Roxann Yus | 03/09/23
“Do you reckon they have contactless here?”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“Aren’t we back in the ‘50s or something?”
Ben found this very funny. But it was half-heartedly a serious question. After being in Germany for a year, I’m wired to question it every time I go out.
They did, indeed, have contactless. And espresso martinis. Both of which make me wired in splendidly different ways. But more than that, they had Hayley Gaftarnick snugged intimately in their jazz-infused speakeasy in the centre of Leeds.
It was my first time at this popular Leeds hangout which everybody who has visited unapologetically raves about. The hype is totally deserved: what’s cooler than sneaking through an unsuggestive barber shop into a low-lit timewarp beneath the noisy hub of city life?
This alone as a concept would draw in customers, but The Domino Club add another unique layer to create a multi-sensory haven for cocktail drinkers, music lovers, first-time daters and long-time lovers. Of course, I’m talking about their brilliantly handpicked selection of local talent, namely on Wednesday night: Hayley Gafternick and her sidekick cello player who reinvented familiar songs into husky soul-driven acoustic sets.
Her vocals were mesmerising, almost imitating my dream of seeing Amy Winehouse live. Now, I’m not a big jazz fan, so my comparisons are pretty limited. Still, women with deep, husky, and emotionally raw voices are totally dreamy to listen to and perhaps even rare.
The Domino Club have a range of talent on their stage every night from classical jazz to reinvented takes on the genre, and even the instruments too! So get yourself down there soon if you're in and around Leeds - that's if you can find it…
Edited by: Roxann Yus
Photography by: Roxann Yus