Wet Leg / Rock City / Nottingham

Nov 20

Nov 20 Wet Leg / Rock City / Nottingham

Following the release of their latest album “moisturizer” Wet Leg have hit the road to bring their new album to life, and we’re here at Nottingham’s Rock City to join the party !

First up in support are a band I’d not come across before - Faux Real – An Dance/Electronic duo, Franco-American brothers from LA - Virgile and Elliott Arndt.

Coming out onto the stage, the pair sing to backing tracks, and are spectacularly dressed in cropped-top white, and yet elegant and refined. The set is a mix of rave-pop and modern dance, packed with theatrics. The crowd are loving it. Although not my go to, the music is actually pretty good and has a real solid dance base to it, that has Rock City bouncing along.

In the second song the pair suddenly jump down onto the barrier and leap over into the crowd. And dance / perform surrounded by phone torches around the hall, much to the delight of the crowd around them. At another point on stage they’re swirling light balls on the end of ropes creating patterns of light.

It’s light, it’s fun, it’s electro glam euro dance.

Setlist

Faux Maux

Rent Free

Full Circle

Scratch

Absolution

Walking Away From My Demons

Kindred Spirit

Wet Leg sprung out of the Isle of Wight in 2019, the brainchild of Rhian Teasdale (vocals & guitar) and Hester Chambers (guitar). The band now also includes Josh Mobaraki (guitar, keyboards), Ellis Durand (bass) and Henry Holmes (drums). They rose to prominence in 2021 with their hit single Chaise Longueand the follow ups Wet Dream, Too Late Now and Oh No and they appeared on ‘Later... with Jools Holland’ on BBC2 bringing them to a wider audience. As a result their self-titled debut album charted at #1.

The band followed up with a second studio album “Moisturizer” earlier this year again reaching #1 in the UK album charts.

The stage is readied, and the lights dim, as the smoke machines start up….. and don’t stop. The band take their places to huge cheers and Rhian walks out., in front of the drum riser to walk to the mic in her now iconic ‘muscle pose’ Or we would see that if not for the swirling smoke and mist ! But visually as she emerges from the smoke the crowd erupt and go wild as they dive right into Catch These Fists, the crowd joining in enthusiastically with the ‘yeah yeah yeah’ refrains. Its hard hitting (no pun intended lol) and the breakdowns have a glorious IDLES like post-punk vibe to them. The stage is simply set up, but it’s all about the lighting, with strong pulsing strobes making it very hard for the photographers at the front, but creating an impressive visual effect for the audience.

Rhian picks up her translucent green guitar for the hit single Wet Dream with it’s unmistakable intro and lyrics ‘I was in your wet dream, driving in my car. Saw you At the side of the road….’ The chorus sections once again a dream for live concert goers as they chant along to the lines ‘Beam me up… count me in… Let’s begin’

Wet Leg have always struck me with their unusual persona. Rhian is the over the top front woman, whilst partner in crime Hester Chambers is quiet and almost shy, standing towards the back, mostly sideways form the crowd, belting out the riffs and core of the sound. But it works amazingly, each feeding off the other creating something quite unique. At times Rhian joins Hester and they face each other – beaming as they play, and enjoy the moment.

Rock City is sold out, and it shows….. bodies everywhere and it’s great to see a real mix in the crowd, young and old showing what a wide appear the band have. Ur Mum is a hit as the crowd sing along and scream in unison. My highlight was a stunning version of Don’t Speak from the latest album. A rip-roaring rock guitar intro, gives way to a mellow track, with soft almost spoken lyrics. But the chorus sections erupt again in noise, but somehow those delicate, soft vocals still float effortlessly over the top.

They leave most of the big hitters to the end, and we round off the night with fan favourite Chaise Longue, CPR, and finally Mangetout. There is no mistaking those first few sounds that introduce Chaise Longue – First the rapid drum beats, before the Joy Division-esque bassline kicks in…. and then Rhian starts with ‘Mummy, Daddy….. look at me, I went to schools and got a degree’. The place erupts in joyous euphoria as the track explodes and expands. The line ‘Is you muffin buttered? Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin’ (a line / reference to Mean Girls) takes us into the track proper, and it’s a dance track, everyone bouncing along. CPR has a distinct Viagra Boys vibe to the guitar sections and I love it. Finally the first guitar strum heralds in Mangetout, with everyone in the place joining in the chants of ‘get lost forever’. A somewhat more laid back track to end on, but it works so well, pulling everything together nicely.

I didn’t know what to expect from Wet Leg. The videos are quirky and sometimes it’s hard to work out how a bands persona can transfer to the live stage. Well, Wet Leg deliver in bucket loads ! Full of energy and backed by an impressive lighting display, they bring life and energy to every track fast and mellow alike.

A great live experience, and one I want to experience again – soon !

Setlist

Catch These Fists

Wet Dream

Oh No

Supermarket

Liquidize

Jennifer's Body

Being in Love

Pond Song

Ur Mum

U and Me at Home