Gig review: Opus Kink at Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Brighton-based post-punk outfit Opus Kink have been making waves in the DIY music scene since the release of their first single, ‘Mosquito’, back in 2019. Four years on, the band travelled up north to play a fantastic headline set at the iconic Brudenell Social Club in Leeds.

The group are no strangers to Brudenell, having play a raucous late-night set there at Live At Leeds: In the City last year, and the venue was as welcoming as ever to their unique blend of blistering post-punk with a healthy jazz and funk influence.

Kicking off the set with a brand-new track, entitled ‘Sunday’, the packed crowd were immediately on-board with the crooning of frontman Angus Rogers. By the time the band erupted into their much beloved song ‘I Love You, Baby’ a large mosh pit had already enveloped the majority of the crowd at Brudenell.

In contrast to the sub-zero temperatures outside in the surroundings of Hyde Park, the searing intensity of the band’s set soon caused the temperature in the room to soar, becoming distinctly…sweaty.

Their set consisted of a handful of brand-new tracks, with a darker and more mature sound, in addition to their crowd-pleasing classics like ‘Wild Bill’ or ‘This Train’ and material from their most recent release, My Eyes, Brother.

Although there is a definite sense of progression in their new music, the group certainly retain the energy of the punk-jazz fusion that have made their live shows so noteworthy in their time as a band so far.

The horn section of the band – Jed Morgans on saxophone and Jack Banjo Courtney on trumpet – is brilliant, and definitely set Opus Kink apart from the seemingly endless conveyor belt of generic post-punk groups populating grassroots venues across the country. How many other young bands out there can illicit such an intense mosh pit for a saxophone solo?

Rogers stagecraft and hold over the crowd is undeniable and helped to create an electric atmosphere throughout the gig.

Too cool for encores, the band typically finish their shows with the crowd-pleasing epic, ‘This Train’.

However, in Leeds Opus Kink opted to pay tribute to the late Shane MacGowan who clearly had a big influence over this group as well as an untold number of others. Finishing the set with an emotional cover of ‘Rainy Night in Soho’, Opus Kink then sent the audience back out to a frosty night in Leeds.