Shed Seven – Live Review – The Piece Hall, Halifax
By Steve Crabtree, June 2026
If you walked into Halifax town centre from mid-afternoon onwards on Saturday 6th June, you couldn’t miss the sea of Shed Seven t-shirts. The local bars and restaurants were brimming with fans sorting out their pre-gig food and drinks, because as everyone who’s ever been will tell you – a Piece Hall gig isn’t just something you pop into for a couple of hours and leave. It’s a full-day event, and that unbelievable atmosphere, I swear you only get at a Halifax gig night was back.
One of the highlights of my calendar, the Live At The Piece Hall season returned for 2026, with one of my favourite bands. York’s indie-icons Shed Seven kicking off a three-month summer of music in the town.
This was a massive, sold-out show. The band were celebrating 30 years of their 1996 classic album A Maximum High, and they treated the 6,000-strong crowd to the LP in its entirety, packed alongside a hefty dose of their biggest hits.
“A few rare ones”
The magnificent seven (five) came on stage at around 8.30pm, and launched into ‘Dirty Soul’, ‘Mark’ and ‘Dolphin’, with the in-form Rick Witter telling us that the album was coming shortly.
And I really liked this way of playing an album show. I’ve been to a few album-in-full shows before, and although I think they’re a good idea, they can be quite disappointing. Ironically, the first one I went to was Ocean Colour Scene’s anniversary show of Moseley Shoals. Great live to start with, then limps off a bit…and by choosing Shed Seven as your support act to totally blow the crowd away beforehand, it can be a risk.
But housing the record in the middle of the set was a masterstroke, and as soon as the backdrop changed and the band launched ‘Getting Better’, the place really went off. And, it was great to hear a few rare ones they don’t normally play live. ‘Lies’, ‘Ladyman’, and ‘Falling from the Skies’ were a massive treat for the die-hards.
The set powered through ‘Magic Streets’, ‘Where Have You Been Tonight’, ‘Going For Gold’, ‘Bully Boy’, and ‘On Standby’, before wrapping up the album section with a brilliant performance of ‘Parallel Lines’.
“An incredible night”
The feeling in the crowd was the same as you get at all Shed Seven gigs. Upbeat, ready to sing until their lungs popped out, and lots of people lapping up the by now red-sequin-adorned Rick Witter’s patter between songs.
When darkness finally fell, the stage lighting kicked in, and the effects of that against the backdrop of this magnificent building looked absolutely stunning.
By the time the band came back out for a five-song encore, the atmosphere was at…well…A Maximum High. The band powered through ‘High Hopes’, ‘Talk Of The Town’ was raucous, and ‘Let’s Go Dancing’ was beautiful. And these two followed with the classic set-closers of of ‘Disco Down’ and the anthemic ‘Chasing Rainbows’.
Witter told the crowd before heading off: “What an incredible night. The Piece Hall is an amazing place – we will be back!” And they better be.
The Sheds absolutely rocked it, and they’re perfect for The Piece Hall. I’m so glad we’ve got three full months of this coming to our town again. Call me biased, as it’s in my home town but The Piece Hall honestly is the best live music venue around.
Images: Cuffe and Taylor & The Piece Hall
Give Steve music, give him food, give him theatre, tech or travel… and he’s a happy man. He’s been writing professionally since 2003, turning to journalism in 2017 when it offered him the chance to enjoy a lot of his existing passions, and learn some new ones at the same time. Steve can be found spending many of his summer nights watching bands at The Piece Hall in his hometown of Halifax, or enjoying a bite to eat and a drink with his wife anywhere in Yorkshire at any time of year. Random fact: He does the best impression of Zippy and George from Rainbow that anyone has ever heard.
