Osees - Leeds Brudenell Social Club, May 31st 2023

Formerly Thee Oh Sees and Oh Sees plus numerous other incarnations, the legendary California outfit now simply go by the moniker Osees. Which is to the point, as are the twenty plus songs in a set tonight that is electrifying from start to finish. 

Keston Cobblers Club - Leeds Brudenell Social Club, November 25th 2017 (LIVE REVIEW)

Kentish indie folk quintet Keston Cobblers Club are one of those live acts capable of bringing a smile to the face of anyone fortunate to witness their uplifting performances regardless of age. Already darlings of BBC Radio, they’ll probably still be gigging for free way into their autumn years and tonight, their one-off High & Lonesome appearance is the first time I’ve seen a band completely fill the new Brudenell Community Room; packed to the rafters and positively buzzing as Julia Lowe (Keyboards/Brass/Vocals), brother Matt (Strings/Vocals), Tom Sweet (Brass, Strings/Vocals), Harry Stasinopoulos (Drums), with Daniel on Tuba, (presumably) deputising for Bethan Ecclestone, take to the stage with the wistful summeriness of ‘Bicycles’.

My Sad Captains - Leeds Brudenell Social Club, October 25th 2017 (LIVE REVIEW)

Just when you thought Brudenell couldn’t get any more perfect it goes and gets another permanent live music space; The Community Room, meaning the games area can now (presumably) remain unmolested when the venue is double booked. Alas tonight the audience headcount is somewhat on the sparse side for London quintet My Sad Captains, surprising considering tonight’s absence of an admission charge for their closing date in a quartet of low key headline shows, with a further three planned for November supporting fine New York duo Widowspeak.

Thee Oh Sees - Leeds Stylus, September 3rd 2016

"...The bands brief hiatus in 2013 was thankfully short-lived and their return to live performances sees quite the shift in personnel. Two drummers share center-stage flanked on either side by Dwyer (left) and bassist Timothy Hellman (right). More of 'AWE' get turned loose on to the up for it audience including a monstrously powerful sounding 'Gelatinous Cube', the dual drummers hard at work trading rhythms..."

Widowspeak - Brudenell Social, Leeds, November 26th (LIVE REVIEW)

‘All Yours’, the latest release from the Big Apple’s Widowspeak proved to be one of the discoveries of 2015, a delicious combination of eerie alt-country mixed with singer Molly Hamilton’s languid femme-fatale vocal. Considering the duo (lead guitarist Robert Earl Thomas is the other original member) are now four albums in with one of their early tracks gaining further exposure, appearing on American Horror Story, they’re still pretty unknown in the UK, their appearance in the games room at Brudenell testament to that with perhaps 50 or so people present here tonight.

John J Presley, Leeds Brudenell Social Club, June 21st 2015 (LIVE REVIEW)

There's a sense of something in the air that's been and gone that was quite triumphant as I make my way into Leeds Brudenell games room tonight. Was it Sheffield's Bang Bang Romeo and their 60's-tinged Indie-Rock with a powerfully-vocal lady at the helm? Or Leeds' very own young surf scamps Porl Whos running amok with their youthful exuberance and birthday boy drummer in celebration mode? Upon a bit of earwigging it seems to have been the latter, though my late arrival can't confirm just exactly what went on so google away upon these two artists for some info.

The War On Drugs - (LIVE REVIEW) Nottingham Rock City March 1st 2015

Photo - Graham Talbot

Perhaps within the mass-stream of consciousness, the arrival of The War on Drugs (TWOD) appears something of a recent phenomenon. However, as the Philadelphian outfit prove tonight at Nottingham’s Rock City, the extraordinary success of their most recent album is nothing but a moment of clarity in what has been a long search, both musically and personally, for fulfilment.

Nothing - Leeds Brudenell, November 24th 2014

Despite never previously being enamoured with the Brudenell's games room as a live music venue, it took a night of shoegaze worship for the poor relation to the main room to finally come into its own. The compact, intimate space acted as the perfect backdrop for the post-grunge soundscapes served up by two leading lights in the current wave of bands whose musical lineage seems to stop dead at Nevermind.

