Soap Girls Live in Leeds

When this line up was first announced back in Sept it was only a matter of the tickets had to be bought and time off work was booked!

Arriving at the Brudnell Social Club after an Hour and a half drive, the car park was full and the outside drinking area also was also already in use by a fair number of hardy souls, which was a sign that even on a Tuesday night this promised to be a well attended live show.

1st up and they hopefully would agree that LoGOz are not only a headline band in their own right, but as a warm up band you couldn’t ask for any better. 

The addition of Peesh the led singers son Kieran on bass over recent months has definitely bolstered and added a much stronger sound to what was always in the past a 3 piece guitar led band. Hitting off with “Long Time Dead” which has been their lead off song for a long time and for very good reason, the audience are now puled in from the bars and listening with intent, you can see the feet tapping and the nodding of heads starting to grow. When you go to a LoGOz gig your not ever gonna go away disappointed, smashing out songs like “Bones Of Yesterday”, “Hello Lonely” and the wonderful “Disgraceland” with all the conviction that comes from loving what your doing, Paul (Lead Guitar), Carlos (Drums) both being as good as you you would want for to back up a top lead singer/song writer in Peesh.  Having added the new song “Digital Detox” to the set which also links into another fairly new song “Social Media” which ended their set with shouts of more! coming from the depths of the hall.

And so to The Yalla Yallas Leeds favourite sons, Rob Galloway (Lead Vocal), Will Grinder (Lead Guitar), Vince Cayo (Bass) and Grant Henderson (Drums).

Kicking off their set with “Barcelona” and then straight into “Another Day In Hell” this live show has already set its stall out to be an amazing way to spend a cold November night, with all the energy and emotion that pours from the stage they already have the audience in the palm of their hands.  With some of the most subtle but sublime lead guitar that has graced a stage Will Grinder helps this band hit great heights, with dancing going on all over the floor now, Rob Galloway is like a firework that has just been lit, smouldering along for a very short time at the off and then simply exploding like a Catherine wheel, jumping around and feeding off just how much love is being thrown at him from the floor, with the song “Somewhere Anywhere” and a lyric like “I wanna dance with you in the eye of a hurricane” that’s exactly how a Yalla Yallas gig feels, you are in the eye and the storm is spinning all around you! 

“Sound Of The Kraken” and “Medusa” find there way on to the set list and any Yalla Yallas set list would not be complete without them, jumping off the stage ripping the t-shirt off and prowling around the audience with all the joining in singing into the mic that’s taking place you are left in no doubt as to why Rob is one of the best front person for a band in the industry along with all the great song writing. We are reaching the end of the show now, with bodies all sweaty and cheering coming from all around its impossible to find a soul in there that didn’t get it. Last 2 songs “already” we hear, “Problems” with the addition of lyric from “Flat 29” by Bedlam Ago Go who’s guitarist Twill sadly passed away a week before aged only 53, this hit the whole band badly, so adding this in was even for the audience a very emotional moment and a true tribute!  Ending with the new single “Into The Future”  now joined by friends on stage its an atmosphere of exactly that, you leave a Yalla Yallas gig feeling like we are all friends and all one family.

To The headline act Soap Girls, from all the hype to all the stories branded around about the 2 Debray sisters Camile (Bass & Vocal) and Noemie (Guitar & Vocal) awaiting for them to arrive on stage is an audience that does have a larger number of photographers than has been seen at even some of the biggest bands around, so as the light dims and they take to the stage it becomes clear as to why this is the case, they are dressed in very little in fact Camile is fully topless other than body paint which as their whole ethos as a band demands not be something that should even be a factor in you coming to a Soap Girls gig! 

The imagery they give off is one of, we are here, we are who we are and you should not judge us, their intro explains this in full and stands true to the Punk ethics that we all have at heart in this community.

As the first songs starts “Ex Girlfriend” it’s clear to see that pretty much everyone is here to enjoy the whole experience with so many smiling faces around the hall is testament to this.  Song after song you can look around and see that they have a loyal following, people singing and knowing every word, people dancing and also people that clearly are there to see them for the first time, but all are enjoying every second.

A duo is what they are, but with the drummer Sam giving every ounce of power to the back line that they could wish for, you are struck with how tight this whole set up is. 

With every subsequent song your now mesmerised by the girls strength and ability to deliver Punk, Rock, alternative and possibly even Metal in the set to name a few of the gems “Johnny Rotten”, “Society’s Rejects” and “Charlie Brown”, if all this is not enough you are also held with baited breath as Camile gives a master class on how to play Bass whilst carrying out moves that quite simply the top Gymnasts would be proud of, oh and Noemie’s infectious smiling throughout (clearly loving every second of the moment).

If all this was not enough, the end is still such a long way off (in total they smash through 16 songs) now you get the sense of musical craft and standard they can achieve “Hate Breeds” and “Drown” being perfect examples of this, pure class is with no compromise.  But there has to be an end and why not finish with some of the strongest songs that you hold in your arsenal “Bad Bitch” which is the cue for audience participation, girls singing along into the mic with the band and guys dancing across the stage (literally in some cases).

Going to see the Soap Girls live should now be the one thing everyone should have in their lives!

The Soap Girls facebook can be found HERE

And their website is HERE

For all the Photos from the whole night can be found HERE