With high dancing knees and beer-soaked tees, Reverend and the Makers led their congregation at the O2 Academy on a very special kind of sermon. Jumping straight into the set with the sensational bass lines of ‘Heavyweight Champion Of The World’ and ‘Shine The Light’, there is no time to react in any other way than following Jon McClure’s instructions to the letter and “bounce, bounce everybody”.

Having only ever seen two of the five-piece supergroup perform in the past, as a support to Leeds’s very own Pigeon Detectives, it was exciting to see just how much extra Reverend and the Makers had to give when all together at once. For ‘He Said He Loved Me’, in particular, the complementary pairing of both John and Laura McClure’s vocals allowed the gig to reach a timely climax, before the customary trumpets are brought out to end the show.

This was one of the very few gigs, however, in which an encore was not demanded by the audience the moment the stage was left bare, as Reverend and the Makers had one last gift to give to Leeds. “Meet us outside”, hailed the band, and so we did, to witness the streets of Leeds be blessed with an acoustic set to follow up the indoor antics less than 10 minutes earlier. No matter what happens in the start and middle, Reverend and the Makers sure know how to finish a set with style. 

Joseph Mason

Header Image Via Jessica McCarrick