Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts Live at The Key Club, Leeds (24th July 2026)

Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts, UK Tour 2026

I’m A Survivor

Tuk Smith is one of rock and roll’s great survivors. The songwriter and guitarist, originally from rural Georgia and now based in Nashville, Tennessee, spent almost a decade fronting the Biters, a cult rock/punk band, before going solo, forming Tuk Smith and the Restless Hearts.

With the band on the brink of a breakthrough (a debut single issued and support slot secured on the massive Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard stadium tour), the 2020 pandemic put paid to this - the tour being shelved and the band’s record dealing falling through.

Disheartened but not broken, Tuk ploughed on, eventually signing to a new label and releasing Ballad of a Misspent Youth in 2022. The album leant into a pure, garage-recorded rock 'n' roll style.

This was followed by 2024’s Rogue to Redemption, again infused with his ‘bare-knuckled’ cocktail of AC/DC, Cheap Trick and Thin Lizzy amongst many of its guitar riffs, gargantuan pop hooks and classic rock touchpoints.

His latest output is the EP, Troubled Paradise, with its 4 songs receiving heavy airplay in his live sets.

The UK Tour

Embarking on a UK tour, kicked off by a slot on the Maidstone, Maid of Stone Festival, a further 6 dates, brought the band to The Key Club in Leeds.

It was new venue to me, The Key Club, which opened in 2014, is a dark, intimate, and stripped-back venue in a basement part of The Merrion Centre in central Leeds and epitomises the classic "sweaty rock club" archetype that is becoming rarer these days.

The Gig

The evening got off to a strong start with two excellent support acts; Majick Moth and Cassidy Paris.

Acoustic Flutterings - Majick Moth

Majick Moth is the solo project of 25-year-old Leeds-based singer, songwriter, and producer Rowan Yaxley. His style is a melodic melting pot that blends indie rock with layers of Britpop, shoegaze, folk, and classic blues.

His output includes an EP from 2023 (Innocent, Ignorant, and Invincible) and a couple of more recent singles, Don’t Know Why I Waited (2026) and Freer Than I’ve Ever Felt (2025).

Joined by guitarist, Nick, the pair delivered an acoustic set that went down well with the crowd. Firmly routed in the UK music scene, the set raised a flag for the UK, before the louder, and electrically more raucous cousins from Australia and the US took the stage.

Majick Moth (guest guitarist Nick, left and Rowan Yaxley, right) *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

It was good to see some local talent being given an opportunity to shine at this grassroots venue.

Owning the Stage - Cassidy Paris

Cassidy Paris resplendent in horns, The Key Club, Leeds *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

Cassidy Paris is a rising star in the modern hard rock scene, coming all the way from Melbourne, Australia. She blends a heavy, '80s-inspired melodic hard rock sound with a contemporary edge. Her sound melds classic influences like Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, and Lita Ford with modern forces like Halestorm and Dorothy.

Hot on the heels of her UK Tour Finish What We Started, which also took in Maid of Stone, where she kicked the whole festival off, she headed to Leeds, for her debut in the city, pretty much on the crest of a rock and roll tsunami.

With albums Bittersweet from 2025 and New Sensation from 2023 she had a sterling back catalogue of treasure to draw from and delivered a 40 minute set that engaged the crowd throughout.

Cassidy is an extremely energetic and visual leader of her band. The owners of The Key Club, are probably frantically checking the title deeds of the place, because she completely owned the stage. Covering every inch of the floor, often entirely in the space of one song, her strong vocals and stage persona, underpinned by a rythmically perfect band, allowed her fabulous material to sparkle and shine.

Cassidy Paris owns the stage, The Key Club, Leeds *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

Whilst mainly anchored in 80s melodic, but fiercely delivered punchy rock, she recalled the aforementioned rock greats as she pirouetted around the stage (and only missed off a walk along the top of the bar on her manoeuvres, as is normally the case, due to a few logistical challenges!).

The theatrics were matched by set of super taut, dynamically melodic songs—the set encompassed Walking on Fire, Wannabe, Danger, Stronger, I Still Think About You, Nothing Left to Lose and Watch The Fire.

Cassidy expressed her thanks to Tuk Smith for the chance to support his band, and also make her debut in Leeds (“I grew up on The Biters and still have a poster on my wall in my old bedroom!”).

