LIVE REVIEW: Wet Leg, Hamish Hawk, Lucia and the Best Boys, Concert in the Gardens, Edinburgh, 31/12/2025
Photo Credit: Cameron Brisbane
The last day of 2025 has finally arrived and that means it is time for the Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations, last year the whole event had to be cancelled due to the stormy weather but thankfully this year the weather is reasonable … well as reasonable as can be in Scotland for 31st December! At 1pm there we were basking in the sunshine with nineteen degrees temperatures in Agadir, Morocco and then returned to a slightly cooler three degrees when arriving in Edinburgh at 8pm.
Weather aside a short five minute wait to collect the media pass and entry to the Ross Bandstand was very quick, the event is incredibly organised with all the staff and security team helping to create a very unique atmosphere. The Ross Bandstand is directly below the stunning Edinburgh Castle and we would have the best view of the fireworks display at midnight. On to the music now …
Glasgow comedienne Susie McCabe is already on stage getting everyone into the party spirit when we arrive, Susie touches on different subjects with one example being how in Glasgow having a heart attack is similar to spraining your ankle! On a more serious note, Susie did suffer a heart attack earlier in 2025 but has made a full recovery. She introduces fellow Glaswegians Lucia & the Best Boys to the stage at 9pm, there must be a couple of thousand in the bandstand already as Lucia Fairfull takes to the stage wearing a tartan skirt for the occasion with the guitarist also donning a kilt as the set kicks off with So Sweet I Could Die. Lucia tells us that the band haven’t played many gigs this year, we can still recall their set at the TRNSMT Festival back in July as they took the main stage by storm, they have been busy writing this year. We are lucky enough to get to hear a couple of new tracks tonight with the first one Lonely Girl sounding like an anthem already, Lucia is on the acoustic guitar for this one, it has a very catchy chorus that will go down well at the Barrowland show in May 2026.
A violinist joins the band for a few of the songs and this makes a difference during You Look Like Somebody In Love while Perfectly Untrue and Angels Cry Too are two of the finest songs of the half hour set. The cover of Blue Nile song The Downtown Lights is played perfectly with Lucia describing them as “the best band in the world”. We’re looking forward to the Barrowland show already. 8/10
After catching local Edinburgh band Hamish Hawk supporting Simple Minds at Bellahouston Park during the Summer Sessions gigs here we are again, Hamish has recently played Barrowland for his biggest show to date. There are well over three thousand partygoers now in the Ross Bandstand as the excitement builds towards a headline performance from Wet Leg. Directly above us Princes Street is hosting a fairly large crowd tonight, with fifty thousand being the estimated figure, the event is also being covered by the global CNN network. The forty-five minute set flies by as everyone looks forward to Wet Leg just after 11pm, Nancy Dearest is the track that pulls us in tonight, Hamish has a great rapport with his audiences as is shown during You Can Film Me, where he invites the crowd to do just that. There is a good mix of Scots, English and foreign nationals from around the globe making the Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations a very unique occasion.
The new track Half Of Paris sounds great while it is the song that is a tongue twister that steals the show as usual: The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion, 1973, we will never tire of this song. Guitarist Andrew Pearson and bass player Lizzie Reid are both excellent tonight with Pearson especially having a great stage presence, Lizzie also played on keyboards during the Lucia & The Best Boys set showcasing her many musical talents. 8/10
As we await Wet Leg everyone’s feet are feeling very cold and we have to state a very important fact at this point … this was our first sober Hogmanay since 1986! Oh the memories are flooding back as a sixteen year old having his first alcoholic drink.
This Wet Leg show can still be considered a part of the Moisturiser tour that began months ago and has reached as far afield as North America and Europe as well as a sold-out UK tour. This band really have had a very successful 2025 after the Moisturiser album release proving how popular the Isle of Wight band have become. The set is split into two ten track sets, one to see out 2025 and the other to bring in 2026 after the fireworks! We would get to hear most of the Moisturiser tracks tonight.
Formed in 2019 initially as a duo with Rhian Teasdale on vocals & guitar and Hester Chambers on guitar, they are now a full band with Josh Mobaraki (guitar & synth), Ellis Durand (bass) and Henry Holmes (drums) making up the remainder. Teasdale has become a fashion icon and looks the part tonight with a pair of gold hotpants, white mittens and a trendy short green parker adding to her always highly charged stage presence. Ok, lets be honest Wet Leg aren’t for everyone and are still relatively new on the indie-rock scene but members of the crowd tonight are singing every word back at the stage creating a great atmosphere down the front where we are. This event has attracted some big names in the past including Blondie and The Pet Shop Boys.
The strobe lighting took effect immediately when opening track Catch These Fists began, it was very overpowering at times and the poor photographers down in the pit must have been half blinded by the end of the third song. The quirky lyrics from some of the songs such as Supermarket and Wet Dream are part of the attraction of a Wet Leg show. The ‘2025 set’ is over so quickly and everyone is now moving away from the stage to catch a better view of the six minute fireworks show that is nothing short of jaw dropping as we all sing along to the old Rabbie Burns poem Auld Lang Syne.
Around 12.15am the band reappears back on the stage for set number two and work through a few more from the Moisturiser album as well as some from debut record Wet Leg, Pillow Talk, Ur Mum and u and me at home are just a few of the standouts from the second set. However it is the last three songs that create the most excitement among the crowd starting with the always great to hear Chaise Longue, a track that has gone a long way to gain the band the recognition that they deserve. Two songs from Moisturiser end the set with CPR and mangetout being the tracks in question, ending a fantastic night of music at the Concert in the Gardens. This was the last Wet Leg show until they tour Australia and New Zealand in February, try stopping this band in 2026, they are destined for an arena tour next time around. Happy New Year! 10/10
Written by: Alan Brown
