Live Review: Wet Leg + Honeyglaze - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds 19/04/2022
Just days after claiming a Number One album for their self-titled debut, Wet Leg took to the stage at the legendary Brudenell Social Club in Leeds to delight fans with a selection of their infectious indie hits.
Heading out on their first headline tour following the release of their debut album, the stage was set for an electric evening at the legendary Leeds venue but before Wet Leg emerged for the main event the crowd were treated to a performance by the hotly tipped South London Trio ‘Honeyglaze’.
Just over a week before the release of their debut album, the band stepped out for one of their first live shows in the North of England. The trio started their set with the as yet unheard “Real Deal”, a beautiful, minimal track that gave the crowd an early indication of what the band are all about. This was quickly followed up by “Deep Murky Water” and “Half Past” both of which feature on the groups upcoming release. Paradoxically stripped back and musically rich at the same, the group’s performance conjured images of Mazzy Star and showed the strong chemistry that exists between Lead Singer and Guitarist, Anouska Sokolow, Bassist, Tim Curtis the band’s drummer and Yuri Shibuichi.
Despite their relative infancy as a collective, their performance was shrouded in a patience and a maturity that is sadly lacking from a great deal of today’s music. This was exemplified no more so than during their rendition of the lead single from their upcoming album, ‘Burglar’. Considering the depth of their live show, it is no wonder that they caught the attention of Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey back in 2020 and subsequently recorded their debut album with the legendary producer.
Honeyglaze brought their set to a close with the heart-wrenching “Childish Things” a track that saw Sokolow push her spellbinding vocals to their very limits and showed off the band’s undeniable talent for telling a story in the most soulful of ways. This performance gave an exciting indication of what people can expect from the band’s eagerly anticipated debut that is set for release on 29th April.
With the crowd well and truly bewitched following the performance of Honeyglaze, the stage was set for the evening’s headliners to emerge.
Dowsed in green neon lighting, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers took to the stage alongside their band to the sound of rapturous cheers and applause. The venue was bursting at the seams with a sell-out crowd all desperate to catch a glimpse of a band on the rise. Since they first emerged on the scene last year with their debut single 'Chaise Longue', the bands accession has been nothing short of stratospheric and there was a clear sense within the audience that this would perhaps be the last opportunity for fans to experience the band in such an intimate setting, a theory that was further exemplified by the news that they are set to support Harry Styles on the Australian leg of his upcoming tour.
Within the venue there was an intense sense of anticipation, one usually reserved for more established acts however, Wet Leg are no ordinary band and when they kicked off their set with 'Being in Love' it was easy to see why. Combining a frenetic punk energy with their irresistible pop hooks, the band offer a truly unique experience and it was one that the Leeds crowd revelled in from the outset.
The band played through 'Convincing', a deeper cut from their recent album before arriving at the first single within their fourteen-track set list, 'Wet Dream'. As Teasdale started the track with her opening refrain, the crowd burst into life singing with her in emphatic unison "I was in your wet dream driving in my car" before the first real ripples of movement began to reverberate through the audience however, these ripples would soon turn to waves when the band reached the next of their lead singles 'Too Late Now' just a few tracks later.
With the show now in full swing the band decided to switch it up a little with Teasdale announcing to the crowd "We hope you like Boyzone!" before launching into a cover of Ronan Keating's hit single "Life Is a Rollercoaster". Somehow the band managed to give the pop classic the full Wet Leg treatment, transforming it into a track that fit seamlessly within their oeuvre. The rendition was clearly a moment of pronounced joy for Teasdale and Chambers and one that reaffirmed that the band are serious about sticking to their founding principles, "as long as you're having fun, then everything will be alright" Teasdale explained in a previous interview.
One of the biggest highlights from the set came when the band performed "Ur Mum", the final single released just a few days before the remainder of the album. Despite the fact that the track has only existed within the public sphere for less than a couple of weeks it is obviously one that has strongly resonated with the fans. Receiving one of the best receptions of the night, the crowd matched the band word for word before joining them in letting out "their longest and loudest scream".
The band brought the night to a close with renditions of "Angelica" and of course, the now iconic "Chaise Longue" at which point the crowd exploded in a wave of chaotic energy that perfectly befit the group's raucous performance. At the Brudenell Wet Leg well and truly proved that they can take the magic of their studio sessions to the stage and with that they continue to pave their way to superstardom.
Words by Jordan Corrigan
