Wet Leg Bring Moisturizer to Montréal

Unfortunately the audio from the short interviews with members of Wet Leg was lost forever

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Wet Leg played Metropolis on Saturday on the northern leg of the band’s moisturizer tour. The indie group from the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, played a high-energy show with lyrics that would unnerve any good Catholic boy.

Wet Leg burst onto the indie/post punk scene in 2021 with the release of “Chaise Longue,” the band's debut single. They then worked with Dan Carey on their self-titled debut album and that’s when a feeling of imposter syndrome crept in for lead singer, Rhian Teasdale. There has only been more media attention and a growing fan base since then but with the release of their sophomore album, Wet Leg have found themselves in a good spot.

The place was already full shortly after the opener, Mary and the Junkyard, took the stage at 8 pm. I wasn’t able to get close to the stage until the set was finished and some people cleared out. Even then it took some doing and I followed a line of girls who shamelessly pushed to the front.

It was a long wait between sets and Wet Leg finally came out playing “Catch These Fists,” the first single on moisturizer. Teasdale walked out of the fog with her arms up, flexing–her signature move. She began singing and lunged left then right on each beat while the lights flashed intensely. She wore a white tank top with “Follow Me! I’m a Cult Leader” written on it and very short shorts with a flashy belt and long striped socks. She looked like a pop star from the early 2000s. Between vocals, she would sometimes dance around innocently, spinning and flailing about. She is the polar opposite of bandmate Hester Chambers who founded Wet Leg with Teasdale in 2019. Chambers tucked herself away behind Joshua and often played with her back to the crowd, hiding away from the attention.

To Teasdale’s left was Joshua Mobaraki, sporting a guitar but often playing keys as well. He was joyful and acted as a secondary frontman, talking to the crowd between songs. Ellis Durand was to the right of the stage, playing a Mustang bass. He seldom spoke but when he did, a gravely, baritone voice suited for the airways rang through the speakers. In the back was Henry Holmes on the drums, which had a great and punchy sound, especially during “Pillow Talk” which I found to be the best track of the night.

Teasdale strapped on her acrylic B.C. Rich Mockingbird guitar for the song and repeatedly strummed the same bar chord along with Joshua as Henry pushed the song on drums. The rhythm guitars were much more prominent than in the studio recording which made the song stronger; it was really chugging and I was reminded of “Regular John” by Queens of the Stone Age.

Holmes confirmed after the show that he is, in fact, a QOTSA fan. He smiled as soon as I related the band to "Pillow Talk” and said that he and Ellis (I think he said Ellis) got together to “write something like Queens of the Stone Age” and that’s what came out. He was leaning against the tour bus, chatting with some road crew members. We spoke a little about Canada and their meeting with our national mascot, Narduar the Human Serviette. “He got you something didn’t he?” I said. Henry, who does plenty of surfing on the Isle of Wight, remembered the album Nardwuar gave him called Surf or Die by the Surf MC’s.

I later spoke with Joshua about meeting Paul McCartney and the Kings of Leon as an influence. I had heard Ellis talking about meeting Paul and asked Joshua if he had as well. He said that they had all met him backstage at the Grammys and he was starstruck though he got to shake Sir McCartney’s hand after Henry took the lead and introduced himself. He said it was a big moment and added that Paul started dancing wildly with his wife shortly afterward. He talked about Kings of Leon being an influence which isn’t surprising if you know the band’s earlier recordings. Joshua mentioned “Youth and Young Manhood” and “Aha Shake Heartbreak” which are really much better than what Kings of Leon put out today.

After a few high energy songs, Wet Leg slowed things down with “davina mccall” where Teasdale’s voice could be heard more clearly. She has plenty of control and sounds natural. She often squeezes her voice, intentionally making it thin and even squeaky at times during the heavier songs.

Thousands of bubbles flew over the crowd during “11:21” which is another slow song and then the energy peaked at the first chords of “Chaise Longue.” The band has now travelled back to the States for several more dates before heading to Europe to finish the 2025 tour in the UK.