Show Review

The Leeds festival has often, in the past, been renowned for its’ no-nonsense attitude in which bands are either loved or hated. In the past, 50 Cent has been bottled off stage, the Foo-Fighters have become rock Gods and little known indie garage bands have been jolted out of obscurity and thrusted into the musical spotlight for all to appreciate.

Without the Glastonbury festival this year, the Leeds festival is probably the main European rock event of 2006 with nearly 200 acts playing over three days at two different locations and in front of over 250,000 people. The pedigree of the event means that the biggest acts in the world converge to guarantee music fans a spectacle little seen anywhere else.

Day 1 – Friday – 25th Aug

As we head into the site on Friday morning on a bus full of drunken teenagers, an awesome site beholds us as we meander around the final corner of our journey and witness the temporary festival ‘village’ in front of us. Miles and miles of multi-coloured tents and stages capture everyone’s imagination which makes the exit off the bus a dangerous and quick one.

After eventually finding a space for the tent we enter the main arena with unbridled enthusiasm along with thousands upon thousands of others. The atmosphere of the place is un-paralleled to hardly anything else there is to experience as people who usually spend their days shuffling paper in stuffy offices or stack shelves all day transform into free spirits and let go of (most) of their inhibitions.

The first act we stumble upon is the Canadian female-fronted band, Metric. The lead singer, Emily, has often been drawn into comparison with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ singer Karen O and she shows it here with her outlandish on-stage showmanship and a piercing voice that would make even the harshest critic stand up and take notice. Despite their relative anonymity in Europe, the crowd lap up their latest single ‘Monster Hospital’ and seem to warm to their confidence and indie-friendly set.

The next band of the day, Tapes ‘N Tapes appear to be less ready for the ‘Leeds experience’. Frontman and ex-Pavement bassist Josh Grier seems nervous and exclaims to the crowd “It’s retarded I’m up here (sic) today ‘cos last year I was one of you guys”. Despite the energy, they don’t hits the notes required and flutter off without much applause.

After a few beers we headed to the Carling Stage to catch Good Shoes who impress us with a flamboyant mix of London beats and Texan grunge. One teenage girl in the crowd enjoy it so much she starts doing head-stands which leave the band as confused as anyone around her.

Another beer later and before we know it The Research don the stage dressed as smartly as Prince Phillip at a Christening. Wakefield’s finest confuse more than entertain although the performance is largely held together by the singer’s free-styling keyboarding and the drummer’s angelic looks.

As the mandatory festival rain starts to fall, some (very) hairy men wearing purple dresses cross our path. Having seen this we decide it’s time to head back to the NME/Radio1 tent to catch Metric’s side project, Broken Social Scene. The Canadian ‘family’ delight open-mouth on-lookers with sensual trumpet playing and melodic harmonies which made even the hardcore of rockers want to hug each other.

Once we were sure the purple dress-wearing men were safely gone, we head back to the Carling tent to catch the last of the indie-dance unit, The Klaxons. Whistles were plentiful in the crowd as virtual shapes were cut and musical stereotypes blown away when they surprised everyone by covering ‘Not Over Yet’ to finish the set.

Larrikin Love duly follow with their growing popularity owing to a fusion of country pop, indie guitars and unexpected cow bell banging. And despite their popularity, you get the feeling that they won’t be around for very long because with all the will in the world, there are only a certain amount of songs you can make with three chords.

Headlining the Main stage Pearl Jam returned with an emotional comeback to the festival scene. Two hours from the giants of rock flew by effortlessly (with the help of yet more beer) showing the younger generation how it was done.

Tears formed in Steve Gossard’s eyes as the band reached the climax of the set. Highlights from the American rockers include ‘Alive’ which gives everyone watching goosebumps, the quality of instrument playing and a bizarre tale told by Gossard of a dream he had the night before about George Bush having sex without a condom as an analogy for the war in Iraq. We all nodded our heads politely.

