Cork’s Own Heartbreakers, Cliffords, Live In Leeds
Image Credit: Janis Law
Cliffords has been crowned big titles like “Cork’s Next Indieheroes” by NME and the “Next Great Guitar Band” by Rolling Stone UK, and they came to Leeds to prove their entitlement to these titles on a drizzling Friday night at Headrow House.
Image Credit: Janis Law
The night started off with a heart-wrenching support performance from a 5-piece girl band Tazana. Drenched in red atmospheric lighting, the band put on a soulful delivery of songs from their newest album. With the last couple songs featuring metal vocals from the lead Lona Lynch, the audience went from swaying to the calming beats to head-bopping to the explosive guitars, pumping up the energy that is well-carried into Clifford’s set.
It was 8:30pm, Cliffords claimed the stage with smiles on their faces as they were showered in cheers from the crowd. The crowd soon quieted down as the band took position, their silhouettes shining against the backlight. The band erupts in the mood with their first song ‘Marsh’, a pre-release song that is due to drop on the 19th of November. A melody-rich track with explosive emotions. Immediately followed with ‘If The Shoe Fits’, a single from last year. ‘Ohh~Ohh~Ohh’ the song received sing-along treatment from the Leeds crowd – the singing resonated through the hall and lingered as we headed into a poignant trumpet solo segment from trumpet and bass player Gavin for ‘Second Skin’.
Image Credit: Janis Law
Lona ramps the guitar, bringing us onto another pre-release track ‘Sugar’.There is a high-energy guitar solo segment in the song where Lona glances at lead guitarist Harry with the sweetest smile, before the band indulges in yet another beautiful wave of emotions. The progressive chords in the outro of ‘Shattered Glass’ did nothing to prepare us for the dreamy intro into ‘R&H Hall’, first track from their latest album ‘Salt of the Lee’(2025).
Gleeful screams as Lona steps on the sound speaker to sing, giving her all, this was when she went down into the pit to become intimate with the crowd. “We are so excited to sell out this venue tonight” Lona expressed her gratitude, also taking time to shout out to the supporting band Tanzana “They’re just so sound and great songs, amazing instrumentation, amazing musicality and yeah, we adore them.” We were then blessed with another prerelease ‘Paper Dress Cowboy’, a song about “a paper dress vintage across the road”, stated Lona. The song starts with minimal instrumentals, slow-beating drums, soft vocals but then progresses into this emotional outburst, Lona’s powerful voice backed up by the wailing guitars.
Image Credit: Janis Law
Then comes my favorite from them – ‘My Favourite Monster’ which sounded even better live. The vibes were outmatched as the crowd sang along word for the word and danced to the trumpet-led instrumental chorus. The soulful outro “You’re my favourite monster, he threw Elizabeth across the room…You can’t take me away, I’m not sure I’m innocent” hit differently live, with Lona’s now slightly hoarse vocals, which were somewhat comforting. “There’s space here, I wanna see y’all come on, come on” The crowd was invited to come closer to the stage for the last three songs.”Feels Like a Man” and “Sleeping with Ghosts”, the band’s biggest hit – and they absolutely smashed the stage with this one, with Locon on keys head-bopping hard to the full-on feast of a shoegaze-heavy, aching rock track that speaks the heartbroken.
”We’ve been Cliffords all the way from Cork, and we will see you next time, thank you so so much!” We braced for one last revelry with “Bittersweet”, the last track on ‘Salt of the Lee’. Energy reached heights for the last song as the Leeds crowd fully immersed themselves in carefree dances and the loudest sing-alongs. With a final ‘bittersweet’ farewell from the band, we are left fully anticipating their next visit.
Words and photography by Janis Law.