Leeds Gig for Gaza

12th and 13th July 2025

Brudenell Social Club

Over a weekend in July, the Leeds music scene assembled to show their solidarity with the people of Gaza and raise what they could to help. Twenty-one bands graced the stages of Brudenell in a stacked line-up to make this an incredibly special event for a massively important cause.   

Whilst we have put together a roundup of some the best sets we saw, this event was of course not about the music - there is a genocide happening before our very eyes. A bright light needs to be shone on it and we need to do what we can to support the innocent people being persecuted through this atrocity and hold our own government accountable for their inaction. 

Always remember that the bands, businesses, and individuals who were involved in this event were on the right side of history and did what they could to support one of the worst humanitarian crises this century. The people are what makes the Leeds music scene and this city what it is – make sure to support them where you can. 

£21,765.55 was raised and donated to Medical Aid for Palestine and Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Long live the Leeds music scene. 

Saturday – Draags & Normal Village

Day one’s line-up was so stacked that it would have made Bob Geldof blush. I would love to be able to write about each of the fourteen bands in depth, but due to the dreaded word count this would only be possible if we went to print in font size 2 and supplied a magnifying glass with each issue. Fear not though, they are all on our watchlist and will be sure to feature within these pages in due course. 

The first band that must be mentioned is Draags; dance-punk, queercore, rap, prog, and jazz noise all combined in one. Wow. Following the release of their second album ‘DRAAGS’, the band were loaded up with not only energy, but a heap of brand new and high-octane tunes. I am always in awe at anyone who can jump around the room and still string together a coherent sentence which Luca Vitale is able to do. If it was me, all that would be heard would be amplified wheeziness which even the nicest reviewer would struggle to spin into something positive and avant-garde. These vocals were melded with brass, bass, and drums to produce something truly unique. The closest comparison I can make is if Gang of Four were involved in an onstage brawl with a brass band and you would maybe be halfway there. 

Draags also score highly on the crowd work scale. It is not often you have someone pinging round the crowd in a cardboard CCTV camera helmet as well as crowd trumpetry from Luca. Grab a chance to see them with both hands and embrace the fun.

Now, Normal Village. If you haven’t been to a set by gen z’s leading prog rock/maths rock purveyors, what have you been doing? If you have plans next time they are playing, be it a wedding, holiday or other important meeting - cancel it immediately and grab a ticket to see them. For a band only really at the start of their musical journey, they are confidently showing a mastery of the artform. The troupes of math rock (irregular rhythms, unusual time signatures, and complex guitar riffs) are all there and are owned and they know it. Could this be Leeds’ answer to the gaping hole left in our lives following the brake up of Black Midi? Stub for one says YES!

Also, if there’s anything more challenging than singing and dancing, it’s singing and drumming. It has to be one or the other Fakie, leave something for the rest of us!   

Finally, it was of course always a pleasure to catch another set from the Leeds DIY legends Cowtown and to also see English Teacher in such an intimate setting following their meteoric rise to fame, rounding up off an impeccable first day. 

Sunday – Volk Soup & Mush

Weekend ticket holders nursing hangovers may have expected their Sunday to be a more mellow affair with lo-fi shoegazers Van Houten headlining. Volk Soup, however, had other plans. 

Lead vocalist Harry Jones, who cameoed at DRAAGS in the aforementioned CCTV camera bobblehead, saw his counterparts’ energetic set as a challenge. Volk Soup’s music became the soundtrack to a half hour parkour masterclass, with Jones using the full perimeter of the Main Room to his advantage. Culminating his zoomies by kicking his Birkenstocks at the ceiling tiles, Jones launched into Volk Soup’s most memorable song of the day ‘Mass Village Angst’, which had a rapid and catchy refrain of “call it what you will but I call it ugly”. 

Some tracks in the set are tender, jazz injected numbers. Others are without boundaries and feature rabid brass interludes and manic vocals. These songs are experimental in nature and could be mistaken as wholly improvised. At times the noise is harsh and abrasive and it is today’s closest sonic representation of the community’s feelings towards the Palestinian genocide. 

Since forming in 2019, the group have doubled in size and are now a six piece. Today’s set is evidence that their musical repertoire has also expanded exponentially. Volk Soup are a band incapable of description. They are a patchwork of influences and styles – a collective of musicians yearning to create something new.  ‘10p Jazz’ (Volk Soup’s debut LP) is out now on Diptrid Records and Cruel Nature.

The highlight of our weekend was the reunion the nation had been waiting for…Definitely Maybe? Definitely Mush-be!

An encore for the Leeds art-rockers was long overdue. Since embarking on a hiatus in 2022, the group have formed new musical outfits (Tulpa, The Nicholas Grant Band) who both performed this weekend and were fantastic. A saturation of Mush had befallen the weekend because the Gig for Gaza instigator was none other than Dan Hyndman (lead vocals, guitar). Whilst a collective of wonderful people were responsible for the finished product, the initial idea was proposed by Dan in a five-a-side football group chat.

 

Hauling West Yorkshire’s most prized angular riff collection from the loft, the setlist was a celebration of all three Mush albums. Fan favourites such as ‘Gig Economy’, ‘Lines Discontinued’ and ‘Revising My Fee’ all featured to a room of elated, disbelieving faces. ‘Drink the Bleach’ hit harder than ever. Potentially slightly too hard, with Phil Porter’s kick drum coming close to tipping over the edge of the stage at times. The set closing with ‘Alternative Facts’ was also a certainty. Ten hypnotic minutes of guitar wielding greatness. 

Overall, the Mush reunion was like your missing cat coming back after three years. Euphoric, miraculous, unexpected. Then half an hour later they’ve pissed off again. Gutting, but at least you know they’re safe and well.

Whilst I don’t expect Mush to ever release new music, I do hope for more special reconciliations in the future (hopefully for different reasons). The band were visibly enjoying their time together on stage. Maybe their smiles were simply ones of relief because they had nailed a setlist they hadn’t played for three years. But I hope it meant more than that. The magic of Mush is timeless. A final quote from Ben Morgan (Treeboy and Arc) summarises this perfectly: "Ask us to play after anyone, I do not care. But do not ask us to follow a reformed Mush ending on ‘Alternative Facts". 

Words by The Editor and Magnus Pike

Artwork: etch (@etchthestudio)

First picture: Draags by Andy’s Music Reviews (@andysmusicreviewsUK)

Second picture: Mush by Rusty Li (@f8_club_)