Protomartyr at Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, United Kingdom

Get your tickets to see Protomartyr in Leeds, United Kingdom. Happening on Tuesday, November 11, 2025 at Brudenell Social Club. Doors open at 7:30 PM.

Brudenell Presents…

With support from – Coded Marking

14+ (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult)

In a city full of brilliant people with dead-end jobs and dampened by bitter-cold winters, playing music offers a cheap outlet. Protomartyr’s taut, austere rock was incubated in a freezing Detroit warehouse littered with beer cans and cigarette butts and warmed, feebly, by space heaters. Short songs made for short practices, and the band learned quickly not to waste time. Despite the cold, Protomartyr emerged with a sound that is idiosyncratic but relatable, hooky but off-kilter.
There’s a temptation to call it garage rock, but that doesn’t quite fit. With respect to the local predecessors, this isn’t the primitive stomp of The Dirtbombs or The Stooges’ greasy roar. Punk works, kind of, even if it leaves the hardcore kids confused. Post-punk suggests something too retro; indie rock, something too precious. What Protomartyr is, is “stuck between the cracks.” If that’s the case, though, they aren’t alone. Protomartyr’s economical rock elicits comparisons to possible antecedents like Pere Ubu or The Fall as well as local contemporaries like Frustrations or Tyvek (whose frontman Kevin Boyer played bass in an early iteration of Protomartyr). Singer Joe Casey’s dry declarative snarl serves as a reliable anchor, granting his bandmates — guitarist Greg Ahee, drummer Alex Leonard and bassist Scott Davidson — the opportunity to explore textures and reinforce the rhythm section. In other words, to “fuck around a little bit more.”
This is never more apparent than on the band’s sophomore LP and Hardly Art debut, Under Color of Official Right. Where 2012’s No Passion All Technique favored comparatively straightforward punk structures, Under Color takes a more exploratory approach.
Recorded in a single weekend with Bill Skibbe and Jessica Ruffins (Wolf Eyes, Cass McCombs, Lower Dens, Six Organs of Admittance) at Key Club Recording Studio in Benton Harbor, MI, the album straddles studio professionalism and punk impulse. Shades of the band’s less obvious pop and R&B influences can be glimpsed in the sinuous grooves of songs like “Maidenhead” or “Violent.” Elsewhere, “Tarpeian Rock” places punk vitriol against a minimalist backing and “Scum, Rise!” casts shadows with guitars that alternately chime and clang.
Post-punk’s biggest inspiration, it seems, was its eagerness to demolish punk’s orthodoxy, to push against the arbitrary boundaries of genre — at least until it became one itself. For Protomartyr, inspiration usually arrives in the form of ideas or feelings, more than explicit musical references. By the time the band has shaped it to its needs, the source material is almost unrecognizable.
Casey’s lyrics often draw their details from books, real people and local landmarks. They’re relatable because they’re so specific. Take for instance, “Pagans,” in which Casey asks, “Livy recalled when the giants came / I didn’t care about anything, except warm hands in the cold air.”

Bookable Access Facilities and How to Apply Personal Assistant tickets We offer a Personal Assistant ticket to any customer who may not be able to attend a show without the support of a PA and has already purchased their own valid ticket. If you require a PA ticket, please give us an email to the email address listed below to discuss your requirements. We will then confirm this ticket via email. You will be asked to provide evidence for the PA ticket to be issued in the form of a scan of a PIP or DLA letter, a blue badge, access card etc alongside proof of a valid ticket for the show in question. Accessible viewing If you require accessible viewing and a seat, please let us know in advance, to ensure we are aware of your access needs. Please note, we do not have a designated viewing platform but have multiple accessible viewing points in both event rooms which we are happy to reserve. Accessible parking There is no customer parking available at Brudenell Social Club. We do not have specific accessible parking bays. There are no parking restrictions on any nearby streets. Contacting Us If you need to contact us with a venue access query, please note we must have at least five working days notice before the show you are enquiring about. All access related enquiries are dealt with via the email below, unfortunately we cannot make any access arrangements over the phone. access@brudenellsocialclub.co.uk Please be aware that if your request is for a PA ticket, Early Access or Seating, you must use the email address above and send both proof of eligibility and a valid ticket purchase. N.B. Requests for external shows can sometimes take up to 10 working days to process, please give us as much notice as possible. We advise you contact us immediately after purchasing tickets for an event so Team Brudenell has as much time as possible to help with your individual needs.

To better accommodate your needs, Brudenell Social Club has requested that all Accessible Ticketing requests be solicited only through their representatives. Please contact a Brudenell Social Club representative for further help with your ticket purchase.* Advance ticket purchase may be required. * Box office information is subject to change.

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