Indie pop band Reverend and the Makers treated fans to an impromptu gig outside the Union last Thursday.

The band were heading back from a show at the Refectory as part of their UK tour, when they decided to climb onto the benches, get out their guitars and spontaneously perform a live set consisting of their own hits and some covers.

A large crowd soon gathered to watch the band perform. Leeds Student, toiling away in the office upstairs, downed tools and sprinted the stairs to catch an interview with bass-player Joe Carnall.

Carnell told us about recording a new album in the coming year, and a possible trip to the U.S. Closer to home, he promised the band would be returning to Leeds at the end of the month, with a gig at Otley Courthouse.

When asked about his time with the band, he said “I’m just enjoying every gig, and I know it sounds a bit pathetic, but I got to play with Noel Gallagher earlier this year in the Sheffield arena, so that’s what really matters to me”, adding, “everyone in the band is having a great time”.

He also told us that the crowd was “brilliant, really good, because we’ve had some amazing gigs so far on this tour and it was like, is it going to live up to our expectation? But tonight was brilliant”.

Were we the best crowd he has seen? “Manchester was brilliant, Leeds was brilliant, Liverpool was brilliant, and so was Newcastle, but yeah, Leeds was amazing.”

We thought so.

Words: Jack Wilkinson