Jack White - Leeds First Direct Arena, November 17th 2014

Before we begin to unravel this two hour extravaganza by Jack White, let's take time to applaud the first guy we see on stage this evening.  Ten minutes or so before the band appear, a gentleman from the Detroit mans' crew addresses the crowd to politely ask them to refrain from watching the whole show through their smartphones. Evidently, some still need major surgery to detach them from the damn things, but the majority adhere to the plee and it's a better experience for all concerned.  If only this was mandatory at every live event.

Public Access TV - The Wardrobe, Leeds. Review & Interview

It’s a very damp Saturday evening in November with the sound of fireworks in the night air almost palpable. In order to stave off early signs of Seasonal Affected Disorder, tonight I’m at The Wardrobe to check out and chat with the Big Apple’s next great musical hope Public Access TV. The stateside quartet (recently bulked up from their original three piece with the recruitment of Max Peebles) are currently this side of the pond for a short tour playing a combination of gigs, mainly supporting a similarly hot UK prospect, Liverpool’s Circa Waves, plus a couple of headline shows for good measure in London then finishing across the channel in Paris. 

Example - Nottingham Rock City. November 7th 2014

London-born and ex Star Wars prop-maker, Elliot Gleave aka Example returned to Nottingham after a near two year absence in a night that perhaps spoke greater volumes than he perhaps intended. His last show, a sell out Capital FM Arena show, this time around was a near sold-out show at Rock City, which whilst a venue steeped in history, arguably maps the electronic artist’s slight fall.

Slaves - York Fibbers - November 10th 2014

Slaves. Not 'The Slaves'. Not 'Slaves UK' or 'We Are Slaves' even. Short and to the point. Every bit like their songs, live and loud in York tonight. They've got their throw-away 2 minute garage-punk songs by the scruff. Throwing them out at rapid pace to the Fibbers crowd who for a post bonfire, gloomy November Sunday night are far from shy of showing the Tunbridge Wells two-some they're appreciation.

Zola Jesus - Leeds Belgrave Music Hall - October 30th 2014

Tonight’s gig was at the now well established Leeds music venue Belgrave Music Hall. Headliner Zola Jesus was an act I was intrigued to see live having followed her career on and off over the years since 2010’s Stridulum II. I hadn’t actually heard any of the new album so I was going into the gig with no preconceived idea of what to expect.

Nick Mulvey - Nottingham Rescue Rooms - October 31st 2014

Flanked by a suitably frightful pumpkin entourage, Nick Mulvey provided Nottingham’s intimate Rescue Rooms no Friday night Halloween frights but rather, placed a further marker down as to his growing stature as a pioneer of an acoustic sound bursting with rhythm, texture and an utterly unrelenting melodic soundscape.

Sunset Sons - Leeds Oporto - October 28th 2014

Oporto is yet another small Leeds venue with ideas above its station yet still manages to pull it off, playing host to a number of stellar gigs, featuring mainly acts on an upward curve. Tonight it’s the turn of surf dudes Sunset Sons, a trio of Brits and an Australian whose paths first crossed at a bar in Hossegor down in the south-west of France. Since that fateful meeting, they’ve traded-in a little wave time for the rock and roll lifestyle, a self-promoted debut ‘Le Surfing’ EP making the Top Ten on the iTunes rock chart earlier in the year.

Alvvays - Brudenell Social, Leeds - October 25th 2014

With a queue snaking out of the car park and a palpable excitement in the night air, the build up to tonight's show had an almost magical quality. The Brudenell consistently delivers us special moments; its gig history plotting a course mirroring our own musical adventures. Now with, deservedly, a national, if not international, reputation for bringing us the best new bands before anyone else, it was no surprise that this was the stage for Canadians Alvvays' debut Leeds performance. 

Eliza And The Bear - Leeds Wardrobe October 12th

I first stumbled across the fag end of a belting Eliza and The Bear set earlier this year during Live @ Leeds, the first floor room at Belgrave Music Hall absolutely packed to the rafters producing a quite electric atmosphere. I therefore resolved to give the London based quintet another look given the opportunity so this visit to the Wardrobe is to make sure the earlier performance was no fluke.