Can You Hear Them? It’s Skylights! – Independent Venue Week 2026
Image credit: @marktighe on Instagram
Amongst the January blues and aftermath of Christmas, the people of the North came out in their masses to support Skylights for their hometown headliner in the beautiful historic city of York as part of this year’s Independent Venue Week. This sold-out show held what felt like all the Leeds United fans in the city crammed together in The Crescent. From start to finish, everyone came together in what became a wonderful communal affair, with musical representation from all across Yorkshire.
Opening the night was Middlesborough-based acoustic artist Jack Campbell. He played a solo set with tunes that may have felt more sombre in lyrical content, but through catchy choruses and clever guitar riffs, he brought higher spirits into the room. Campbell brought out his friend Abbie to sing a gorgeous duet called ‘Waste Your Time’, which focused on the differing perspectives of the emotional turmoil of a breakup, their vocals contrasting in tone but blending seamlessly in melody. Campbell built such a sweet relationship with the crowd, people swayed their phone torches to ‘Echoes Of Yesterday’ and he dedicated ‘Let You Go’ to all the audience members that had been broken up with in the past. To close out, he allowed the crowd to choose between a cover of ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ and ‘Matilda’, the latter being appropriate with all the recent Harry Styles announcements! However, the crowd opted for the former where he soaked in the energy of the whole crowd singing the bridge back to him. He loved it so much, he played the bridge again to end on a high!
Next up following the acoustic theme were Doncaster lads, The Denabys. The Crescent were witness to the debut of The Denabys first ever acoustic set of this kind which was an absolute treat! They translated their typical incredibly high energy to this more intimate environment with frontman Niall Ogley performing without a guitar and getting right up in people’s cameras. The crowd echoed every word in unison, and they still danced around as if it was the full electric set up that they’re known for. Songs like ‘Good Time’ and ‘Geronimo’ were songs I never would’ve predicted to make an acoustic debut with their booming choruses and swaggering guitar riffs, but I would definitely watch a set like that again! They kept up with great crowd interactions, as there may have been technical difficulties, but powered through unfamiliar territory to deliver another brilliant set as they whipped out an off-the-cusp ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ cover which everyone lapped up. .
You would’ve thought Skylights were already on stage with the amount of ‘No Skylights, No Party!’ chants being thrown around long before they swaggered on. But everyone switched to the classic ‘Yorkshire’ chants when the band made their way on stage. Because would it be a Yorkshire gig if that didn’t happen?! Skylights set the precedent of what was about to be a storming set, kicking off with the no nonsense boasting track ‘YRA.’ Featuring an addictive, glamourous guitar riff reminiscent of Oasis’ ‘Columbia’’ and the combination of Ian Brown style vocals, they were already tearing the roof off this set and we were only one song in!
One of the most prominent features of a Skylights set is the aggressive attacking drums style from Myles Soley. His commanding drum fills are a staple build up to the final chorus of songs such as in ‘Rebellion’ which shot through the entire crowd. They showed their dynamism with the switch in tempo for ‘Time To Let Things Go’ with the feature of overarching acoustic riffs and an anthemic chorus which all the crowd belted out whilst swaying back and forth. In keeping with the theme of anthemic tunes, was ‘Nothing Left To Say’ with such raw emotion being portrayed as frontman Rob Scarisbrick sang out passionately and guitarist Turnball Smith beamed out at all the sea of faces repeating every word. You could really feel the appreciation from the band as they bowed down to the audience at the end which was met with eruptions of applause.
What was the most beautiful thing about this gig was being witness to the fostering of a proper communal environment. During any instrumentals, Scarisbrick and Smith took any opportunity to fist bump, shake hands, and have a laugh with fans. In between songs, all the band members were treated to their own named chants and basked in the crowds singing back to them, with fans having the biggest smiles as they pumped their fists in the air. This was displayed in their final song of the night ‘Enemies’ which they restarted to allow fans to get up on shoulders. With snarling vocals, booming drums and slick guitar riffs, Skylights smashed out their final tune with the call to dream those dreams and don’t let them die. This gig tonight really showed the cultivation of a community who are loyal to grassroots artists which should give inspiration to other budding young artists who will always have support from loyal fans that will follow up and down the country.
They walked off to their beloved Leeds United football club chants, with fans grabbing and hugging each other shouting and marching to the chants! On what was a cold and windy night in York, a beautiful warm community came together in The Crescent with fans who have travelled up and down for Skylights and you could see why with the passion and energy they brought from start to finish.
Words by Ruby Macklin