Gene, The Brudenell Social Club. 28th September 2025

There seems to be a lot of bands reforming at the moment, the latest being Gene, who after announcing their big London gig coming this Saturday, are proceeding it with some warm up gigs. The first of such I’m at tonight in the wonderful Brudenell in Leeds. Expectation is high. It’s been a long long time since Gene toured, 20 plus years and a packed room is ready for their return. I’ll not drag this out, the expectation is met immediately with ‘London, Can You Wait?’ Martin looks sharp in an off white suit (could be a pale green but the lights make it tricky to tell), he sounds wonderful as do the full throated voices of the entire room that join in. ‘Be My Light, Be My Guide’ gets the same treatment. It’s opening of “Oh I’ve been waiting a long time” feeling rather apt. Martin seems a little nervous, but in the most humbly delightful way and his confidence clearly grows with the set, swirling the mic stand out into the crowd on ‘Your Love, It Lies’ and punching the air as he sings “here comes my thunder”. They joke about getting old, having medics back stage just incase, but they sound great. It’s fair to say I’m not as big a fan as some in attendance, but I feel lucky to be in this 300 strong room filled with love. The set draws deep on Olympian as you’d probably expect, but this is a broad range of songs, touching on the delicate and the indie bangers and on the later the room erupts as they come alive in the choruses. Martin tells us that ‘Truth, Rest Your Head’ contains one of his favourite guitar lines and it’s lovely watching him watch Steve play and feel every note with him. He’s the focus obviously and he’s charming with it, playfully pretending to try and count every one of us, as the acoustic intro of ‘Long Sleeves for the Summer’ unfurls. After ‘Stop’, Martin declares “Right, let’s have it” with the kitchen sink indie bombast of ‘Sleep Well Tonight’. Before he’s chilling out, sitting on amps and playing with the cymbals during the instrumental sections of ‘Rising for Sunset’. It all feels really relaxed, intimate. They have us in the palm of their hands, but it’s not showy. The small venue of course helps, but it’s a real treat to be so close to the stage. I’m sure London at the weekend will feel much different. ‘O Lover’ is dedicated to a lost friend and feels deeply personal, but all this does. It’s them reconnecting with something and now doing that in public. It’s vulnerable and fucking wonderful. The mirrorball activates as Martin laments the missed opportunity of a number one with ‘Speak To Me Someone’, joking “You little fuckers wouldn’t buy it, because you already had it on the album”. The rather warm looking suit jacket finally comes off for ‘The Car That Sped’ to the expected wolf whistles, before things slow down for the beautiful ‘Walking in the Shallows’. It’s then time to start the climb to the big guns with ‘The British Disease’ setting up the monster ‘Haunted By You’. This is indie dancefloor classic territory and it sounds magnificent, Steve, Martin and Kevin up on the monitors lapping up the adulation. ‘Olympian’ follows and I feel quite emotional, it’s that good. It feels like the last 20 plus years melt away. A real spine tinging moment. The big hooks and some lovely organ twists through ‘For the Dead’, before the grandiose ‘You’ll Never Walk Again’. Am I now just listing songs? I don’t care, it’s all such a joyous experience I’m just barely hanging on. ‘Sick, Sober and Sorry’ takes two goes after take one is aborted, “I knew we were going to fuck one up” chuckles Martin. ‘Fighting Fit’, raises the roof before things slow down with Martin introducing ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ solo on the piano, before the rest of the band join in. ‘Somewhere in the World’ and ‘Who Said This Was the End’ round out a 2 hour set that had a bit of everything. It teetered delightfully on the edge as all great sets should and delivered more than we dared to hope. Gene are back!