{"id":31510,"date":"2026-01-07T11:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T11:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/?p=31510"},"modified":"2026-01-07T11:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T11:22:10","slug":"gig-review-hard-life-at-the-o2-academy-saturday-20th-december-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/gig-review-hard-life-at-the-o2-academy-saturday-20th-december-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Gig review – hard life at The O2 Academy, Saturday 20th December 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

with Heart Sauce<\/h2>\n

Reviewed by Trevor Locke<\/a><\/p>\n

Photographed by Kevin Gaughan<\/a><\/p>\n

At Leicester\u2019s O2 Academy, support was from local band, Heart Sauce<\/strong><\/a>. Heart Sauce is a four-piece band which formed in 2022. I thought their songs were very listenable and had good dynamics. Their set had a good variety of tunes, engaging beats and rhythms which enthralled the audience<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for our review of their single, I Stopped Trying<\/em>, in 2019.<\/p>\n

Heart Sauce is playing at The Firebug on 2nd May 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Heart Sauce<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The O2\u2019s main hall was packed to the rafters for tonight\u2019s show; most of the audience were young people who were there for the homecoming gig of this now famous band.<\/p>\n

Hard life<\/a><\/strong> are from Leicester. The band was formerly known as easy life when it started in 2017. They stopped being called easy life in October 2023 and became known as hard life [lower case] in June 2024. The band\u2019s genre is given as \u2018alternative indie pop.\u2019 Hard life is signed to Island Records.<\/p>\n

The members of hard life are Murray Matravers (vocals, synthesiser, keyboard and trumpet), Oliver Cassidy (drums and percussion), Lewis Alexander Berry (guitar and bass guitar) and Jordan Birtles (percussion, keyboard and backing vocals).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
hard life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hard life\u2019s set started just after nine o\u2019clock and finished at ten thirty. An epic performance, there was a lot of audience interaction and participation. In many of the songs, the audience sang along with the band. This is the live experience; something you cannot get just by streaming the music.<\/p>\n

At the back of the stage, the words hard life were up in lights. At times, everyone was waving their arms in the air, and some fans were held aloft on the shoulders of their friends. That made it look like a festival. At one point, audience members were asked to switch on the lights of their mobile phones for one song, and they did \u2013 in their hundreds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
hard life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The band\u2019s music gave us strong beats and engaging rhythms. Not only did hard life sing their own songs, they also sang several Christmas number one hits which added to the party atmosphere. The band\u2019s performance was very much about the front man (Murray Matravers), who knew how to capture an audience and hold their attention. At times, the bass from the PA system was so strong it felt like there was an earthquake taking place.<\/p>\n

What started as a gig became a show, a fully-fledged one at that. It has been a long time since I last witnessed something on this scale. I was impressed by what I saw; it was something I was not expecting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
hard life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Given the general downturn in Leicester\u2019s music scene, seeing so many people at one show was both exceptional and inspiring. I came away feeling very satisfied that I had been to a great live experience and wanting to see this band again.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for our interview with the band.<\/p>\n

Songs by the band are listed on its website (click here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Find out about the history of the band on Wikipedia (click here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for MIL\u2019s preview of the homecoming gig.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The band\u2019s music gave us strong beats and engaging rhythms. Not only did hard life sing their own songs, they also sang several Christmas number one hits which added to the party atmosphere.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":31515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[346,216],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-346","category-gig_reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_8216.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73uhX-8ce","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19662,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/review-barracuda-at-the-o2-academy-scholar-bar-friday-6th-september-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":31510,"position":0},"title":"Review – Barracuda at The O2 Academy Scholar Bar, Friday 6th September 2019","author":"Kevin Gaughan","date":"09\/09\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"with Dum Language and Spacetoast Reviewed by Trevor Locke This gig was organised by The Cookie When I arrived, Dum Language was on stage. 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On stage tonight: Last Edition, Fighting Evil is Cool, Hula Girls, The Hostiles. After a wet afternoon, it looks like it will be a dry evening. We are here tonight for an evening of ska \u2013 one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2014"","block_context":{"text":"2014","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/history-of-leicester-music\/articles-from-2014\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Hostiles, O2 Academy Leicester, 2014","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/The-Hostiles-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/The-Hostiles-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/The-Hostiles-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2811,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/the-fores-at-the-o2\/","url_meta":{"origin":31510,"position":2},"title":"The Fores at the O2","author":"Trevor Locke","date":"16\/11\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Fores at the O2 Academy 8th November 2013 Photos \u00a9\u00a0by Martin Crosbie photography On tonight's line-up in the Scholar Bar\u00a0The Dirty Future, Jonezy and The Fores,\u00a0at a show promoted by Takeover Radio and LiveIn Leicester.\u00a0 The Dirty Future started in 2011 and they are from the Leicestershire town of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gigs"","block_context":{"text":"Gigs","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/music-home-page\/gigs-in-leicester\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lead singer from the Fores","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/IMG_2147_0787.jpg?fit=600%2C409&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/IMG_2147_0787.jpg?fit=600%2C409&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/IMG_2147_0787.jpg?fit=600%2C409&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19782,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/review-the-lids-at-the-o2-academy-friday-15th-november-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":31510,"position":3},"title":"Review – The Lids at The O2 Academy, Friday 15th November 2019","author":"Kevin Gaughan","date":"20\/11\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"with Extras and Barracuda Reviewed by Trevor Locke This was a gig I was keen to attend. 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The band from Corby gave us a set of good sounds, mixing vocals and keyboard together into an agreeable cocktail of pleasing rhythms and engaging melodies. Plenty of vibes there to satisfy the audience. 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