WU LYF THE PRODIGAL SONS OF HEAVY POP - HEAD TO THE HOSPITAL FOR SOME HEALING !

The Horse Hospital, Bloomsbury, London 21st May 2025

IMAGES / WORDS DAVID BROOME

WU LYF

Pre-gig snack at the burrito bar, I chat to two friends who have been waiting for this evening for some time. You see this is not WU LYF’s first time round the block. A decade ago, saw a not insignificant amount of interest in “the next big indie guitar band”. Genuine, raw, honest and an ever-increasing loyal following was catapulting WU LYF to an (at least) arena destined future. Sadly, things came crashing down around the time of the second album and the fans have been left wanting ever since. Here, this evening .. the wanting and the waiting is over.

We have all gathered at The Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury, central London. In a previous life this building was used to treat sick horses. It wreaks of history, the steps leading down to the venue have steel bars embedded into the floor to stop the horses slipping. The inside is cobbled, it’s small and dark and there is a noticeable industrial sense to the place. For me, a perfect venue for a band set to reunite with its fanbase and maybe even begin to heal a few wounds.

The opening act is Tiernan. A melancholic singer songwriter. He has a set of pedals and frequently presses them throughout his 6 song set but if I’m honest, I couldn’t tell the difference when he pushed his foot on any of them. The guitar sound has an edge but the vocals are pure. He opens with a track called Darkness and it sets the tone for the show. Its slow, thoughtful and calm. The songs aren’t particularly tuneful but there is feeling a plenty here. He’s gracious and frequently thanks for the crowd for listening. His final song, ends acapella, the guitar playing has stopped and he moves away from the mic. It’s now just him and the 50 or so people that have arrived. It’s a dramatic end to a thought provoking and, at times, moving performance.

Bang on 9pm, the headliners appear through a side door. They open with their new track, A New Life is Coming. “This is spiritual” booms the chorus, and I have a feeling tonight is going to be.

If you’ve ever wondered if anthemic songs could work in a small venue? The answer is yes .. absolutely, if tonight is anything to go by. Old tracks are mixed with new. The old ones are met with euphoria and the new are welcomed in warmly. I think everyone was just glad to see them performing back together. Front man, Ellery Roberts frequently says, “thanks for coming out” and on more than one occasion someone shouts back “thanks for coming back!”. There is a real warmth here, above and beyond the kind of fandom I have witnessed before.

This venue has no stage, there’s no barrier between act and audience, there’s just a room so everyone is not only on top of each other but on top of the band too. Roberts uses a sound monitor as a platform so he can see and be seen. There’s not really any lighting either there’s a strobe which fires off pulses of light every so often, so this couldn’t be more intimate.

Occasionally the band join the crowd and sing amongst them. On the older tracks they’re drowned out by an audience desperate to be part of this reuniting. These are songs of emotion, themes of history and place, forgiveness and letting go are scattered throughout the set.

The singer shares with the crowd how they met and formed in Manchester, jamming in a local bookstore. Apparently one in rough (ish) area. Shame, he says as it been through the gentrification process and is now strewn with artisan coffee shops and expensive cafes.

The jangly riffs continue throughout the evening, from song to song, more melodic guitar lines than shredding solos. Vocals are melodic too; these are not difficult songs to listen to for the first time.

The show reaches a climax with an epic version of Heavy Pop. The darkness of the venue and the single spotlight light the stage creates an almost religious figure at the front of the band, Roberts holds out his arms in the form a crucifix, is he here to save the audience?

By their own admission the band are about to do their typically shambolic ending to a show. They leave the room, there’s a good 10 minutes of will-they-wont-they but the PA music comes in and everyone is pretty sure that in fact - they won’t. Funny thing though, nobody is in a rush to leave, they’re all just soaking up the lingering atmosphere and taking in what they’ve witnessed.

I catch one of the two friends that I was chatting with pre show. “How was it?” I ask, he’s too excited to answer coherently but his flaying arms, sweat drenched t-shirt and ecstatic expression say it all.

Is this the second coming for WU LYF … time will tell.

Set List:

1. NU LYF

2. Cave

3. Would

4. Gift

5. Spitting Blood

6. Dirt

7. Puppy

8. Forgiven

9. Letting Go

10. Concrete Gold

11. LYF

12. TIB Street

13. Heavy Pop

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