Embrace – Live Review – The Piece Hall, Halifax
By Steve Crabtree, June 2026
There is always a massive sense of pride when a local band done good announces a headline slot back at home. For Halifax, that means the return of Embrace, performing a special headline show at The Piece Hall.
This time round, it felt less like a standard tour stop and much more like a proper, triumphant homecoming. It was their third sell-out show in seven years at this stunning venue, and having been to each one of those gigs I knew what to expect. But Saturday night proved that their live shows just go from strength to strength.
Me, with a couple of mates in tow, enjoyed another clear West Yorkshire night, and walked in just in time to see the last three songs from support act Idlewild. They were loud, grinding, and got the crowd nicely warmed up for the local lads to step out onto the stage.
“Like a family gathering”
It was an early start by Embrace, and when the 6,000 of us saw them walking out, there was a roar. A local Yorkshire roar, and the lads responded by launching straight into one of their biggest tracks, ‘All You Good Good People’. It was a masterstroke of an opener that had us all singing along.
They followed that with a brand-new tune, ‘Road To Nowhere’, as if they are still looking forward, even while celebrating an incredible milestone on this, their 30th anniversary tour. And early on, it was clear that Embrace are loved round here, and that love is reciprocated loved by the band.
Frontman Danny McNamara was on top form on the mic. Always coming over as a genuinely nice guy who is immensely proud of his roots, he has no heirs or graces about him. He had the audience in the palm of his hand, chatting between songs and making this huge open-air space feel more like a family gathering.
“Arms-round-your-mates”
There was plenty of promotion for Embrace’s new album Avalanche during the set, and we got to hear plenty of fresh tracks from it too. The new material sounds strong live, and the upbeat ‘Pure O’ was a personal favourite for me, hitting the right groove.
‘Get Out Of My Own Way’ was a highlight of the mid-set. A typical arms-round-your-mates’-shoulders kind of anthem, it went down an absolute treat with the Halifax crowd.
The band just kept delivering anthem after anthem, and the crowd threw themselves into massive renditions of ‘Save Me’, ‘Looking As You Are’, and a truly magnificent ‘A Glorious Day’.
image: @simonwalker.photography
“Halifax lads through and through”
As the main set began to draw to a close, the main set closed out with a beautiful, soaring version of ‘Gravity’. But they weren’t done with us yet. The incomparable ‘Ashes’ came crashing in next, with absolutely everyone in the courtyard lapping this one up and singing every single word back to the stage.
The lads had mentioned earlier that they really wanted to make this return special by playing a much longer set for the Piece Hall crowd. They absolutely delivered on that promise, returning to the stage to give us a massive five-song encore. That brought the total to an incredible 21 songs across a sprawling two-hour set.
The extended encore opened up with a brilliant ‘Exploding Machines’, and to finish the entire night off, they left us with the obvious, triumphant double-header of ‘Come Back To What You Know’ and a magnificent version of ‘The Good Will Out’.
Yet another top show from Embrace at this place.
Bradford and Brighouse do try and claim Embrace as their own from time to time, and you can understand why they want to. But make no mistake, these are Halifax lads through and through. And they were firmly home tonight. All 6,000 of us absolutely loved them for it.
Images (unless otherwise credited): 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.
