Live Review: Lynks / Jessica Winter / Straight Girl – Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds 23.03.2022

By Izzy Clayton

Topping off a gloriously sunny day, it was down to the basement at Hyde Park Book Club to catch the wonderfully self-titled ‘Masked Drag Monster’, Lynks. The Leeds show also marked the halfway point of the 2022 tour.

Opening the show was STRAIGHT GIRL, an electropunk artist based locally in Leeds. As soon as they entered the stage they commanded the audience to move forward, the crowd were invested and happily danced along throughout the set. Their high energy radiated throughout the whole set with the last song culminating in an immersive conga line through the venue, STRAIGHT GIRL really set the stage for the rest of the evening.

Up next was Jessica Winter with tonight being the last night supporting Lynks on the tour. Beginning with a slower tempo range of songs and seamlessly blending both moody tones whilst also maintaining that pop feel, their vocal range shone through with some superb singing all whilst managing to traverse across the entire stage to ensure the crowd were all involved in the performance.

Finally, it was time for the ‘best musician in the entire world’, as quoted on social media by Lynks themselves. With the crowd nicely warmed up by the support acts Lynks entered in a multi coloured jumpsuit, complete with mask and beret, flanked by the trio of Lynks Shower Gels all to the beat of ‘The Wedding March’. The set started with the 2021 track ‘This is the hit’ from their EP, ‘Smash Hits, Vol. 2’. A few tracks in, Lynks launched into their new single, ‘Hey Joe (Relax)’, released earlier this month as the first song of their new trilogy, titled ‘MEN’ scheduled to drop on the 1^st of April. Although a fairly new track it was well received by the crowd who duly sang along throughout.

The night was split into multiple ‘chapters’ and also featured a cover of ‘Chaise Longue’ by Wet Leg. Throughout the entire evening, Lynks and his Shower Gels were non-stop dancing with choreographed routines to camp up the whole experience and really encourage crowd participation. At one stage, a routine even ridiculed the fact that Lynks can’t stand still – which is definitely true!! A highly energetic performance throughout!

The last song of the set ended on the 2022 hit, ‘Silly Boy’. As soon as the song had finished and Lynks announced that was it for the night, the crowd instantly demanded more – recognising that there were two still songs left to be played.

Moments later, Lynks returned after a quick outfit change into an all-silver glitter outfit with a different styled mask to end the night with ‘Str8 Acting’ from their ‘Smash Hits, Vol.1’ EP.

The whole gig was truly a spectacle from start to finish with true techno, pop and camp as hell attitude. The tour continues in Birkenhead, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Southampton and Margate – you definitely don’t want to miss it!

For dates and tickets please click here.