TOMMY LEFROY’S SUBLIME, SENTIMENTAL RETURN TO MANCHESTER’S GORILLA

LIVE REVIEW | TOMMY LEFROY | MANCHESTER GORILLA 14/09/24 by Martha Munro & Abi Chilton

In 2021, while supporting Maisie Peters on her breakout UK tour, Wynter Bethel and Tessa Mouzourakis took to the stage at Gorilla, Manchester, as Tommy Lefroy for only the second time. On that August night, a smattering of crowd members became some of the first loyal fans who would boost the American-Canadian singer-songwriter duo well and truly into the indie pop-rock scene, leading them to make their way back to Gorilla 14th September three years later, this time as the highly-anticipated headliners – and they certainly received a warm Mancunian welcome back.

KATIE GREGSON-MACLEOD

Katie Gregson Maceod (Abi Chilton/Northern Exposure)
Katie Gregson Maceod (Abi Chilton/Northern Exposure)
Katie Gregson Maceod (Abi Chilton/Northern Exposure)

Supporting Tommy Lefroy on their UK and European tour is the TikTok sensation and myenchanting Scottish singer-songwriter Katie Gregson-Macleod, whose warm presence lit up the Gorilla stage along with the hazy red lights as she chatted with the audience like a friend. Her passion-filled voice enveloped the whole room from its silky-smooth lows to controlled, breathy highs, and as her set went on, it was clear that she came more into this voice and herself, confidence and comfortability radiating from the stage. From the strikingly heartfelt, unreleased acoustic guitar track Body to the piano-chord founded, passionate White Lies to the final fan-favourite Complex, Gregson-Macleod’s outstanding lyrics and welcoming character had every eye and ear in the room entranced; she is definitely one to watch, and not just on your TikTok ‘for you’ page.

But even when the stage was empty between the support and headline, the Tommy Lefroy fans were having the time of their lives, handing out friendship bracelets to strangers, preparing fan projects and taking part in the artists’ well-loved book-swap tradition; audience members bring a book to put on the book-swap table as they come in and take a new one as they leave. Clearly, it wasn’t just the music that the fans had come for; the atmosphere among the crowd was one so special and unique, even the bouncers’ hearts were warmed.

TOMMY LEFROY

And, to rapturous applause, Bethel and Mouzourakis finally stepped up to the stage with beaming smiles to play their opening track Garden, a young but adored single from Tommy Lefroy’s upcoming EP ‘born blue’, to be released 25th October. Tessa Mouzourakis may have woken up without her voice that morning, but it was barely noticeable; the duo’s signature harmonies were still divine and captivating.

The third track Knievel was elevated to a euphoric height, broadening the studio version with the rhythmic force of Chris Burgess on drums and Mouzourakis powering the number as she thrashed her electric guitar. Bethel’s amped-up bass was equally impressive here, not to mention her complete immersion in the music; her whole body was in that performance, facing her friend with frequent smiles, hairflips and passionate bass patterns that continued into Slick and Trashfire.

Evidently, the artists wanted to give the loving crowd a bit of everything, from the unreleased tracks king pin and You Exist from the upcoming EP, to snippets from the fan-favourite 2021 Flight Risk EP, right back to the duo’s very first single Northern Towns. Each number was received with awe and excitement, smiles and tears, screams and harmonies; everyone felt everything.

And during Girlhood, Godhood, the first fan project took flight with audience members holding up papers that read ‘I BELIEVE YOU’, a response to the artists’ call of ‘I wanna be believed in’. This was an undeniably special moment between everybody, on and off stage, illuminated by the glitter balls spinning above and immediately followed by Tommy Lefroy’s latest single Let Me. Mouzourakis and Bethel’s effortless coordination of talent, emotion and connection was epitomised in this dazzling performance, with Bethel’s angelic voice carrying the song through the repeating hook ‘Just let me let this go’. Mouzourakis truly put her all into the guitar line here, with a beautiful highlighted picking section at the very end and a huge smile shared with her friend on the other side of the stage.

After a short, personal conversation about heartbreak with the audience, the mutual sense of comfort between performer and observer was proven even further with the warm sense of togetherness felt as the crowd fiercely chanted the lyrics to Mortals. And during Vampires, another track from the Flight Risk EP, the second fan project was revealed to the immensely grateful Tommy Lefroy: the crowd held slips of red paper over their phone torches as they waved them high, creating a sea of hazy red before the final, slowed-down chants of ‘know it gets better’ at the end of the heartfelt performance.

After receiving a rapturous, lengthy applause after The Cause, Bethel thanked the ‘most lovely crowd’ for the memorable night, going on to speak about the importance of her friendship with Mouzourakis and her hope that every person in the room could find that bond themselves: ‘You’re not alone; you’re all here.’

QUICKFIRE WITH TOMMY LEFROY | INTERVIEW

As the night came to an end with the final two numbers, there was a unanimous energy lift, every crowd member fully immersing themselves in the explosive, string-shredding performance of Dog Eat Dog. The final track Worst Case Kid was the perfect – while bittersweet – closer; Bethel in particular seemed to embrace a last burst of passion, interacting more closely with fans by holding their hands and smiling to what seemed like every member of the ecstatic front row. And as the drums faded out and Mouzourakis’s strums began to slow, the two came together to sing the final few lines, Bethel’s head on her friend’s shoulder and great big grins on both of their bright faces as they listened to the audience’s collective musical goodnight.