, but this time, his only Northern gigs in England are the first direct arena and a night in Liverpool.
We'd be foolish if we didn't mention that 'Moz' caused a bit of a stir by scrapping some slots earlier this year simply due to 'tiredness' - hence memes like this:
The other dates include Cardiff, Brighton and Glasgow, following his sold-out stadium show at The O2 in London this past February, with tickets going on sale next week.
If you're confident of him turning up to Yorkshire on time for his set in December, you can sign up for venue presale from next Wednesday, 20 May, with general admission going live at 9am the following Friday (22 May).
Featured Images – Publicity pictures (supplied via SJM Concerts)
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South Yorkshire music festival cancelled after issuing stark warning to fans
Clementine Hall
An independent music festival in South Yorkshire has been forced to cancel.
It's official, music festival season is on the horizon and it's getting us very excited to be stood in a field with a pint of cider in our grasp.
But unfortunately, that won't be the case for those looking to attend Reytfest - an independent music festival 'run my music fans by music fans'.
Set to take place at the end of June, the festival announced on Tuesday 12 May that they have had to cancel the event due to 'the cost of living crisis'.
Posting the news to Instagram, Reytfest said: "We have had to make the heartbreaking decision to not go ahead with the REYT FEST event this June. This is due primarily to poor ticket sales which we can only attribute to the cost of living crisis.
"We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the festival, from the bands, vendors, stakeholders, suppliers and all other interested parties. We’d also like to thank you, our followers, liking and sharing our posts really built our fanbase, but especially to those of you who purchased tickets.
"Rest assured your ticket money will be refunded and please don’t get disheartened by this news, keep on booking live events whether its grassroots music in a local bar to big band stadium events or something completely different such as theatres, cinema, sports, etc, if people don’t buy tickets, they will disappear.
"We had a dream that unfortunately we can’t see through to fruition on this occasion, but we’ve learnt so much and we don’t want to throw all that knowledge and experience away, so when the time is right - watch this space!! Thank you - Jon (Brad), Ian, Jess and the rest of the REYT FEST Team."
Clementine Hall -
27th April 2024 
