Wet Leg, English Teacher & Theatre @ Millennium Square, Leeds - 9th July 2026
- John Hayhurst
- Jul 14
- 4 min read
"Rhian in the Mist "– Wet Leg's Leeds show disappeared behind enough dry ice to open its own vape shop!!
Words and Photos - John Hayhurst
Three of the most exciting indie acts, a warm July evening and a packed Millennium Square should have made this one of Leeds' easiest wins of the summer. Musically, it absolutely was. Visually? Well, that depended on whether you could actually see the stage.
Opening the evening were Theatre, and those who made the effort to arrive early were treated to one of the performances of the night. Frontwoman Maeve O'Shea is an absolute force, delivering each song with an intensity that veered between haunting howls, soaring vocals and beautifully controlled melodies, all wrapped in that unmistakable Irish lilt. Every song landed, the band sounded superb and there wasn't a gimmick in sight. It was simply five musicians letting the music do the talking. On this evidence, Theatre won't be opening shows for much longer and I marked them immediately down as "Yet another great Irish band".
Next came Leeds' own English Teacher, welcomed like hometown heroes. Lily Fontaine looked genuinely delighted to be back, spending much of the set smiling, laughing and acknowledging familiar faces in the crowd between songs. It gave the whole performance the feel of a homecoming rather than just another stop on a tour.
They wasted no time, opening with "World's Biggest Paving Slab", immediately drawing one of the loudest singalongs of the evening. Alongside favourites including "R&B" and the magnificent "Nearly Daffodils", the band also slipped in a couple of new songs. Introducing one of them, Fontaine admitted they still hadn't settled on a title, throwing it over to the Leeds crowd: "If anyone's got any ideas what we can call it... let us know." Judging by the reception, whatever name it eventually receives, it's already a keeper.
There were plenty in Millennium Square who had come specifically for English Teacher, and by the end of their set it was easy to understand why. Confident, inventive and completely at ease, they once again proved why they're one of the country's most exciting bands.
Then came Wet Leg.
Thick clouds of dry ice poured relentlessly from either side of the stage. Large industrial fans appeared to keep the fog hanging over the centre area rather than allowing the evening breeze to carry it away. Walking on to "catch these fists", Rhian Teasdale strode purposefully to the front of the stage, puffed out her chest and struck an exaggerated bodybuilder pose. It instantly brought to mind Stars in Their Eyes. "...Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be Rhian Teasdale from Wet Leg."
It was a brilliant opening image... for the fortunate few who actually managed to see it through the fog. Combined with relentless white strobes, the effect was that much of Wet Leg's headline set unfolded behind what looked like a glowing white cloud.
Rhian regularly disappeared whenever she returned to the microphone or picked up her guitar, only becoming visible in fleeting glimpses when she ventured right to the front of the stage. Hester Chambers, positioned further back for much of the evening, was even harder to spot, often reduced to little more than a silhouette.
It quickly became the main talking point around the square. Everywhere you looked, people were craning their necks, moving position or laughing in disbelief as yet another plume of smoke swallowed the band whole. It was frustrating because, underneath it all, Wet Leg were sounding fantastic.
The setlist delivered everything fans could have wanted from the band's first two albums. "Oh No", "Wet Dream", "Being in Love", "Ur Mum", "Too Late Now", "Angelica", "Chaise Longue", "CPR" and the closing "mangetout" all hit exactly as they should. If there was one slight criticism musically, it was that the sound became a little muddy in places around Millennium Square, but never enough to take away from the songs themselves.
One of the night's funniest moments came when Teasdale unexpectedly hit the deck mid-song. She laughed it off instantly, prompting more than a few people nearby to joke that she probably couldn't see where she was going any better than the audience could.
When "Chaise Longue" finally arrived, Millennium Square erupted. Drinks were hoisted into the air, every lyric was shouted back at the stage and the square became one giant indie disco. It was exactly the moment everyone had been waiting for. Which is why the production felt so baffling.
Wet Leg have developed into a formidable live band. They're tighter, heavier and more confident than ever, and this set proved they've comfortably outgrown the "one-hit wonder" tag that some unfairly attached to them after their debut. The chemistry between the band is obvious, Rhian remains an effortlessly charismatic frontwoman, and the songs from both albums sat seamlessly together. The irony is that the audience could hear every bit of that progression. They just couldn't always see it. For much of the crowd, it simply obscured a band that deserved to be watched as much as they deserved to be heard.
Sometimes less really is more.
