Yonaka at Chalk

Credit: Tonicha Gilbert

YONAKA

A review of YONAKA’s full circle gig at Chalk in Brighton. A contagious energy and well crafted set list ravages a well loved Brighton venue.

One of the most underrated bands on the scene at the moment, YONAKA, have been keeping themselves busy. After spending 2021 releasing the EP ‘Seize The Power’ and smashing the festival circuit, the band also supported Nothing But Thieves on their UK arena tour with The Hunna at the end of the year. YONAKA are finally back where they belong - kicking off their UK tour in their hometown. Having previously played Green Door Store and Concorde 2, tonight the band are taking over Chalk. As a venue, Chalk is a bit of a weird one. The further from the stage you get, the standing area becomes slightly diagonal and difficult to see the stage. Regardless of this, Chalk is packed from front to back.

The support acts could not have been a better fit for YONAKA and their audience. Kicking off the evening was July Jones, captivating the crowd with her powerful energy. With her electro-pop songs matched with her edgy, effortlessly cool demeanour - there is no doubt that July Jones is one to watch. Next up is King No-One with their setlist bursting with classic feel-good indie tunes, including their most popular track ‘Alcatraz’ from 2019, it was difficult to refrain from having a little dance. With both support acts ticked off, the energy in the room is electric. Bang on 8:30pm, YONAKA take to the stage. The four-piece do not hang about as they jump straight into ‘Seize The Power’ tracks ‘Ordinary’ followed by ‘Greedy’. The setlist is a well crafted combination of newly released songs the crowd haven’t heard live before and tracks from YONAKA’s 2019 debut album ‘Don’t Wait ‘Til Tomorrow’. There is a united sense of nostalgia in the room when lead singer, Theresa Jarvis, asks the crowd “do we have any creatures here tonight?” before the recognisable intro to 2018’s single ‘Creature’ begins.

The undeniable chemistry and energy between the band is contagious. The crowd match this and only slow down when the set takes an acoustic turn for a relaxed rendition of ‘Guilty’ and later for ‘Anthem’ during the show’s encore. YONAKA closed the show with another fan favourite from their debut album, ‘Rockstar’; this song stood out amongst the rest as it was delivered with such passion from the band as the crowd screamed “I just wanna be a rockstar, baby!” at each other, knowing the band is well on their way to becoming just that. Any homecoming show is bound to be emotional, but this felt like a real full circle moment for YONAKA.