Sometimes you need to start a review with a little confession. I was one of the doubters who at the start of the year was of the belief that Wet Leg were about to become the latest act consigned to the one album wonders dustbin. Not without due reason I should – after they had broken through and charmed us all in 2022 they’d spent the next two summers picking up various festival and support slots, performing virtually the same set with no trace of new material. Maybe it wasn’t the biggest surprise that following up an album that had been brewed with such a distinct and unique chemistry was seemingly proving to be a challenge.
Luckily though, on this occasion I was pretty pleased to be proven completely wrong, leading me to be part of the crowd at Sheffield’s The Foundry for an album launch show to celebrate second album Moisturizer (which my pedantic side is still slightly annoyed that it didn’t get spelled Moisturiser). As the band emerged through a fog of dry ice and flashing strobes to kick straight into lead single Catch these Fists it was clear that the three years since they burst onto the scene they weren’t afraid to evolve musically or image wise.
Gone were the ankle length dresses that seemed so fitting for the whimsicalness of their early material, instead singer Rhian Teasdale was now a cocktail of ripped jeans, toned abs and tattoos, striding the stage with increased assurance and confidence. The previous times I’d seen them guitarist Hester Chambers almost felt like a secondary frontwoman, now she lurked towards the back of the stage, shunning the limelight and seemingly avoiding casting her glance towards the audience. Working their way through a set comprising almost equal parts new and old, the likes of mangetout felt like it could have slipped straight onto the debut album and nobody would have felt it out of place, whilst Pillow Talk showed a more aggressive edge to the band’s output, feeling reminiscent of early Foo Fighters and other nineties alternative rock acts.
Unsurprisingly with Moisturizer only having been out for just over a week it was the older songs that gained the biggest crowd reaction. The last time I’d seen Wet Leg live, supporting Pulp at Finsbury Park, it was one of those strange nights where I felt like the only person in my section of the crowd paying attention to them. This of course lead to some bemused faces around me when I launched into my longest and loudest scream for Ur Mum, but thankfully performing to a home crowd a celebratory level of audience participation was seen here. Similarly the call and response of “Excuse me! What?” of Chaise Longue still remains one of the joyous moments on the current live music scene.
With recent single CPR finishing off proceedings one thing is very clear. Not only have Wet Leg proved the doubters wrong and defied the curse of the second album, they’ve excelled and refined the recipe that made them stars in the first place. A full touring schedule for the remainder of 2025 looks like it’s keep the band occupied, but hopefully work on album number three won’t be too far away.
***
Wet Leg performed:
catch these fists
liquidize
Oh No
Too Late Now
Ur Mum
jennifer’s body
Being in Love
pillow talk
davina mccall
Angelica
Chaise Longue
mangetout
CPR
Alex Reviews Gigs 
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