LIVE REVIEW & GALLERY: Ultimate Thunder @ Millenium Square, Leeds
4th August 2024
Ultimate Thunder, a band from Leeds featuring members with learning disabilities and neurodivergent backgrounds, has been gaining attention in the music scene, even in the face of recent funding challenges. Fresh off releasing their second album, produced by James Mabbett (Napoleon IIIrd), they opened for Yard Act at their homecoming show to promote their latest album, “Where’s My Utopia?”.
Taking to the stage in front of about 2,000 people, these lads proved they are nothing short of stars. Their crowd interaction was phenomenal; they encouraged jeering, pumped everyone up, and had the audience clapping along and participating throughout the show.
Their performance was an off-the-wall extended musical explosion. It might not have been technically perfect, but its rawness and authenticity were exactly what made it so captivating. The show embodied everything Ultimate Thunder stands for: unashamedly raw, unapologetically authentic, and delightfully chaotic. The performance was unpredictable, occasionally out of key and out of tune, but that added to its charm and perfectly captured the DIY essence of punk.
Ultimate Thunder prove that anything is possible. Despite the setbacks life throws at you, if you have the desire to reach for the stars, you can. They assert never to let anything, regardless of its size, hold you back. As a paying punter with no intention of reviewing the gig, I was blown away by these lads and had to write some words to help get their name out in the world. They embody everything I want from punk, and my admiration for them is beyond words. Kudos to Yard Act for thinking outside the box and giving Ultimate Thunder a chance to shine on home soil. By this time next year, I hope to see them opening for a plethora of punk bands and headlining their own shows!
It was easy to see that the band loved being up on stage, and the crowd loved it too. The performance was full of disoriented yet perfectly placed EDM and a dirty, doomy bassline that pierced through to your soul before ripping it out. The vocalist was an enigmatic frontman, and the keyboardist seemed to have seen the future with all his erratic dial turns and elaborate outbursts, sounding like pure carnage. A killer, syncopated drum beat kept the disarray grounded, with gritty, grungy, distorted guitars adding to the overall rawness of their performance.
Ultimate Thunder’s show was a testament to their resilience and passion for music, leaving an indelible mark on me and a desire to not only watch them perform again but to do anything I can to help support their cause.
(Photos taken on Sansung S24 Ultra)
