REVIEW: Billie Marten at The Leeds Irish Centre
Indie-folk singer-songwriter Billie Marten brings her Dog Eared tour to the Leeds Irish Centre on a damp November evening on the back of a long run of European dates promoting her fifth studio album. There are no signs of fatigue here, though. Over the course of an hour and a half, Marten produces a set that really shows off the range in her discography and cultivates a cosy atmosphere on a rainy Friday evening at the Leeds Irish Centre which, thanks to the many excellent gigs now being booked by the Brudenell Presents, has become a key mid-sized venue in the Leeds scene.
Acoustic guitar in hand, Marten kicks the set off with Dog Eared opener ‘Feeling’, and goes on to rattle through some highlights from her now relatively extensive discography. Supported by just a bass player and a drummer, the show has a relaxed and intimate feel throughout.
Photo: Joey Grindrod
Marten’s stage presence is affable, if, at times, a little awkward and bumbly. “How do we feel about a bit of dancing?”, she politely enquires with the crowd before asking them to engage in some classic swaying. It does the trick and everyone in the house gets involved, moving to and fro and singing along, trying their best to keep up with Marten’s impressive vocal range. That is, everyone except the person standing next to me who is, apparently, too cool to sway. Get a grip.
At some point the acoustic guitar is swapped out for an electric and the band turn their attention to some of the other tracks on Dog Eared, an album that introduced a bit more groove to Marten’s indie-folk-heavy discography. The setlist is relatively forward looking, with the majority of songs taken from Dog Eared or 2023’s Drop Cherries. Marten’s teenage breakthrough hit ‘La Lune’ is notably absent from the setlist. No complaints here though; to my mind, Marten is at her poetic best on Dog Eared.
The band leave the stage briefly and Marten performs ‘Vanilla Baby’ and ‘The Glass’, two of her more intimate songs in both sound and lyric. The band-less interlude furthers the show’s intimate atmosphere, aided by storm Claudia tapping on the Irish Centre’s flat roof, filling the room with the meditative sound of steady rainfall during the set’s quietest moment.
Opening act Le Ren reappears on stage to support with vocals on ‘You and I Both’, another deep cut from Marten’s latest record. It’s clear that Le Ren and Billie have a close relationship, which shines through in the pair’s beautiful vocal harmonies.
Photo: Joey Grindrod
It transpires that Leeds is the closest thing to a hometown show on this tour for Ripon-born Marten, who grows more comfortable on stage over the course of the set. Towards the end of the show, she declares in her North Yorkshire brand of received pronunciation that she is simply having a lovely time, and leans over to the bar to order a pint of Guinness. The drummer attempts to pass a fiver over to the bar, but the first audience member it reaches refuses to take it and instead offers to get a round in for the band. A crowd that’ll buy you a pint at a venue where you can still get a pint of Guinness for £5 - you simply cannot beat Yorkshire.
The show comes to an end with the audience divided into groups, singing along to Dog Eared closer ‘Swing’ in rounds, directed by Marten. The audience, which, for the most part, has been watching the set in respectful silence, gets behind the singalong wholeheartedly, if a little out of tune at times.
Words & Photos: Joey Grindrod
