Shed Seven, York’s favourite sons, opened up a summer series of concerts at the Piece Hall in Halifax, undoubtedly the best historic open-air venue in the country. The inaugural night felt aptly justified and celebratory – and for good reason.

With the thirtieth anniversary of the album A Maximum High, the band had plenty to celebrate. The seminal album solidified Shed Seven's position on the indie music scene, coinciding with the decline of the Britpop movement on the charts; Shed Seven provided the genre with a highly charged impetus.

Fast forward three decades, and the group are probably bigger now than they were thirty years ago, as tonight’s sold-out gig paved the way for an autumn tour that is also mostly sold out.

Before the groundbreaking album was played in full, the band performed a selection of their other tracks, which included their last album, which debuted at the top of the charts.

With lead singer Rick Witter in fine form, the York trailblazers were aided by the addition of five backing singers – an unprecedented addition in recent times. Dirty Soul, a track from the band's debut 1994 album, welcomed the six-thousand-strong audience, many of whom had travelled from across the country and beyond to witness a night where the pride of Yorkshire were in jubilant mode.

The first five tracks of A Maximum High contain some of Shed Seven’s most memorable songs. Witter, now wearing a red sequinned shirt, disclosed that Magic Streets was about an illicit establishment in York that was based above a children’s store in the city, a point that had never been previously revealed.

Whilst, Where Have You Been Tonight? was a rousing anthem; Going For Gold, boosted by the three-piece horn section, was yet another opportunity for the fans to honour the majestic 30-year-old album. 

Ritter continued to command the Halifax audience with charisma, charm, and boundless energy, and guitarist Paul Banks was never far away to provide yet another masterful guitar hook. If anyone had thought tonight was just a nostalgia trip, they were proven wrong when Talk of the Town and Let’s Go Dancing, two songs from their last album, demonstrated that their creativity had not dissipated.

With the near two-hour show finishing with Disco Down and the anthemic Chasing Rainbows, Witter told the crowd, "What an incredible night. The Piece Hall is an amazing place – we will be back!” After tonight’s triumphant performance it would have been hard not to agree with him.