People say Arkayla are gonna get far – Live at Oporto

Arkayla. Probably one of the most repeated band names on the airwaves, especially in the past year; and absolutely justifiably so. They have experienced an incredible rise to the top. From playing a free gig out of a van across from the O2 Ritz to a record breaking sell out with all tickets going within the day for their show at the same venue this September. A truly incredible feat for an unsigned band. But first it was time to clean sweep their first ever headline tour with all dates selling out within a few hours of going on sale. The first stop of the tour brought them to the iconic Oporto for a super sweaty one to kick off their first headline tour.

Support came from Leeds quartet Garage Flower who have been doing pretty well themselves in recent times despite having no songs on Spotify yet. With strong accented vocals, powerful drums and strong guitar riffs, they delivered indie rock tracks with energy and attitude. Plenty of fans who’ve been following the journey knew all the words and belted them out, moshing together throughout the set. It must be said that their bassist Josh is a brilliant talent, the foundations he laid on each track was incredible to watch, and he made it look so seamless. My standout of the set was their track ‘Garage Flower’ which was clearly a fan favourite too. They finished the set with ‘Patience Is A Virtue’ which ended with guitars being crashed into amps to bring that extra rock ‘n’ roll flare.

Arkayla swaggered through the crowd to get to the stage, an experience which you could never get in a bigger venue, and the crowd went absolutely wild. Fans immediately mounted the seats that line the room ready to give it their all. ‘Lost In A Valentine’ opened their set with the band not messing about, launching straight into their intro before the bouncing drum lines kicked in with layered vocals. Next up was the opening track ‘Long Way Back’ from their most recent E.P. DON’T LOOK FOR ANSWERS (2025). This was such a danceable anthem with a brilliant cascading leading guitar riff from Finley Rubens and sassy attacking vocals from Cal Blakebrough. ‘Rita’ had such a dynamism, with funky, velvet verses yet a much more aggressive chorus with build ups using the repetition of “it’s happened again” that peaked perfectly in the outro.

Blakebrough recalled his brief stint in Leeds at the Conservatoire university and wished fans in the crowd luck in pursuing their degrees. I’d say the band still worked out pretty well for him with Arkayla’s meteoric rise! They played unreleased track ‘My Number’ which was reminiscent of tracks like ‘Fortune Teller’ showing their melodical fluidity and a commanding bassline from Joe Harley. ‘Calling Time’ and ‘Falling Down’ featured brilliant, driving guitar solos, pounding drums from Dylan Murphy and wonderfully blended vocal layers between Blakebrough and Rubens. I always hold a special place for ‘Falling Down’ as that was the one that really spoke to me the first time I saw the band when they supported The Lathums. 

Now onto another unreleased track which has to be one of the more rogue topics for a song. ‘Doba Doba’ told the story of legendary polish explorer Aleksander Doba, who, quick little history lesson for you history buffs, completed 3 Trans-Atlantic Sea crossings solo and is the oldest human powered ocean explorer to do this. Very cool guy and a very cool song topic which Arkayla teased will be on the next E.P. This track had a great bassline, and a bold vocal style so make sure you check that one out whenever it comes out. The band slowed things down for a bit with ‘Ella Malone’ and ‘Ecstasy’ which were truly ethereal tracks with soft flowing guitars and gentle melodies. Being stood up on the seats, I could see the sea of faces just swaying and dancing together which was a wonderful sight.

Arkayla didn’t mess about with their final three tracks. All anthemic choices. ‘Run Kid’ is a particularly special track as me and fellow Gryphon writer Janis Law attended together with a shared love of this track. The build ups were evocative of heartbeats before the huge choruses kicked in and we were jumping around. Mind you, we were also fighting not to fall off the seats in the process! The crowd were clapping along to each build up and mosh pits opened up during Arkayla’s latest release. My personal highlight of the night was their penultimate track ‘Waste of Time’. I love the drum and bass combo in the first chorus with subtle guitar chords which completely changes in the second chorus to create a huge wall of sound instead. ‘Waste of Time’ is such an addictive track and even more so live as everyone screamed “you’re such a fucking waste of time”.

Their viral track ‘Doctor’ closed the night which was marked by a launch gig in the aforementioned van, so this felt like the right ending as such a prominent turning point for the band. The choruses are simplistic repetitions of the final word of each line with plenty of high-pitched harmonies showing all of Blakebrough, Rubens and Harley’s impressive ranges. The band reprised the final chorus to introduce the members and thank everyone as one final victory lap on the first night of the tour. Arkayla’s set at Oporto was a brilliant showcase of why their rise has been so rapid and why they’re already achieving such impressive feats as an unsigned band. I can’t wait to see them sell out the Academy stage and beyond in the future, I’ll see you back here when that inevitably comes true.

Words by Ruby Macklin