A stadium gig condensed into a student union was on the cards in Leeds on Saturday.

Review and photos by Stuart Duthie

The night opened with The Molotovs, an energetic trio headed by brother and sister Matthew and Issey Cartlidge. With a large queue outside, the doors opening at 7 and the Molotovs on at 7:15, I was delighted I didn’t miss them. A solid set to warm the crowd up, with lively playing by bassist Issey laying down the theme of “performance” for the night.

Their sound has echoes of late 1970s London, with a nod to the Jam and influenced by those who followed such as the Libertines. Still in their teens, they feel part of an uprising of kids that have grown up in a digital era but are relishing a more analogue existence.

They are still the size of band that you can find on their own merch stall, and I spoke to Issey after the show. She told me how the band were born of necessity through lockdown, where the only band they could be in was with each other. This took them to the streets of London, busking and bringing the joy of performance to a starved public.

Now a busy touring band, they finish this tour on the 9November and then are out to Sweden, followed by dates on their own tour in Italy and Spain. You can catch them back in Leeds supporting Yungblud, but with shows like this, and the attention of the media and other bands such as Green Day, it won’t be long before they are headlining dates here in the UK.

After a short break, The Hunna emerged to the atmospheric The Storm, a perfect entrance-song for a show, before bursting into the feisty Take a Ride which unleashes the rock power of this band. Sounding like they should be playing far bigger venues than this, The Hunna took full control of the room with a fully engaged crowd. They are the type of band able to converse with their audience and Ryan stopped to check in with the crowd to see how they were doing – and the crowd could speak back.

Hailing from Watford, their first two albums secured 12^th and 13^th place in the album charts. Based on tonight’s performance, and with the issues with their management company fading into history, surely they are now poised for bigger things.

As they closed the set, Ryan Potter asked, “hopefully we have warmed you up for Palaye Royale?”  Well, mate, far more than warmed up: tonight, we had two headliners on the bill!

They have a new EP out on 14 November entitled Blue Transition and the promise of a new album in 2026 which I am looking forward to hearing.

You can catch them in various venues as they continue to tour, headlining their own shows in November. Even though they have played some big festival stages in the past, they are continuing to tour smaller venues, and I would recommend seeing them before they outgrow these intimate gigs.

You’ll have heard Palaye Royale on BBC Radio 1 during the COVID period with songs such as No Love in LA. I last saw them at Download festival where they played the main stage, just far enough into the day to have their logo on the lineup poster. They put on a good show there, filling the stage and engaging the crowd. So, what would they be like at this 1000-capacity venue, the smallest on their tour?

The answer was like dynamite as they exploded onto the stage with Death or Glory, launching a 70-minute 14-song performance with settings turned up to eleven. Most surprising was that around four songs in singer Remington Leith announced he had woken up this morning to find his voice wasn’t working well. Honestly, in those first songs, you wouldn’t have noticed, and it was only later when he struggled to hit some of those higher notes.

Although he apologised a couple of times further, for me, it didn’t dampen my enjoyment of this set. It contained all the elements you want in a live show, great stage energy, a mosh pit which Remington leapt into, and stage pyrotechnics. The band were often perched right on the stage edge, leaning towards the crowd as those at the front stretched up to reach their stars.

As they started Pretty Stranger, huge ball-balloons were launched into the crowd. Then, as they played, Remington launches himself into a crowd-surf on an inflatable dingy, standing upon it and punching the air as the song closes.

As they came back for the encore, Remington asked his bandmates and the audience with help singing to save his voice and the crowd certainly obliged, also flashing up heart signs with their hands to show their love and support.

This was a true stadium gig, compressed to fit Becketts Student Union. Overall, this must be one of the best gigs I have been to this year – three energetic rock bands with brilliant performances that deserved to be in a bigger venue than this!

The Molotovs, The Hunna, and Palaye Royale played at Leeds Becketts Student Union on Saturday 8 November 2025.