Wet Leg at Kentish Town Forum in London

words and photos by Alex Gafney

edited by Miyuki Wang

The Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg (Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers) has got to be one of the biggest if not THE biggest breakthrough act in the indie scene in the last year.

Wet Leg primarily started to become notable after a series of support slots after the comeback of live music in the late summer – winter of 2021.

I first discovered Wet Leg when they took the support slot on Declan McKenna's long-awaited tour for his sophomore album Zeros back in August 2021. I was then lucky enough to have them take the support slot for Sports Teams' highly anticipated Deep Down Happy show at the famous O2 Academy Brixton, and Inhaler's It Won't Always Be Like This London date at O2 Forum Kentish Town, with Wet Leg headlining the same venue just over a year later!

In a busy year for the duo, with their debut album release, festival season and what has seemed like constant touring, Wet Leg embarked on their second UK tour of the year, with two dates at the atmospheric O2 Forum Kentish Town. (one of my favourite venues!)

Despite this being my sixth time seeing the indie/post-punk duo in the last year or so, I was still excited to experience what is one of my favourite albums of the year, performed live.

Fans made their way into the venue and were shortly greeted by SLANT, an energetic indie/post-punk band from Brighton with a fantastic stage presence, this being their only support slot of the tour. The second support slot of the night was Lava La Rue, hyping up the crowd with their high energy, electric, Hip-Hop/R&B influenced performance, following their Hi-Fidelity EP release back in July, which features another artist I'm currently growing fond of; Biig Piig. Lava helped to elevate the crowd's energy as well as their band, with the bassist being only 17 years old!!

After 2 energy-inducing, exciting support acts it was time to welcome the Isle of Wight duo's long-awaited entrance to the stage. (As always this was accompanied by the score of Lord of The Rings)

The set began with 'Being in Love,' which is also the opener of their Mercury Prize-nominated album. One of my favourite things about Wet Leg's live performances is the addition of UFO, sci-fi reminiscent sounds used primarily in this song as well as 'Too Late Now' and unreleased tracks like 'Obvious' and 'I wanna be abducted (by a UFO).'

During 'Convincing' vocals were taken over by lead guitarist Hester Chambers for a notably more relaxed song in the set with her softer almost spoken vocal.

A song that always sticks out to me during their set is 'Oh No' with their use of satirical lyrics and commentary on the modern world with their deadpan expressions.

A personal fan favourite of the duo's sets has to be their final single for their album 'Ur Mum,' with standout comedic lyrics and by far my favourite part of the set, the 30-second "longest and loudest screams" from both the band and the crowd, followed by a highlight of their stage presence, Teasdale and Chambers' co-ordinated movements on stage with their signature 360 turns and spins.

The Screaming

The Signature Spin

Throughout the set, two unreleased songs were played including 'Obvious.' The lights dimmed leaving Teasdale in a single spotlight playing a simple picking pattern. Later on in this song, Teasdale surprised the crowd by singing the last part of the song in a stunning, operatic vocal style. The unreleased song 'I wanna be Abducted (By A UFO),' completely contrasted the previous unreleased track as it started with Teasdale positioned at the back of the stage and screaming the words "I WANNA BE ABDUCTEDDDD!!!!!!!" before launching into a highly energetic choreographed performance from Teasdale, with the lack of guitar allowing free movement.

Their most recognisable song and first song released as a band 'Chaise Longue' was a clear choice of closing to their set. As the crowd anticipated the start of the song, Rhian & Hester exited the stage to the wings where they were dressed in graduation robes over their outfits, referencing the song's first verse.

Then anticipated the true highlight of the whole night, as the first chorus started, Wet Leg's band and crew all emerged from the wings wearing notable costumes associated with the world of Wet Leg, including the chaise longue dresses, lobster claws and mop man, all characters featured across their music videos.

By far my favourite souvenir from any gig so far is my Wet Leg degree certificate that was thrown into the crowd at the end of this show, graduating in "good times all the time."

This duo has got to be one of my favourite acts to emerge in the last year and I am so excited to see what's in store for them in the future!!

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SETLIST:

Being in Love

Wet Dream

Supermarket

Convincing

I Don't Wanna Go Out

Obvious (unreleased)

Oh No

I Wanna Be Abducted (by a UFO) (unreleased)

Ur Mum

Too Late Now

Angelica

Chaise Longue

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We would like to thank our brilliant friend Alex for her second entry on our page (check out her first article about Inhaler here).

What I remember from the day I saw Wet Leg for the first time when I was at O2 Forum Kentish Town to see Inhaler in October last year is the way the duo and the other members of the band (Henry Holmes, Ellis Durand and Josh Mobraki) was squeezed up on the stage as they were neatly lined up with each other and how electrified I felt when 'Too Late Now' - an unreleased opening track of their set at the time - transformed into an upbeat, the most fun and catchy tune from what seemed like a slowed down number at the beginning with Rhian's talking-like singing functioning like a light switch. I was instantly hooked by the gap between the rather detached vocals by Rhian and the melodic/uplifting instrumentals in many Wet Leg songs. I still think of it as the biggest charm of this band's sound.

Rhian at OMEARA

They only had 'Chaise Longue' and 'Wet Dream' released back then but I simply had to see them again. From the tiny OMEARA to 100 Club at Oxford Street to Electric Ballroom in Camden and to the vast field at TRNSMT in Glasgow, it was a pleasure to see them get more and more comfortable on stage with time. One of the many things that intrigued me at my first encounters with them was the bond between Rhian and Hester. The way they quietly smiled and giggled at each other from time to time during their set made their performance look private and intimate; being on stage, it felt like they were slowly opening up their secret world. Wet Leg's other interesting gap is the one between their shyness - they are quiet whenever they talk to the crowd on stage and I think they are genuinely still surprised that people, actually so many people love them - and their somewhat suck-my-dick attitude.

Rhian at the 100 Club

I am sure there are many different ways to describe Wet Leg's genre but they are punk to me as they are rebels against people's expectations; not only do they go against people's not-so-uncommon expectations for them to be gentle and docile judging them from how they dress (they dress so nicely) and act and the mere fact that they are a female duo but they also disrupt the expectation for female musicians, especially for those in the indie-music scene to be mature and nuanced to be taken seriously with their deadpan immaturity and absurdity. With rather silly themes and rhetorics in their tunes (especially in 'Chaise Longue,' 'Oh No' and 'Supermarket' etc.) they question and undermine standards for women in indie music. While being widely critically acclaimed (and rightfully so), there are still not a few of those who are pressed about them being an actual big thing. I find it amusing that they are quickly, surely and brilliantly expanding their well-deserved listenership and fanbase with their hard work while simply having "good times all the time." I can't wait to see the path Wet Leg will take me down with them in 2023 and for a lot of catch-ups to do in February when they come to Japan.

Wet Leg at Rough Trade East

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Check Out Wet Leg on their Official Website & Instagram.

Listen to their Mercury Awards & Grammy Nominated debut album Wet Leg on Spotify / Apple Music.

Wet Leg will be touring Japan, supporting acts such as Harry Styles & Pulp in the UK & Europe, playing at festivals including Reading & Leeds in summer in 2023. Find out more on their website.