Weekly > Reviews
Leaves - The Cockpit, Leeds
Third gig in three days for me I’d been at work all day after a heavy night before and it’s fair to say that I’ve felt better as I ventured into Leeds to see one of the more underrated Scandinavian bands around at the moment. Still it’s amazing what a couple of beers and a bit of idle football and music chat with a mate can do for you!
So after three or four over priced lagers in Hakuna Matata it was time to wander round to one of the best live gig venues in Leeds, The Cockpit. I was pleased to see on entering that they’d opted to put the gig in the ‘middle’ room, it’s a bit smaller than the main gig room, giving you a much better experience when the band isn’t expected to pull in a big crowd.
The band didn’t disappoint as only a hundred or so hardy gig-goers ventured out on this Friday night, with what looked a fair smattering of support for the The Fall Out Trust who’d been given the support slot on the tour with Leaves. Still for those of you that tossed a coin and decided to stay in and wash your hair, or the sensible students (are there any?) who decided to save your money for later on in the term you missed a real treat.
No I’m not talking about the brunette barmaid who was serving in that section, although had the bands not have been as good as they were it’s fair to say she could have been, I’m talking about one of those gigs where you maybe aren’t up for it, you have little expectation of the main act, never mind the support act putting in a blinding performance….yet walk away really chuffed you made the effort, vowing to go to as many gigs as you can in the future as you never know what you might miss if you don’t.
We missed the first song or two by The Fall Out Trust, a name I’d heard banded about but not someone I’d heard on record or seen live before. The first thing you’ve got to say is that charismatic front men can always take a band further than most. Here we have a real showmen, slightly off the wall slightly eccentric (as he tied the microphone around his head, covering his eyes so tight he was basically blinded for one song), certainly not lacking in confidence (“come nearer to the front then you can see how good looking we all are�) and a band that can ably back him up (I think they came to a six-piece in total). The sound is that bit different with having a dual role violinist / keyboard player for us males to gawp at, slightly angular, yet bouncy and melodic as well in the right places.
- Leaves
- The Cockpit, Leeds (7th October 2005)
- Category: Live
- Label: Island Records
- Support: The Fall Out Trust
- Reviewed by: Kev
- Published on: 10 Oct 2005
- Comments: 0
- Beat Surrender Rating:
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Add to favouritesSo onto Leaves who had a hell of an act to follow. The first album had been well received and had produced a couple of hits in the lower reaches of the top forty, the second album The Angela Test had followed it a few years later in a blaze of, well no actually it was more like a match being struck than a forest fire of publicity to be honest. Despite that though the album was solid and as long as they could produce on the night it should be a decent enough gig.
Well they did produce, they might be men of little words on stage, they might take themselves very, very seriously as musicians and performers in comparison to the more enigmatic support act, but at the end of the day they can play and really do create a very atmospheric soundtrack as they swap and change instruments between themselves. Occasionally it’s sparse and piano led, a slightly less whimsical Scandinavian Coldplay anyone? Other times the sound is full and weighs heavy in the air like early Spiritualized as the layers are gradually added to the brooding atmospherics.
So two very different bands, a gorgeous barmaid and me feeling rejuvenated through the power of beer and music, shouldn’t every Friday night be like that?
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