The Wave Pictures + The Lodger: 12th August – The Library, Leeds

Upstairs at the Library is a very civilised place for a gig get there early to grab a comfy chair. A wet Tuesday night brought together two wonderful acts.

Bob: I first became aware of The Lodger after Si brought along their debut LP and singles along to the Favourites of 2007 meeting and instantly fell for ‘Many thanks for your honest opinion’ (the last tune in tonights set). Live, they don’t disappoint. Ben Siddall, lead Lodger, was wearing indie-issue red check shirt and thin cardigan (I felt out of place until the guy taking the cash complimented me on my ‘Come on feel the Illonoise’ T-shirt) and played a great set featuring a lot of new material “I wrote the lyrics for this one this morning”. The band were tight and I for one look forward to holding a copy of their new CD

Lee: Lodger intense guitar. Great lyrics, occasionally swamped by guitar but moments of clarity left you wanting more. Backing trio of drum, bass and guitar was faithful in its combination to some of the great indie tunes of the past, all the more appealing because of that.

Bob: The Wave Pictures are indie gold. Lead singer Dave Tattersall asked the crowd to move closer and then beguiled with his superb lyrics, spilling out whilst he gazed longingly at the rafters, with the spot light accentuating the effect of his blonde mane. My favoutite tune seemed to be a stream of consciousness including a section that catalogued the contents of his fridge Awesome.

Lee: Wave Pictures – no intro. No need. Lazy but interesting guitar drew the audience in to the stage, and soon had them toe-tapping. Having enjoyed the perfect indie combo, we were now challenged to listen to eccentric lyrics that demanded our immediate attention. Just like their opening guitar, the Wave Pictures words drew you in to the stage and what started as interesting became indispensable to the evening. Singer charismatically ruling the microphone as well as the audience, whose toe-tapping had evolved to head-nodding and body swinging by the time the third song was introduced.

“If there’s anything anybody wants to hear just ask us…” Someone at the front does “….Oh, I don’t sing that one anymore, but our Drummer does! He’s a local Huddersfield boy!”

Drummer singing, Johnny Cash died today – absolute gem.

– Bob the Chiropodist + Dr Lee PhD