Oporto
Featuring...
Hitlist
Garden of Humans
VouVou
The Leeds music scene is amazing. It truly is the brightest point of the almighty British music scene. However, if there were one thing that it could be criticised for, it would be the over prevalence of, admittedly amazing, male fronted bands. Into this gap stepped Garden of Humans. Leeds' Chilean powerhouses,
with the first gig that they have ever promoted, Season of Noise at Oporto. Female fronted bands taking centre stage in one of Leeds' best venues; truly a recipe for success. Three bands took to the stage that night: the riotgrrrl punk greatness of VouVou; Garden of Humans themselves; and your favourite Leeds bands favourite Leeds band, Hitlist. In the hot and sweaty Irish bar of Oporto, the city witnessed a first-time promotion that would make Nathan Clark blush. Everything was crisp, everything was professional- upon walking up to the door, Joaquin, lead guitarist of Garden of Humans, greeted people warmly and sent them into a room buzzing with anticipation of the night to follow.
VouVou took to the stage first. Visually you could tell magic was about to take place. Punk twins on bass and lead guitar, an eager lead singer and a calm and collected drummer at the back ready to backbone the whole thing. It is fair to say with the advent of bands like CLITSPIT and Fashion Tips, Leeds' female fronted punk scene is starting to take grip in a major way and VouVou makes a powerful addition to this that gives the veterans a run for their money. Powerful and angry, even rotating singers at one point, the complete set was a great emblem of just how powerful the FLINTA world of the Leeds punk scene is.
Garden of Humans themselves were up next and what a stage presence they have. As soon as they greeted the crowd, they felt like a band that had been dominating the scene for a decade. Front woman Ignacia's charisma was mesmerising. It felt like she belonged with the Joan Jetts of the world with her attitude and swaggering rockstar presence. The whole band and their sound feel that way, like they have simultaneously been ripped out of 1986 and 2006 at the same time, with the untouchable aura of the former and the Indie rock charm of the latter, to create a band entirely unique in the Leeds of 2026. From the tight playing of the band to the onstage theatrics, even pulling out a plug-in telephone mic at one point, the whole performance would make any Leeds band envious. At no point did they give any indication of stress, from also contemporaneously promoting and running their first ever event and that is to be admired just as much as the stellar performance.
Hitlist are amazing. So little else needs to be said that this entire paragraph becomes asinine by that fact’s mere existence. There are very few people in Leeds who command cool factor quite like Maddy of Hitlist and that shone through on this night. It is genuinely difficult to describe Hitlist in terms that have yet to be used, they were incredible, outstanding, fantastic, phenomenal, remarkable and every other synonym you can think of in between. Simply put, if you have not seen them yet then you are the unluckiest human walking this earth and Garden of Human’s takeover of Oporto could not have been a better place to do so. It is rare but when you get a promoter band combo that clicks you can tell instantly, Yard Act and Brudenell Presents, Coal Mob and Mucky Pup and adding to that list on this night is Hitlist with Garden of Humans, truly magical stuff.
Garden of Humans are a credit to the Leeds music scene, what more can be said. Even if their involvement started and ended with this one event, it would be something worth hanging a legacy on. To have such an eye for talent and to put together an excellent night with smooth timings and not a single issue is something to be infinitely commended in the ever-turbulent world of Leeds music promotion. Garden of Humans has the potential to be not just one of the finest bands that Leeds has seen in a long time but also one of its finest promoters should they turn their attention to that as well. They are truly ones to watch for anyone who enjoys great music, great gigs, or both on this occasion.
Words by William Hatfield. Poster from the band. Picture of Garden of Humans by Natasha Dobson.
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