The Leisure Society – ULU, London 22/07/09

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Photographs by Rich Thane

So despite being hotly tipped by us at TLOBF for being a worthy recipient of a Mercury Prize nomination, in the end The Leisure Society had a bit of a lucky escape not being included in that particular crock of shit. As it happens, TLS are looking rather worried and nervous tonight, but I suspect it has nothing to do with their Mercury snub, and more to do with the palpable level of excitement in ULU tonight for their biggest headline show to date.

Looking rather like a rabbit (ok, family of rabbits) caught in the headlights, The Leisure Society shuffle onto the stage looking more than a bit nervous, and take up their instruments with barley a glance out into the assembled masses.

Luckily though none of them are suffering from shaking hands, and as they launch into a set featuring highlights from The Sleeper, their confidence grows, and it even looks like they might be enjoying themselves. With seven members, The Leisure Society make a wonderfully warm, full sound, as well as the odd flutter of individual instruments being audible above the general lovely cacophony.

Their unlikely cover of Gary Newman’s ‘Cars’ turns the track into a stripped back ukulele led number, with that annoying synth line sounding much nicer on a flute. And, whilst it takes them a while to warm up, front-man Nick Hemming does eventually look up and out into the crowd, even attempting a cheeky bit of banter, which is of course warmly received by the crowd, who are in fact one of the most respectful and reverend I’ve seen in a while.

There’s an jubilant sound about The Leisure Society’s music, similar to Arcade Fire, songs like ‘A Matter of Time’ and ‘Last of the Melting Snow’ go down as well as jelly and ice cream at a birthday party. However they’re also capable of creating beautifully melancholic moments, particularly in the eerie, ethereal sounds of ‘We Were Wasted’.

By the end of the show the band are well and truly out of their shell, and are lapping up the rapturous applause. They also give our very own Rich Thane a special dedication before they launch into a debut performance of album highlight ‘Give Yourself A Fighting Chance’… much to his huge embarrassment of course…!

So a rather triumphant show for The Leisure Society, and hopefully onwards and upwards – and we’ll see who can still remember La Roux et al in a year’s time.