The Lovely Eggs – Live Review – Leeds Brudenell

By Victoria Holdsworth, April 2022

There were no two ways about it, tonight was gonna be a cracking start to the Easter weekend with The Lovely Eggs.

It’s the last night of the tour, and the Brudenell is sold out, unlike the band’s last appearance at the venue, which was a much quieter affair, given that lockdown had just ended. But looking at the faces around me, tonight people are definitely up for a party.

Noteable props to the support acts, in the way of The Bug Club, and poet Rob Auten, who manage to keep the crowd stir crazy as they wait for the proudly independent Northern psychedelic punk rock duo to take to the stage.

As soon as Dave and Holly are visible, the die hard Gipton Wood Crew (Leeds Branch) erupts at front of stage and Holly takes her usual swig of Strongbow. Dave settles behind his kit, and they rip straight into ‘This Decision’, the first single from the highly acclaimed album, I Am Moron.

It is loud, dirty, fuzzed out and tears through some exquisite punctuated drum beats from Dave, as Holly and her vocal effects feel like a swirling tirade moving around you. The force and swagger with which the pair go at things, straight off the bat, tells me that they really mean business. Without missing a beat we are into ‘Still Second Rate’ and ‘The Digital Hair’, which are equally as hard and heavy, taking things up notch by notch, with some outstanding trigger loops and synth based effects adding to the anthemic feel.

“Utterly captivating”

Taking a moment to welcome everyone tonight and to thank them for coming, Holly always recants how special the venue is to them and how much they love playing here, and how the tour could not have finished in a better place. They really are adored round this neck of the woods.

‘I Wanna’ gets the crowd shouting along to every vocal blast that Holly puts out there, but it is the hypnotic, mesmerising and utterly captivating ‘Magic Onion’ that sees her lose control and just completely rock out, owning the stage and her crowd.

There are plenty of stories woven between songs, and tonight Holly and Dave meet the young man who lost his auction bid for Dave’s Vintage Mickey Mouse soap on eBay. “The poor lad is traumatised,” exclaims Holly. His name is actually Alistair, and how do I know? Well, I was stood next to him the whole gig. My friend will never be the same again.

‘You’ve Got The Ball’ sees Dave and Holly throw out six footballs into the masses, which promptly start being tossed around overhead, and not a spilt drink in sight. It certainly revs up the engines, and after an almost lulling ‘Please Let Me Come Mooch Round Your House’, the unmistakable guitar riff of ‘Fu*k It’ starts, and the noise is deafening.

Whilst the set tonight is invested heavily in the tracks from I Am Moron, there are some belters from This Is Eggland, released back in 2018, and ‘Wiggy Giggy’ and ‘Witchcraft’ are two stand out performances tonight.

‘You Can Go Now’ is a cracking little anthem, with crowd participation aplenty. It is one of those songs that lulls you into a false sense of security, then wallops you with a hefty dose of killer indie melodies.

“Chemistry and atmosphere”

‘Food’, a cleverly crafted song about mastication, is plucky and fun and will have you moving at least one part of your body in time to the feel good riffs. The vocal breaks from Holly again add to the uniqueness of everything that they put into this. The progressive drum beats on this song alone get the blood pressure raised to a dancing level and beyond.

Another belter from This Is Eggland, ‘I’m With You’, with its mind bending fuzzed out effects, relentless beats and pumping rhythms from Holly on guitar has an energy that really draws you in, before machine-gunning in some lovely vocal breaks.

The end of the set sees a dirty, grungy, completely punked out, raw grit fuelled ‘Return Of Withcraft’, also from This Is Eggland. There are no encores – Holly needs a drink and to party with her masses. There are no complaints from anyone in the building, and god love ’em, they deserve it after the performance they put in tonight.

I didn’t think it was possible to better the aforementioned album, however tonight has proven that no matter what Holly and Dave put their minds to they can better it every time. The I Am Moron tracks played live sound just as edgy and tight as through my speakers, but it’s the chemistry and atmosphere that these two produce which make them a force to be reckoned with. The Lovely Eggs are simply outstanding.