On the 21st of January in the small underground bar at the Verve in Leeds, the club became a mecca for indie and live music lovers alike as the bar held host to the Ormstons, MOM and Jellyskins. A night that consisted of many angry opinions against Donald Trump, plenty of beer and 3 cracking band, the Verve might have just had three bands that are on to big things play on its tiny stage.
First to take to the stage was local indie rock band, Ormstons. Complete of Bobby on guitar, Josh on bass, Nathan on drums and Jess on vocals, gig goers waited in anticipation for the band to kick off. The audience were taken back as front women, Jess, emitted girl power as she exploded into song with her powerful vocals, with the rest of the band erupting with sound behind her. With confident stage presence oozing from each member, captivating drum clashes, delightful guitar rhythms and timely bass riffs, Ormstones set the high standard of what the gig goers should from expect from the rest of the night. Despite only being students, the band have pretty much supported every local band in Leeds, got to the battle of the bands final and got a couple of songs on the go. There’s no doubt about it: the Ormstones have Leeds in their clutches.
In light of the women’s marches, recently occurring all across the world, indie rock girl band, MOM, felt like a breath of fresh air in all the turmoil as they began their groovy and cheerful set to the shouts of ‘Donald Trump is a c**t’ from the audience. With Sarah on bass/vocals, Brooke on lead guitar, Hannah on rhythm guitar and Beth on drums, MOM’s sound is that of a feel good soundtrack, with each song filled with soothing guitar and bass, pulsating drums and groovy vocals; quite a similar sound to some of Wolf Alice’s tracks. Although the girls experienced some technical difficulties, the girls powered on though. It was a particular highlight to see all the girls come together in the song ‘Early July’, which saw Sarah and Hannah share the mic as they screamed the lyrics. If you are indie lover or even want to listen to a cool girl band do their stuff, MOM are the ones to listen to.
With a new single just released in the last week, Jellyskins were the last to headline the Verve. A unique and peculiar band, guitarist Will started the set by taking off his docs only to perform in his odd socks as drummer Olly, counted the trio in. After listening to Jellyskin on Spotify in the last few days, seeing them live really shows how talented each member of the band actually are; when performing ‘She Sung Oceans’ vocalist Zia, seemed to send the spectators under her spell with her dreamy voice. The Verve also saw Jellyskin showcase their new single, ‘Milk of Magnesia’ which caught a few people swaying along to the hazy single filled with enchanting vocals, alluring drum beats and irresistible guitar riffs. Although the trio have only been together a short while, the band have spent much the last year writing and composing their psychedelic sounds and their sheer talent shows when you see them live.
It is safe to say that this has been a pretty tragic week for the world, with Donald Trump becoming president and women STILL having to fight for their rights, but, at least we can say that we still have super cool bars with awesome local bands to get drunk to! So if you are still crying over Trump, be sure to check out when each of these bands are next set to play live and go see them!
Sarah Oglesby
(Images: Sarah Oglesby)