The powerhouse band—Jordan Smith (Guitar, backing vocals), Ian Nash (Guitar), Fred Hale (Bass) and Pete Newdeck (Drums, backing vocals) looked to be having the time of their lives as they loudly cranked out the riffs and beats throughout the evening.

With a good deal of the crowd repeat offenders—a signficant number of her tour T-shirts proudly on display—the partisan crowd lapped up everything the band threw their way, on what was the last date of the tour (for now, Cassidy stressed) as the gig ended triumphantly.

Cassidy Paris takes the plaudits, The Key Club, Leeds *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

We’ve not heard the last of Cassidy Paris, by any stretch!

It Ain’t For The Faint - Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts

Tuk Smith & the Restless Hearts, The Key Club, Leeds *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

With hardly any time to take a breath, a curfew busting sharp turnaround saw Tuk Smith and the Restlesss Hearts take to the stage around 9.15pm.

In a similar vein to Cassidy Paris, Tuk Smith was equally stoked up and basking in the warm jubilant glow of some recently euphoric gigs. This became even more evident, as soon as the band launched into opening number Little Renegade, which permeated every corner of the compact and well filled venue.

Promising to keep the chat to a minimum, to shoehorn as much music in before the curfew, the band tore into more material from their recent albums.

Tuk Smith, The Key Club, Leeds *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

With influences bedded in the 70s, the throbbing pulse of AC/DC, the twin-guitar assault of Thin Lizzy topped with lashings of the melodic choruses Cheap Trick built their legacy on, Tuk Smith’s output has that knowingly familiar vibe without being derivative.

Introducing song, Girls on the East Side of Town, confessing he sought to rip off Thin Lizzy (that’s a good touchpoint, though, right?), the song works its way out of the manacles of Phil Lynott, Houdini style, to showcase Smith’s sonic punch in its own right.

Swirls of Bowie, Mott the Hoople waft around the stage; the Restless Hearts in their appearances, echo a number of the greats, their 70s hairstyles and gypsy/ bohemian fashions also recalling Keith Richards, anyone of the Faces you care to pick, Queen and many more.

Despite the enforced reduction in chat, Smith couldn’t resist some entertaining banter, also receiving a strict instruction that he was ‘the saviour of rock and roll’ from a chap in a Chuck Berry T-shirt (not the ‘savoury pie’, Smith initially responded with!).

But the band remained focused on the here and now and delivering their set. Challenging the crowd to choose between Glorybound or Troubled Paradise, a solution was brokered to play half of each! A truncated Glorybound giving way for what felt like a full version of the fabulous Troubled Paradise, which also contained traces of All The Young Dudes for good measure.

Runnin’ with the Wild Ones taken from recent Troubled Paradise EP from 2025, was another strong offering that fair bounced off the walls of the venue.

With a dip into the past and his old band, Smith renewed The Biters, Gypsy Rose, blasting out a strong version of the song from 2017 album The Future Aint What It Used to Be.

After teasing the crowd with the opening bars of Wonderwall, Smith steered things back into more appropriate territory, with a ferocious reading of The Replacement’s Bastards of Young, with a segue into Cheap Trick classic, Surrender, as the set hurtled towards a much too soon closure.

Rounding the set off with Take the Long Way, opening song to recent album Rogue to Redemption, its message “Feet Don’t Fail Me, Pick Me Up And Get Me Out” highlighted that Tuk Smith & the Restless Hearts hadn’t put a foot wrong all evening.

And we even got to sing Happy Birthday to drummer, Ricky Ficarelli.

This was a powerful, no holds barred evening showcasing the redemptive power of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

It Ain’t for the Faint indeed.

They might have blown the lid off a small venue but it was clear to see, and hear, that the energy could seemlessly transfer its way to the larger stadiums and arenas—a true testimony to how good it was.

Somewhat fittingly at The Key Club, Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts found the way to open the door to a masterclass in pure, unadulterated Rock 'n' Roll!

The Band:

Tuk Smith – Lead Vocals / Guitar
Matthew "Ponyboy" Curtis – Bass
Ricky Ficarelli – Drums
Tobin Dale – Guitar

Seat: Standing, right hand, 6 rows from front

Postscript—paying homage:

The band paid tribute to another hero, Motorhead legend, Lemmy, visiting the bronze-cast statue in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, whilst travelling north to Leeds!

FIELD NOTES: Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts Live at The Key Club, Leeds—A Masterclass in Pure, Unadulterated Rock 'n' Roll