“I don’t want your love, I just wanna fight!” Wet Leg singer Rhian Teasdale shouted at the crowd during “Catch These Fists,” the band’s opening number Tuesday night at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works. But even if Teasdale meant her rebuffs, the fans at the sold-out third installment of Rolling Stone’s Gather No Moss Tour weren’t having it — they were there to shower the Isle of Wight band with adoration.
Those fans threw their hands up vigorously during “Supermarket,” joined Teasdale in a seemingly never-ending primal scream in “Ur Mum,” and absolutely lost their minds when Teasdale and her Wet Leg co-founder, guitarist Hester Chambers, lit into their breakout hit, “Chaise Longue.”
Mary in the Junkyard opened the Nashville stop of Rolling Stone’s Gather No Moss Tour.
Maggie London for Rolling Stone
While those three songs were all off their self-titled 2022 debut, fans were just as enthralled by the new material. Wet Leg played 10 of the 12 tracks from Moisturizer, released in July, including that we-just-wanna-fight anthem “Catch These Fists” and the album’s chugging highlight “Mangetout.”
“U and Me at Home” and “Jennifer’s Body” were particularly well-suited for Wet Leg’s live show, with Teasdale — taking a page out of the Hayley Williams school of stagecraft — spinning and twirling her way across the stage in the former and swiveling her hips in the latter. The crowd ate it up.
The aesthetic of the band, now a five-piece with guitarist Josh Mobaraki, bassist Ellis Durand, and drummer Henry Holmes officially members, has evolved drastically from the cottage-core vibes of their debut LP and their 2022 Glastonbury performance, where Teasdale and Chambers played in prairie dresses. At Gather No Moss, Teasdale opted for Rocky Horror metallic short shorts, a midriff-baring tee, and a knee bandage. Chambers, meanwhile, is leaning into shyness on this album cycle by frequently covering her face in photos. On Tuesday night, she found her shield beneath a large, sparkly cowboy hat. It was Nashville, after all.
And it’s not a Wet Leg show without some prop work. Heavy clouds of fog shrouded the stage while strobes lit up the band’s opening, and a bubble machine was put into action at least twice during the night. But the high point came when the band threw themselves headlong into a set-ending “CPR.” Teasdale clutched an old-school telephone and sang with abandon — “Oh, I’m in love/And you’re to blame” — proving that, in the end, she really did want your love.
Hana Vu delivered songs off the album Romanticism during an opening set at Rolling Stone’s Gather No Moss Tour in Nashville.
Maggie London for Rolling Stone
This stop on Rolling Stone‘s Gather No Moss, a multi-city rock & roll tour sponsored by ~Pourri and iHeartRadio, also featured a pair of opening sets by Mary in the Junkyard and Hana Vu. Mary in the Junkyard, a trio from London, kicked off the night with a brief but potent set of moody coffeeshop rock. “Drains” showed off singer Clari Freeman-Taylor’s ethereal voice, and illustrated the way Saya Barbaglia, on viola, and drummer David Addison worked in tandem to drive the group’s melody.
Singer-songwriter Hana Vu, who came through Nashville earlier in the spring, returned with songs off her 2024 album Romanticism. “Airplane” and “Hammer” were strum-along standouts, with Vu captivating the audience with her approach to her guitar.
Rolling Stone’s Gather No Moss Tour wraps up next month in New York when MJ Lenderman headlines Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre on Oct 16. Last night’s tremendous show in Nashville, however — with its trio of powerful bands and unabashed rock spirit — will reverberate for months to come.
