Friday 28th April saw Leeds’ premier emerging alt rock band play their final show. 

You should be accustomed to reading about Fudge. on Record Weekly by now, because they were the local four-piece that showed me what the city’s music scene was all about when I moved here. From Hyde Park Book Club to Oporto, Leeds and Reading Festivals to Nottingham’s Rock City, they’ve played far and wide during their career. They even signed to Marshall Live Agency in the last 12 months. It’s been all go for this explosively exciting outfit, but their time came to call it quits, and their Brudenell send-off was bittersweet. 

Opened by the dangerously enthralling Wolforna, who are simply going from strength to strength following the drop of their 18,000-stream-strong single, ‘Break You’, the night began with a bang. Their sensational set was punctuated by an uncharacteristic walk-on tune, masterful transitions and a handful of colossal, as-yet-unreleased tracks (including the massive banger, ‘Bucket’). All while they retained fan favourite, ‘Penrose’, on their carefully crafted setlist, too.

Dull moments aren’t in the repertoire of these lads. And as the room swelled with bodies, that became increasingly obvious. While Fudge. were extracting themselves from the Leeds circuit that evening, you were reminded in the loudest way possible that talent-exuding Wolforna are here to stay. 

Mince were then on, by way of palate cleanser between the opener and headliner. There’s a sentence you won’t read regularly.

I saw these chaps at the start of 2023, at Belgrave’s annual Rifffest instalment, and they were nothing short of punchy, feisty and angsty. That same tempo was met at the Brude, and they certainly channelled some Fudge.-esque raucousness on stage.

But ultimately, there’s no party like a Fudge. party. And those guys have consistently drawn out large, eager-to-mosh crowds — with Friday no exception. 

Despite their hanging up of the boots, they still brought out a series of new belters — and it’s anyone’s guess as to whether these could ever land on the streaming platforms. But they did, however, serve us ‘People in the Corner’ a few days prior, so that had even more oomph than before. But for me, it was the anthemic ‘Y.F.F.G.’, personal go-to ‘Not a Threat, Just a Warning.’ and the OG single, ‘Walrus’, that not only blew the roof off considerably, but delivered a smidge of nostalgia. 

As per, there was inter-song banter, stage-diving encouraged and a wildly energetic vibe. But towards the end, when they brought Dim Imagery’s Matt out to double-up on the mic, it was palpably clear that a sadness was brewing. Not just among the members but the faces in the venue as well.

Fudge. have brought us a lot of noise over the years, and that won’t be forgotten. So my parting statement to them is: take a bow.