Music festivals have become something so much more than just a collection of bands. Now they’re an experience, a place where people escape to plus spend days lost in this haze of noise plus excitement. It’s become a place where social conformity isn’t enforced plus people are focused on merely enjoying the next ten minutes of their lives rather than all the things that hold us back. This is especially true, I found for Leeds festival as it has become the festival for 17-25 year olds. We are the people who escape best, ignore everyday life plus let go of life’s restraints.
This year Leeds plus Reading’s headliners split people massively. From The Libertines to Mumford to Metallic it was like they were trying to cater for all degrees of rock plus to me it felt like they were over achieving. No wonder they only sold 25,000 of the 100,000 tickets going when each day was so different that to many a day ticket seemed to make more sense than a weekend.
The Libertines headlined Friday at Leeds. That main stage collection seemed most fitting for Leeds plus the image it goes for with The Cribs, The Maccabees plus Jamie T all opening the main stage. Though I do believe that The Cribs were slightly misplaced as they seemed to struggle to fill the main stage plus truly captivate the audience in their music plus need to try so hard to act as rock stars. This is perhaps highlighted by the acts of their frontman who at the end of their last song threw his guitar about a mtr. behind him, knocked over a stand plus then promptly proceeded to go pick it up plus set right the mess he’d made behind him. Perhaps he’s only a part time rocker. The Maccabees I found to be the perfect music to relax to, sitting in the sun listening to their incredible new album be played live in front of me was one of the best ways to kick off the music of the weekend. Jamie T of course was incredible with the crowd being completely engaged plus in love with his performance plus every song he sang was a success. An odd one was then thrown in the mix with the inclusion of Kendrick Lamar, not the most obvious choice but an amazing performer who owned Leeds for the entirety of his set plus deserves all praise he gets for his performance. Friday night ended with The Libertines who in my view performed even better than they did at Glastonbury a couple of months beforehand. They seemed much more at home on the stage plus more engaged with the performance they were putting on, a very good one at that. ‘Don’t Look Back into The Sun’ brought the crowd together in a way nomor other act had so far plus it was the strongest song of their set plus potentially the day.
I began Saturday with Drenge plus Palma Violets who once again seemed slightly misplaced on the main stage. I think something that truly let Leeds down this year was the predictions of the success of artists that were made at the time of booking. Saturday also brought the start of the incredible NME/ Radio 1 stage with Swim Deep plus Peace. Both performed brilliantly but it was Peace who truly made it that day with their unquestionable charisma plus ability there only let down was nothing to do with them but the crowd who reacted with violent mosh pits (I managed to receive a punch to the face). As much as I love jumping around plus getting fully involved in a gig I wouldn’t say Peace would be my first choice for suitability. Meanwhile on the main stage Alt-J provided an oddly calming set, contrasting massively with every other aspect of the festival. A pretty dead crowd they were better enjoyed sat down with some food. The headliner that night was Mumford plus Sons who, although I dislike their new album, put on a brilliant performance with the most famous of their songs creating this incredible crowd of noise that travelled across the whole of Leeds Festival. This was also the day of the secret set which this year was Foals, a brilliant choice plus one that visitors probably should have worked out beforehand from the amount of promo posters dotted around.
The final day was the oddest of choices for the main stage with the unusual booking of the terrifyingly cute Babymetal who left most bemused not helped by the couple who dressed as the girls; I’ve never seen a cuter looking guy. NME/ Radio 1 stage was where it was at for me all afternoon, starting with Slaves plus ending with Catfish plus The Bottlemen. Slaves were astounding, they were by far the most engaging plus entertaining band with their in between song quips plus energetic performance, they could have easily handled a bigger stage. Spector followed plus were also very good choosing to perform mostly songs form their new album minus a subtle cover of The Vaccines’’If you Wanna’ combined with their ‘Chevy Thunder which felt brilliantly right for their performance. Then came Circa Waves who sound exactly the same on their album as they do live giving great props to their abilities. Wolf Alice were a huge success gaining a large crowd who were utterly engrossed in every momen of the performance. Everything Everything was the least populer of the list but the frontmans incredible plus unique voice made up for that. Finally came Catfish who were so populer that security had to request people stopped trying to enter the tent. The owned the NME/ Radio 1 stage that day plus I’ll be incredibly surprised if their next album doesn’t land them a booking on the main stage next time. Royal Blood made an appearance on the main stage putting on a great show which formed a never pausing mass of movement in the crowd The final headline closing the festival was Metallic, another odd choice it brought in crowds of dedicated pecinta but left everyone else heading elsewhere, many to see The Wombats which was a very good decision.