Live Review: Basht - Moth Club, London 17/04/2026
Irish band Basht bring a sweltering, electric energy to a packed-out MOTH Club in London on Friday evening.
Dublin-based alt-rock band Basht have been on a sold-out tour of the UK throughout April, and finally made it to London’s iconic MOTH Club on Friday night. It feels as if there’s been a spotlight on the talent coming out of Ireland recently, the music scene currently being dominated by the Irish across multiple genres. Expectations are high for Irish acts now, and based on Friday’s show, it’s safe to say Basht have no worries about reaching them—another name to add to the never-ending list of Irish talent.
There was a buzz of anticipation floating through a packed-out MOTH Club as people waited for Basht to take the stage. People squeezing themselves closer to the front, or standing on the edges of the red booths to get a better view. A chorus of cheers filled the space as the band took to the stage, where they wasted no time with introductions and instead went straight into unreleased track Vermillion. The audience’s attention is immediately captured by the band’s sound, their precise percussion blending with poignant riffs and unwavering vocals.
The crowd have already loosened up by the second song Burn, hands in the air as they sing along with frontman Jack Leavey, “so let it burn, let it scar, let it tear our worlds apart.” Despite being a relatively new band, the lads play as if they have been together forever, they’re confident and comfortable as they roll straight into Vain, another track from their latest EP, Bitter and Twisted. There’s a gear shift with Vain, it’s a bit grittier, punchier, the crowd turning into a sea of swirling bodies crashing together.
While the setlist is built mainly of familiar tracks, Basht keep it fresh with a couple of unreleased ones, including Perfume, which is set to be released as their first single from their debut album. An announcement that was met with a chorus of whoops and applause from their audience. With two strong EPs already under their belts, Basht’s debut album is set to be a winner, and it’s hard to argue with that when the crowd is already singing along to unreleased songs like Terror TV and Kids vs Guns.
The crowd sway along in time to the pulsing drums and infectious strum of guitars of Sacred Heart, a song that oozes with nostalgia, a slow build of a track that gets heavier with every passing beat. The band are soaking in the electric energy that’s pooling from the crowd, feeding on it, with the frontman, Jack, somehow appearing to be maintaining eye contact with every person in the room at the same time. By the time the hectic guitars of Dirty White Lies begin, sweat is beading on the glitter gold ceiling of MOTH Club. The mosh pit is in full swing, bodies bouncing off each other, with the crowd surfers only ever inches away from getting a head full of glitter.
Basht keep the momentum up from the very beginning, never dropping the ball or letting the energy of the crowd dip, and bodies keep spinning and crashing together as the band play another fan favourite, Gone Girl, from their debut EP Dirty White Lies. The fiery track Kiera Knightley sees vocalist Jack getting himself right in the thick of it and diving deep into the crowd, who absorb him easily into their sea of chaos. He’s unfazed by it, welcomes it, in his element. The band closes with the hypnotic Wild Horses, a track that truly packs a punch. It’s a statement piece, one that showcases all of the band's talents; it bleeds from all four of the men on that stage. It’s a steady build of a song that comes with a crashing finale. The most appropriate way to bring such a raucous show to an end.
When the lights of the venue come back on, the stage empty, people stand about and linger in the remaining buzz that’s floating through MOTH Club. People stay to soak up the moment, the fact that they’ve seen something special. There’s something incredibly rare about Basht, a band that, despite being relatively new, feel like they have already found their place, their sound, their confidence, but they haven’t run away with it. A solid run of sold-out shows across the UK and a debut album on the horizon, Basht don’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. And if their live show is anything to go by, there are only bigger and better things ahead for this band.
Words by Angela English
