Bastille – Live Review – The Piece Hall, Halifax
By Steve Crabtree, August 2026
I’d already walked through those gates 16 times this summer. But this Friday night felt that little bit extra special. The working week was done, and the weekend had officially arrived. More importantly, it marked the final curtain call for another massive concert season in Halifax. Forty-two gigs across three months is serious going, and the town was excited to see it out in style.
Signing off the summer was Bastille. I have to admit, I don’t know their back catalogue inside out. But everyone who’s ever caught them live always says what a cracking show they put on. It was another new live act for me, and I wasn’t going to miss The Piece Hall’s final bow of the year.
My mate and I headed in while support act Nectar Woode was on stage. Her voice was lovely and warm, wonderfully soulful, and gave the sell-out crowd a brilliant, chilled build-up.
She set a great mood, and I’ll definitely be checking out more of her music over the coming weeks.
“A brilliant start to the night”
By 9pm, the 6,000-strong crowd was ready and willing for the final hurrah of the summer. The four lads walked out to a massive roar and went straight into ‘Things We Lost in the Fire’. The place were fully into the show from the off, and it was a brilliant start to the night.
They kept that fast-paced momentum rolling with ‘Shut Off the Lights’ and ‘Good Grief’. Frontman Dan Smith engaged us right from the opener, and thankfully he seemed fully recovered from a throat issue earlier in the week. He hit every single note with ease, anyway.
They carried on with (an aborted!) ‘Send Them Off!’, a little bit of ‘Laura Palmer’, and a cracking alternate version of ‘Flaws’. Their impressive stage and light set-up looked stunning across the darkness of The Piece Hall, turning the courtyard into a bit of a spectacle.
“A spine-tingler”
Following ‘Oblivion’, there came a lovely shift in gears. Bastille delivered a surprise tribute to Dolly Parton, easing gently from ‘World Gone Mad’ into ‘Jolene’. They followed that with a delicate version of ‘I Will Always Love You’.
The crowd went quiet before joining in with every single word. It was a bit of a spine-tingler, and it worked brilliantly in the open air. It felt like a genuine, well-thought-out nod to the country star too.
They cranked the guitars back up for ‘Blame’ and ‘WHAT YOU GONNA DO???’, before easing into ‘Hope for the Future’.
They flipped the tempo right again with a dance-infused groove. Leading out of ‘Doom Days’, their Other People’s Heartache mash-up which included En Vogue’s ‘Don’t Let Go’, as well as ‘Of the Night’ and ‘In the Light of the Morning’.
Bastille were giving us a bit of everything, showing off their varied talent across an electric live show. I loved that.
“Triumphant end”
The courtyard came alive for ‘Happier’, where Dan even jumped right down into the crowd to sing alongside the fans.
They then powered into the closing stretch with ‘SAVE MY SOUL’ before launching into their era-defining anthem ‘Pompeii’. Thousands of arms were in the air, a fitting and triumphant end to the season that echoed around the place.
And with that, the curtain came down on a record-breaking summer in the best possible way. Bastille proved why they are such a powerhouse live band, delivering a show packed with versatility, huge numbers, and all the energy you need for a concert.
Me? I’ve loved this summer. Although I’m sad to see the season come to an end, you don’t want to get too much of a good thing, do you? And, out of my 17 shows, it didn’t rain on me once. In a British summer, that is nothing short of a miracle!
For all the welcomes at the box office, the smiles from the staff at the gates, the incredible service and beer from Loafers, and the artists themselves… well done. You’ve done your bit, and done it so well.
And now, we breathe. Another brilliant Piece Hall summer music season, all ticked off.
Images: Cuffe & Taylor
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.
