Cruz’s Coloured Beams were the best you could see

Staple Sheffield favourites Cruz have been on their first ever headline tour with all dates selling out and Leeds being one of the first to go. This has been a very exciting next step for the band as they look to build on a successful 2025. They hit 1 million streams on Spotify, packed out the main room of Network and brought in a new era with a trio of fresh single releases. Cruz have already graced the stage of iconic venues like Nice N Sleazy and Deaf Institute, but the Leeds stop brought the four-piece to uni staple The Lending Room with support from Pontefract outfit The Corvids and up-coming Derby act, The Public Eye.

The Corvids opened brilliantly with the swaggering ‘Shoot Your Gun.’ The exasperated vocals, the sinister guitar lines and pulsating drums laid the foundation for a proper in your face, no nonsense track. Their set felt like a celebration with their debut E.P. Wings (2026) released just the day before. The crowd were treated to the live debut of tracks like ‘Tattoo On My Chest’ and ‘Outside My Mind.’ This set served as a point of poignancy as this was the last gig for guitarist Stanley Coates who had been with the band since the start, but they delivered a wonderful finale for him. With smooth transitions, heartfelt vocals and the insertion of a mini ‘Sally Cinnamon’ cover, The Corvids delivered a great opener to the night.

Keeping up that swaggering attitude was The Public Eye with a thunderous, active set! I loved their style with some very cool sunglasses, and a bright pink haircut on guitarist Charlie Royle. Frontman Joey Greener dedicated ‘Gently’ to the band’s friends back home which was a nice touch, and this was a great track with memorable lead guitar solos and a gritty vocal style matching the tone of the lyrical content. Greener showed such an appreciation for the Leeds crowd and I may be biased but I couldn’t agree more, they always know how to show up in Yorkshire! The Public Eye had previously played with Cruz on their London date, so the band took the opportunity to encourage the crowd to sing ‘Julia’ better than their southern counterparts and, to the band’s admission, it was no contest, with everyone belting out the chorus. 

The crowd got riled up as ‘Don’t You Want Me’ from fellow Sheffielders, The Human League, blared over the speakers as Cruz jumped up to the stage. They kicked off their headliner with the groovy ‘More Of The Same’, with gliding choruses and guitar riffs that made you feel like you were flying. This was followed by my personal favourite ‘Take Off The Pressure’, the first showcase of many brilliant guitar solos from Tom Cox, and drums reminiscent of a heartbeat and anthemic choruses. Another characteristic of Cruz sets is the distinct cutting vocals from Sam Thatcher, and one highlight was their next track ‘Make It Right’. Thatcher’s vocals commanded big instrumental layers in the choruses. 

Plenty of loyal fans showed up in their masses, donning Cruz football shirts which looked super clean and are probably one of my favourite music football shirts out there. These fans were the ultras because they already knew all the words to unreleased track ‘Amsterdam’ and went crazy for older tracks like the fun-loving bouncy ‘Flammable Lights.’ Another new unreleased track they played was ‘Another Day’ and I really liked the way drummer Ethan Mockford played the tambourine as if it was another cymbal, which was a super effective addition to their sound. ‘The Most’ was another new track they played with a transition into a short but sweet ‘Half The World Away’ cover with Thatcher’s vocals delivering such a warm clarity. 

Bringing this back for a second spin, Cruz played a song they only wrote the week before and played once in Manchester, called ‘Man Of The People’ which was an exceptional track. A very rogue part of their set also only making its debut in Manchester was their cover of ‘This Love’ by Maroon 5 which is something I never would’ve seen coming at all in my gigging life. But it must be said that for me, Cruz did this track better than the original, playing with a funkier groove about them. ‘Hold On’ and ‘Play The Game’ opened up the mosh pits with intense build ups, brilliant basslines from Jamie Scholes and a back and forth singing exchange between Thatcher and the crowd. 

‘Disco Colour Beams’ and ‘Life of Misery’ brought their set to a close which are such addictive tracks that create such a crazy energy. With more exciting, distorted guitar solos and huge walls of sound, they delivered their final two songs with such ease and the fans were dancing around with more mosh pits opening. ‘Life Of Misery’ being the first song the band ever wrote felt perfectly right to end the set on what had been an incredibly energetic night. It was brilliant to see Cruz again after so long from the first time and to witness how they’ve progressed to their debut sold out tour.

Words by Ruby Macklin