LIVE REVIEW: modernlove. Play The Wardrobe in Their Return to Leeds

Written and edited by Eve Moat

Even those who didn’t know the words couldn’t help but bob their heads along with the rest of the frenzied crowd.

After playing Hyde Park Book Club last November, the up-and-coming Indie-rock band modernlove. made a spectacular return to the Leeds scene, with a bigger crowd and stronger cult-following than I had seen just under a year before. With a northern, almost underground support act and a basically flawless continuation of tracks, it would be difficult to criticise any aspect of the band’s recent show at The Wardrobe.

The end of October really threw at us full pelt storms, winds and a whole load of rain. The evening I was going to be in attendance at the Irish foursome’s gig, it absolutely chucked it down. I myself looked like I had just hopped out of the shower by the time I reached the venue. Thankfully, the warmth of the bar area hit me as I stepped through the door and the inviting lighting of the upstairs made sure I didn’t sink into a soggy, grumpy version of myself before the show had even began. After drying off and cosying up to a pint, it was time for me and my friend Ross to enter the basement of the building. Blue and red strobes bounced gently around the stage room, ready for the line-up to begin.

Image Credit: Hannah Lauren (@hanlaurenphotos)

First up was Ellysse Mason, an artist from just across the way in Manchester, seemingly identifiable by her northern accent, but more capturing by her ethereal vocals, melodic guitars and expressive body language. You just couldn’t take your eyes off of her: with her humorous facial expressions and dancing that can only be described as “like no one is watching”, you could feel every person’s inhibitions fall away, and know that everyone could just enjoy watching without any fear of judgement. 

Mason and her band played through songs including ‘Blowing Smoke’ and ‘Crybaby’ (the latter being released this coming January), both of which could be described as melancholy indie due to not just the sounds, but the feelings and atmosphere the melodies provoked. She then moved into more rock-inspired tracks, introducing the first as “this one’s for the girls” and the second as “its kind of about a zombie apocalypse”, and finally ended the set with ‘Getting Down’, a more upbeat song that hyped up the crowd and got them ready for the headliner: modernlove.

As the band walked on stage, the crowd got louder and louder until they erupted with screams and cheers for the ones they had been waiting for. It was straight into their new single ‘Plans’ from there forward, and the hard-core fans knew each and every word, despite it only being released sixteen days prior. They then ran through a few of their newer tracks: a personal favourite of mine being ‘until my heart stops beating’ for its fast pace, catchy basslines and backing synths. 

Image Credit: Hannah Lauren (@hanlaurenphotos)

Before playing a surprise unreleased track named ‘Don’t Feel Myself’, lead vocalist Barry Lally explained to the audience that the first time they played outside of Ireland, they played at Live at Leeds 2021, and coincidently ended up in The Wardrobe having a wild night, where bassist Daniel Rooney lost his phone. After this somewhat wholesome anecdote, the classic modernlove. tune ‘Islands’ began to play, which always consists of the crowd getting on the floor and jumping up as a collective as the song builds back up, and raises the energy in the room by at least double. That happened again that evening.

Similarly to their supporting artist, the band’s track ‘Come Closer’ has an airy-feel to it, with pitched-up synths and higher pitched vocals making it feel relaxed, but also emotional and raw. Lally went on to say, “being a band in the music industry is very changeable and sh*t, so thank you for sticking around”, which really shows how much the band cares about their audience, and the reciprocation of these words from the crowd showed the mutual appreciation between band and fans. As the show started to come to a close (which as a side note: the time flew by), ‘Take Me Far Away’ rapidly increased the tempo and energy on-stage, so much so that the bassist’s shoe came off and he nearly fell into Lally. 

Just before the encore, a dialogue between band and audience showed how much they care about their fans (and how much better Leeds fans can be compared to those in Manchester). The band exited the stage after a “final” song for the quickest encore Ross and I have ever witnessed, which was quickly commented on by my friend (I imagine they wanted to make sure not to lose the crowd due to still being a relatively small band), before returning for their most streamed and most popular song ‘Follow You’, which led the band out with the biggest bang. 

The night left me truly in awe of a still up-and-coming band, and for my friend’s first time seeing them, he too had the same reaction. You might even say we had a modern love for modernlove.