Live Review: A – Waterfront, Norwich
19th June 2026
Support: Youth Killed It, Lacey
Words & Photos: Tom Atkin
Hearing that one of the first bands I saw live when I moved down to Norfolk were returning to this city, filled me with so much nostalgia. And with the crowd slowly filling the Waterfront’s downstairs venue, the self dubbed UK rock and roll pop band Lacey kicked things off.
The well polished and energetic set took me by surprise, a very welcome intro for those that were only just arriving. Giving it their all from the word go and drawing a fair few new fans, they give the energy that every show needs, not caring about who is listening, just happy that someone is and they can give their all to those that are.
Their playing ability is nothing short of perfect and having listened to them a bit since the show, you can tell that they do not rely on recordings to perfect how they sound.
Stepping the atmosphere up after Lacey’s warm up, is Norwich’s very own Youth Killed It, indie rockers from just down the road.
This is a band full of infectious energy, cheeky humour and a lot of swagger. It feels as though the night just got turned into a party, and with the every growing attendance, it is not going un-noticed. Lead singer Jack Murphy very much has the gift of the gab, getting laughs in between most songs.
With some interesting song titles, like ‘(Jean-Claude) Van Mann’ and ‘Shandy Murray’, you would think that they are more of a comedy outfit, but listen to the lyrics, you can hear that they have a lot to say about multiple subjects. ‘AI Killer’ which takes shots at the increased use of AI within the media and how much it is being used in the creative arts world. All of these songs come with choruses and charisma that drag you in, a perfect set up for tonight’s main act.
Now for “A”, they have been off and on the touring scene for a while, never really breaking up but just casually appearing every now and again. This year marks a full return to form, releasing the album ‘Prang’, and heading out on a full tour in support of it. Twenty one years on, you would expect some sort of major change, but quite the opposite, they still give the same vibe on stage, with the only notable change is their bassist Richard Tigg who joined in 2022, the trio of brothers are still the main back bone of the band.
They still bring that same energy they had back when they were one of the best UK alternative rock bands. The set included a decent amount of tracks from 2026’s ‘Prang’. With ‘Kings of Lowestoft’ being a very stand out song, purely because it wouldn’t go amis being in a set from Billy Ray Cyrus.
The majority of the new material, ‘LifeLine’ and ‘Hello Sunshine’ for example, continue the sound that all the people at The Waterfront remember A for. Whilst it has the same feel to it, you can definitely notice a step up in writing abilities from twenty years out of the lime light.
The classics made their way in ‘“’Something’s Going On’, ‘Old Folks’ and ‘Starbucks’ are all very much expected at this point in their career. Being expected, does not take away from the excitement of hearing them performed. Jason still has the voice for it and the whole band still look to be enjoying playing their back catalogue, and of course, the crowd love it.
We get some nice crowd talk as well, with Jason acknowledging the fact that there has been such a large time away in their career. It doesn’t feel forced either, he seems to genuinely just enjoy talking to his fans.
Surprisingly ‘I Love Lake Tahoe’ made the cut of songs, by the crowd reaction, a fair few other people in here have fond memories of this tune, singing along to the na na na’s of the chorus and just generally enjoying every moment of it.
Being their most popular song to date, it was expected that we would have to wait until the end to hear the glorious ‘Nothing’, yet they could have swapped this out with any other of their older songs and the impact would of been just the same.
“A” really are back and showing what they used to be all about, and then expanding on it more.
Photo credits: Tom Atkin
