Gig review: Dea Matrona at Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
The Northern Irish duo are growing in confidence, buoyed by a recent appearance in the BBC One police drama Blue Lights.
Dea Matrona, the Belfast duo of Orlaith Forsythe and Mollie McGinn, formed in 2018, delighted the Brudenell last night with their Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin-tinged alternative rock.
Since their last appearance in Leeds at The Wardrobe in May 2024, their profile was raised by an appearance in the hit series Blue Lights and they have augmented their live sound with a new drummer and additional guitarist to showcase songs from their first album, For Your Sins.
Strong support from Sheffield’s Gia Ford warmed us up nicely for opening bars of Red Button with its typical superb harmonies and crunching guitars. They are more confident and slicker than 18 months ago, with a fine line in banter, honed in their Belfast busking days, which came into its own when the drummer needed to swap his snare drum.
They threw in well-judged covers of Fleetwood Mac’s Oh Well, which was loud and heavy, and Nirvana’s Love Buzz which had the crowd dancing along.
Regularly swapping bass, guitar and vocal duties, the duo demonstrated versatility in the stunning Glory, Glory (We Are Free) with its soft instrumentals and beautiful harmonies while Wilderness is the Irish Miley Cyrus singalong you didn’t know you needed!
So Damn Dangerous was slow and sexy, My Own Party had a successful live debut and Orlaith leapt into the crowd to sing Get My Mind Off.
They left the stage to shouts of “One more song” before Ross the drummer and Declan on guitar, returned modelling tour t-shirts for a rousing intro to the Knack’s My Sherona, with the lyrics punningly changed to Dea Matrona! Orlaith and Mollie bounced back on stage for Stamp On It with its driving energy providing a fitting end to a great gig.
They stayed at the mercy desk, signing albums and chatting happily long after the show ended. They are on the way to becoming a great band – see them live if you can!