Day 2 – Saturday – 26th August

As the day broke and the hangovers set in, it was Mumm-Ra on the Carling stage that reminded everybody that they were at a rock festival. Live, they were a breath of fresh air although it might also be fair to say a little off-beat.

The Long Blondes corrected all that fresh air by turning it dirty again. What can only be described as a sassy and confident set, the Blondes turned non-drinkers into alcoholics with thrashing drum beats and grinding guitars.

Next on the billing, the Guillemots ran on stage like they were let out to play for the first time in a long time and even though the singer looked like everyone’s first piano teacher, his voice was flawless and compelled those all around him with an epic version of their first single ‘I saw such things in my sleep’.

The lack of rain seemed to lift everyone’s spirits and by the time Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly came on the NME/Radio1 stage, people all around were giddy with sun exposure. The rammed tent was greeted with a positive speech on ‘anti-Nazism’ in the north-west of England and then continued to be fed spoonfuls of bouncy guitar joints.

Happily content with all things in my life at that point, we returned to the main stage only to be disappointed with the lack of enthusiasm Fall Out Boy put into their performance. But, despite the lull in proceedings, the atmosphere once again turned gleeful as Belle and Sebastian took control. Amongst a barrage of bubbles, marriage proposals (and acceptances), pretty girls dancing on-stage and a curious incident with mascara; they were the first band of the festival to really engage the audience and make it a truly interactive experience.

Cautious of previous troubles and of tales of poor live reviews; we headed back to the NME/Radio1 stage to spend some time with The Vines. However, as it turned out, we were blown over by the Aussie rockers. ‘Outtatheway’ and a moving cover version of ‘Ms Johnson’ topped off the set setting the bar high.

Dizzee Rascal seemed super-psyched to be at Leeds and you can feel the energy, even from the edge of the tent, radiating off him. Rascal knows how to entertain and he does so with such a vengeance you can’t help but nod your head. A montage of recognisable tunes under-cuts a bombardment of in-expendable hip hop which seems to flow uncontrollably out of his mouth and into our shoes.

To finish off the second day, Primal Scream roll onto the stage slightly late and looking a little worse for wear. Singer Bobby Gillespie asks “are you having a good time” and we duly let him know we are by screaming and then dancing to a hit-laden set which includes ‘Swashsticker Eyes’, ‘Kill All Hippies’ and ‘Rocks.'

Day 3 – Sunday – 27th August

The third and final day of the festival starts in style as Giant Drag showcased their latest EP, ‘Lemona’ which proves recent claims that singer Annie Hardy is a musical ‘genius.'

The rumours of rain later that evening doesn’t seem to dampen spirits, especially when faced with the prospect of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! who seemed to be shocked by the whole experience. CYHSY! are a paradox of young faces and mature voices telling tales of a miss spent youth and of drug taking.

The much anticipated Futureheads try in vain to win the crowd over with their quirky harmonies and jerky guitars but ultimately failed to impress. Even favourites, such as ‘Hounds of Love’ and ‘Skip to the End’ fall flat with an ever-demanding crowd.

On the other side of the site, Milburn bring an army of friends from the city of Sheffield and create a party of their own. Having built up a fan-base through the internet, pretty much every song was greeting with rapturous cheers and synchronized singing from the first note to the last.

If only the Arctic Monkeys could be so pleased to be there. Having risen to fame through the same route, the ‘Monkeys’ seem to want to be elsewhere. However, it did get better as ‘Cigarette Smoke’, ‘Fake Tales of San Francisco’ and ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dance floor’ sent the mosh pit into rapture and the majority hounding for more.

Muse finished off Leeds in Spectacular fashion in the pouring rain. Backed by a light show that wouldn’t look out of place in Vegas, singer Matt Belamy showed why he is the best in the business with undulating vocals and unrelenting guitar riffs.

As the rain got heavier, so did Muse as ‘Plug In Baby’, ‘Muscle Museum’ and ‘New Born’ took the emphasis off the weather and onto their only festival appearance of the summer.