Westside Cowboy kick off an intimate show at Hebden Bridge’s marvellous Trades Club with a cover of the theme from Midnight Cowboy, and their brilliant, meandering interpretation sets the bar high for the evening. Luckily, across a short set, Manchester’s latest darlings do more than keep that standard up.
Recently signed to Island Records imprint, Adventure Recordings, spirits are clearly high among the band and the enthusiasm is infectious. With guitarists Reuben Haycocks and Jimmy Bradbury trading lead vocals and bassist Aoife Anson O’Connell occasionally laughing at the tiniest of mis-steps, they come over first and foremost as friends, but also as an exciting and hugely promising band.
A rousing shout of “Westside Cowboy” from the band hails 2024 single, the brilliantly named I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You) which gives an indication of what is to follow: stop-start guitar, delicious harmonies, witty lyrics and the occasional Westside wig out.
The 2025 single Shells is a standout: ‘This better be something great / Clench your jaw till your teeth ache’. There is a sense that there will be few occasions to see the band in such an intimate space.
Three-minute songs are the norm as they motor through the rest of the set, finally gathered as one, with drummer Paddy Murphy clutching a single drum, for rousing closer, In The Morning and the final refrain, ‘Watch this city be the death of me tonight’.
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Words by Dave Leggett
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