WET LEG – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 23.3.25
Occasionally something truly special happens on the Brighton music scene that’s honestly hard to believe…tonight was one of those nights!
Thankfully we caught wind that none other than Grammy Awards, Brit Awards, Ivor Novello Awards, Libera Awards and AIM Independent Music Awards winners Wet Leg were in town. But they weren’t filling the Brighton Centre or Brighton Dome to full capacity, but they were playing a really up-close-and-person set at the unique but seriously compact Green Door Store, which is located below Brighton Mainline Railway Station. How incredible is that! I mean, last time they played live in town was on 9th April 2022 and that was at the much larger Chalk venue and obviously we were there to report on proceedings – Read our account of that night HERE. This was just over two months before they took Glastonbury by storm on 24th June 2022. We did award ourselves a weekend away and also caught Wet Leg at last year’s ‘Victorious Festival’ which was held on Southsea Common near Portsmouth from 23rd to 25th August. They were on the Castle Stage on the final night and played a 70 minute set. You can read about that day’s proceedings HERE.
Tonight at the Green Door Store the doors were swung open by security at 7:20pm and those lucky enough to have a ticket and be near the head of the queue headed straight to the front by the stage. With no support, due to the stage being taken up by the drum kit to the left and the numerous amount of pedals across the rest of the stage, it was a long wait until the band were to make their appearance. There certainly was an air of anticipation this evening at the total capacity gig, and as the scheduled start time of 9pm got closer, everyone jostled for their positions prior to the arrival of Wet Leg, who appear to have officially expanded from the duo of founder members Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, to now include chums Ellis Durand, Josh Mobaraki, and Henry Holmes.
A minute to nine, the lights dim, and the noise of dry ice being released at the back of the stage brought a cheer from the audience. Final checks to the guitars were then carried out by the band’s two technicians. They soon exited the stage, and at 9:04pm Chuck Berry’s ‘You Never Can Tell’ from Quentin Tarantino’s hit flick ‘Pulp Fiction’ was blasted through the speakers. Two minutes later, the quintet was rushed through the venue’s side door and onto the stage to rapturous applause. The band were all dressed as Uma Thurman’s character, Mia Wallace, from ‘Pulp Fiction’. White shirts, black trousers, and black wigs. They then dutifully worked their way through an eleven-song set, comprising four tunes from their UK No.1 self-titled album, plus no less than seven as-yet unreleased compositions.
They started off with two new ones, firstly an excellent opener ‘Fists’ (a song the band had teased on social media with a 30-second video clip last Tuesday). This was a song very much in the style of their previous material and includes the lyrics: “Can you catch a medicine ball? Can you catch yourself when you fall? You should be careful if you catch my drift, cos I really want to know: can you catch these fists? Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, man down. Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, level up”. The second song is ‘Jen Bod’. This starts off with some repetitive vocals from lead vocalist Rhian, then kicks into gear when the other band members add backing vocals.
Hester Chambers then had some tech issues with her receiver pack that needed attending to. A gleaming Rhian then said, “Hello, we’re Uma Thurman. The next one is a cover”. As the band was playing tonight under the pseudonym Uma Thurman, it wasn’t a cover at all; it was, in fact, ‘Too Late Now’ from their debut album. A song that starts off slow and speeds up halfway through. The fourth track of the night was another new one, ‘Lovestruck’, which guitarist and keyboard player Josh started off by playing jangly guitar chords before Rhian’s vocals came in. This one had an abrupt ending.
There’s more tech issues for Hester before the band launch into the excellent fourth track from their chart-topping album ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Out’. There’s more smiles from Rhian. Three more new ones follow, starting with ‘Dave Nah’ which features backing vocals from Hester. Between songs, there are shouts of “Uma Thurman” and “Uma” from a few of the onlookers with more smiles from Rhian and Josh. ‘Dragonfart’ is a much noisier song than the usual material from the Isle of Wight band, starting off with some thumping drum beats from Henry. The vocals on this one have a spark of Blondie about them. There are more shouts of “Uma” then they play ‘Beans’ which starts off with harmony from Rhian and Hester before Rhian takes over the vocals, then Josh joins in with some backing vocals. This is followed by even more shouts of “Uma” from some of the crowd.
Next up is the band’s third single release and third track off their debut album, the popular ‘Angelica’. This is followed by their usual show opener and first track off their first album ‘Being In Love’. Rhian then approaches her microphone to say “Thanks for coming to see us. We are called Uma Thurman. This is our last song.” They play ‘C3PR’ which involves Rhian using a red 1970’s style telephone receiver, blurting out lyrics “I’m in love and you’re to blame”.
The band exits the stage at 9:49pm as another song from ‘Pulp Fiction’ is played through the speakers. This time it’s Urge Overkill’s cover of the Neil Diamond song ‘Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon’. There’s no encore. So that’s it, an excellent evening was had by everyone in attendance. Going by the new songs that were performed, it sounds as though Wet Leg’s next album will delight those that liked the first one.
They play another sold out secret show as Uma Thurman at The Moth Club in London on Tuesday night and head to the US for shows in New York and Los Angeles at the end of the month as Wet Leg. They also play a number of festivals during the summer. Currently there is no news of any release dates for any of the new material although I’m sure an announcement will be made soon.
Wet Leg:
Rhian Teasdale – lead vocals, guitar
Hester Chambers – guitar, vocals
Ellis Durand – bass, vocals
Josh Mobaraki – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Henry Holmes – drums, vocals
Wet Leg setlist:
‘Fists’ (unreleased – live debut)
‘Jen Bod’ (unreleased – live debut)
‘Too Late Now’ (from 2022 ‘Wet Leg’ album)
‘Lovestruck’ (unreleased – live debut)
‘I Don’t Wanna Go Out’ (from 2022 ‘Wet Leg’ album)
‘Dave Nah’ (unreleased – live debut)
‘Dragonfart’ (unreleased – live debut)
‘Beans’ (unreleased – live debut)
‘Angelica’ (from 2022 ‘Wet Leg’ album)
‘Being In Love’ (from 2022 ‘Wet Leg’ album)
‘C3PR’ (unreleased – live debut)
