Gig Review | Leah Kate | King Tuts, Glasgow | 02.11.2022

As far as debut headline shows go, this one will go down in the King Tuts history books. American TikTok icon Leah Kate takes to the stage in front of a sold-out Glasgow crowd for the very first time. With an incredible response to her EP Alive and Unwell, the build-up for the tour name after the record was quite a joy to take in and from what I read beforehand, the fans were ready.

The anticipation is already growing as the queue runs right down St Vincent Street full of eager fans to burst through the venue doors and head for the front. Catching up with some fans as the queue slowly moves, I instantly get the feel of just how loved and appreciate Leah is to her followers and it really shows why the sold-out sign was right across the board and not just in Glasgow. Already 3 nights into her tour, the footage from each night gives a good indication what’s in store tonight.

Getting to a venue early to watch a support is always recommended and rightly so, they build what we see and are the next headliners of music, the room was packed from opening time and the dedication these fans have really is admirable. Despite being there for Leah, they were even fans of both supports who took to the stage singing back every word thrown at them.

Up first we saw Canadian superstar Victoria Anthony take to the stage and what a way to kick off the night. She brought so much energy that the crowd lapped up and caused some amazing scenes in right across the room. The teen is taking the music world storm at the moment with recent single Stupid Kid showing her versatility and spectacular song writing abilities – following this show the 16-year-old was set to drop new single Should’ve Known that lands on 4th November and the response to this from the Glasgow crowd shows it’s another big hitter.

Next, we are greeted with another Canadian name in Lolo. Another name who is staking her claim in the music scene and from what I seen tonight it will be a name we see spread through venues near and far. Just like Victoria, she brought the energy and really cemented why she was part of this tour. Songs like Debbie Downer and Junkie getting the already buzzing crowd off their feet – her stage presence was to be admired, she owned it like it was her own headline slot.

You could tell the fun Lolo was having, her smile beamed across the length of the Tuts stage, each song sang screamed back at her from the faithful crowd and her energy and happiness on stage was replicated straight back from each and every person in that room. As far as support slots go, this was certainly one of my personal favourites and to have the pleasure of meeting her afterwards just rounded things off perfectly.

To say the crowd is warmed up would be an understatement, both supports absolutely killed it and now it’s time for the main show. The atmosphere in the room is electric with the PA blasting out songs bringing the volume up a few clicks even before the headliner sets foot on stage – you know the place is ready when the pre-show songs are met with such a reception. I can’t lie I had to warm the vocals myself.

The lights are out, and the stage is lit up by a pink neon sign backdrop signalling it was time for Leah Kate. Her band enter the stage one by one each met with screams louder than the last, when Leah bounced on with a smile the length of the Clyde the noise was deafening. Straight into Life Sux and the party was well underway.

With only a few songs in the crowd are lapping up every moment of this singing back every word at the top of their lungs for all to hear, the expressions on Leah’s face told all you needed to know and what this meant to her. F U Anthem is next as the crowd give a big F U to anyone that’s ever wronged them in the past, we all can relate and the connection between fan and song is told very easily with the passion in the voices.

F U Anthem sung loud and proud.

This is the kind of show where you just have to stop and take a moment to look around the room and soak it all in because this was a special night – that was only just my feelings, I can only imagine the feeling Leah had on the other side of the barrier. Hot All the Time is next, a single that brought an incredible reaction when it dropped on a few weeks ago on the build-up to the EP release. More songs fill the room with digs at ex’s and all the wrong people in life – Boys Like You followed by Twinkle Twinkle.

The night was sadly coming to a close, while strutting her stuff, a Scotland Saltire flag makes its way on to the stage and of course it’s wrapped around Leah in seconds keeping it on and waving it high to a joyful reception from the Glasgow crowd – I think it was plain to see her love for Scotland. More tracks from the EP in Never Been Better and Break Up Season enter the fray unsurprisingly to more surreal screams.

Closing us off came two of the biggest receptions of the night – a song many can relate to from time to time, Shit Show is a song that just oozes confidence, swagger and fun. The song is relating to the amazing feeling you have when someone you love deals with all your insanity and still stands by your side throughout no matter what. We all have our quirks, and this song reminds you that love allows you to embrace all of this.

Deserving of its own section, the finale of the show and the loudest sing along of the night – 10 Things I Hate About You is quite the experience live and what a feeling it was to stand at the back of the room and watch all things unfold. A song that’s pretty self-explanatory but effectively saying the thing we hate the most is the fact they made us love them. The floor was shaking throughout the chorus, every single voice screaming back with insane passion.

This for me has certainly been a strong contender for gig of the year and to have such a label is a big statement – this superstar has made a huge statement of intent and she is certainly here to stake name firmly in music. What I can is that you will be luck to see Leah in a 300-cap venue again, the sky is the limit for this artist and I for one can’t wait for what journey she takes us on.