Gig review: The Night Cafe at The Wardrobe, Leeds

Hazy, heavenly melodics were rife in Leeds on Monday evening as The Night Café brought their eclectic live show to the city for a sold out performance at The Wardrobe.
The Night Cafe at The Wardrobe, Leeds. Picture: Faith GledhillThe Night Cafe at The Wardrobe, Leeds. Picture: Faith Gledhill
The Night Cafe at The Wardrobe, Leeds. Picture: Faith Gledhill

For a band yet to release their debut album, this Liverpudlian quartet manage to inspire impressive levels of loyalty from their plentiful legions of fans, with the band even declaring at one point that this had been the “rowdiest crowd of the tour so far.”

From the emphatic and high-powered ‘Mixed Signals’ to the somewhat softer, yet equally effectual ‘Addictive’, the set is a seamless display of stalwart power-pop. There’s a beautifully indescribable simplicty to their performance with each track easing effortlessly into the next, despite the undeniable versatility within much of their music.

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There’s a noticeable variation in age range, proving that their work appeals to the masses and not one singular generation... and the charismatic four-piece are so obviously humbled by the prodigious appreciation shown by their audience, with frontman Sean Martin delightedly exclaiming that this was the “First show of the current tour to sell out.”

The Night Cafe at The Wardrobe, Leeds. Picture: Faith GledhillThe Night Cafe at The Wardrobe, Leeds. Picture: Faith Gledhill
The Night Cafe at The Wardrobe, Leeds. Picture: Faith Gledhill

Despite their youth, there’s a stirring maturity to their sound that many bands twice their age would kill for; they have an art for rich and immersive songcraft, laced with attitude and complete with deliciously addictive choruses that you can’t help but sing along to.

Dexterously defined by stellar instrumentation and a harmoniously buoyant vocal verve, their zealous confidence is most certainly well justified.