A real Leg up
THE Isle of Wight duo of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, better known as Wet Leg, sold out Rock City on Friday night, despite there being a very important football match being played in the World Cup.
Now a household name, they are a band addictively easy to love or equally as easy to hate for their overnight success.
Their self-titled debut album has catapulted them to the top of the UK album charts, with five Grammy Award nominations, a pre-recorded performance on the Jonathan Ross Show and a support slot for Harry Styles’ stadium tour of Australia and New Zealand next year.
So the excitement was palpable as lead vocalist Teasdale and guitarist Chambers bounced on stage with unbridled enthusiasm and after the intro it was straight into their album’s dreamy opener Being In Love, followed up with their second single, the funky Wet Dreams, played with wonderful vigour.
Wet Leg have won over their many fans because of Teasdale’s lyrics which resonated with this crowd. This is evident on tracks like Supermarket, Too Late Now and haunting non-album song Obvious.
But they truly come into their own with their rockier approach on quirky fan-favourites Oh No and Ur Mum which saw Teasdale lean over the barrier and scream at some startled, but delighted fans.
They ended their 50-minute set with Angelica and their signature song Chaise Longue before leaving the stage without saying a word.
There was no encore and there had been very little between-song chatter, but what they brought to Rock City was sheer excitement, their charismatic charm and the ability to show that they are a standalone phenomenon who are going places.
They just need to find the time to work on that second album.
And, as for those fans who chose to watch some World Cup football before catching the last 30 minutes of Wet Leg’s set, then there is no doubting who got the better deal.