Gig review: Georgia at the Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Georgia Barnes, the drummer turned singer-songwriter known mononymously as Georgia, is wasting no time tonight. Barely halfway through Started Out, her opening number, she’s already asking the audience to “let me see your hands”.

Perhaps taking her cue from the glitterball spinning above her head, the 33-year-old seems intent on transforming the Hyde Park venue’s main room into a heaving nightclub as she bounces up and down on the stage, pummels her electronic drum pads and sings.

The fact that she and drummer Sharlene Goodridge, on loan from Cat Burns’ group and the Prince tribute act New Purple Celebration, are having to work extra hard through their 70-minute set, due to the absence through illness of keyboard player Kat Bax, seems not to faze either of them. Impressive energy levels and good humour are maintained throughout.

The set list is mainly compiled from her 2020 breakthrough album Seeking Thrills and its effervescent follow-up Euphoric, which came out in July, but there is room too for Digits from her eponymous debut record. A heavily percussive number with throbbing synthesiser, it’s the most overtly techno offering tonight.

For the most part, though, it’s fizzy electropop all the way, with an abundance of hooks and memorable toplines in the likes of 24 Hours, Never Let You and About Work the Dancefloor.

In The Dream, Mountain Song and Some Things Georgia plays guitar. Goodridge, who like Georgia attended the BRIT School, shows off her versatility with an excellent piano solo in Till I Own It.

There’s a shoutout as well to Georgia’s brother, Sidney, manning the merchandise stall. “I did a cover of Running Up That Hill and he’s the dancer in the video, you have to go and say hello,” she tells the audience.

As Live Like We’re Dancing draws to a close, a clearly won-over crowd takes to singing its chorus.

“I played this venue when I must have been 17 years old – it was a moment. So many legendary people have played this room. I feel the love for these people,” Georgia reflects towards the end of a hectic night.

Tonight she more than deserved her own moment in the spotlight.