Gig review: The Breeders at O2 Academy Leeds

Fresh from a tour of US arenas with Olivia Rodrigo, The Breeders seem a band that are ripe for rediscovery. And so it proves here at the O2 Academy Leeds with a healthy contingent of youthful Generation Z converts mingling with the diehards now in their fifties who were there for Kim Deal & Co in their initial flush of fame back in the early 1990s.

Ahead of their appearance at Glastonbury Festival this weekend, the mood is celebratory and their 75-minute set is dominated by songs from Last Splash, their million-selling LP which regularly features in ‘greatest albums of all-time’ lists and was reissued last year to mark its 30th anniversary.

But there are nods to other parts of their catalogue too with a handful of selections from their debut disc Pod and three highlights from their most recent record, All Nerve, which came out in 2018.

They open with a chugging rendition of Saints, during which drummer Jim MacPherson tosses one of his drumsticks in the air and confidently catches it without missing a beat, then shift up a gear with Wait in the Car and Doe, where Josephine Wiggs’ muscular basslines add considerable heft to the rhythm section.

Before each chorus of When I Was a Painter Kim Deal leans backwards then enthusiastically launches into its two-chord riff with her hair flying. But there are variations in pace too. Night of Joy, from 2008’s Mountain Battles, is hushed with Kim’s voice sounding sweet and vulnerable.

There’s a moment of levity when MacPherson comes to the front of the stage, saying that Kim wanted him to talk to the audience to “improve my people skills”, and he recalls that the last time the band played in Leeds it was “somewhere really sticky” and he “lost a pair of shoes”.

Kim’s sister Kelley swaps her guitar for a bass for the low-end assault of Off You and takes lead vocal for I Just Wanna Get Along. Only in 3’s is unapologetically ragged, the sisters harmonise effectively in Do You Love Me Now? and there’s an impressive urgency about New Year.

Cannonball, their biggest chart hit which has found new life on TikTok and streaming platforms, prompts the Gen Zs to film it on their smartphones but there’s an even greater singalong to the country-ish cover Drivin’ On 9.

They tackle The Beatles’ Happiness Is a Warm Gun with zest, Wiggs takes lead vocal on the grungy MetaGoth and they round off with the indie disco favourite Gigantic, which Kim Deal co-wrote with Black Francis when they were in Pixies.

For the encore they mix the eerie Walking With a Killer with two of Last Splash’s popiest songs, Invisible Man and Divine Hammer. Exiting to loud applause, it’s obvious that The Breeders’ scruffy charm has worked its magic again. Roll on Glastonbury.