Festival review: Leeds 2012

The August Bank Holiday crept up on us somewhat hastily this year, and despite the summer having been a little abysmal to say the least, the final bank holiday of the summer did as always, leave us with a parting gift in the form of the Reading and Leeds Festival. 

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, we naturally saw it our duty to trek across the Pennines and descend on Bramham Park for three days of music merrymaking.

Given the absence of Glastonbury this year, Reading and Leeds was very much regarded as the festival heavyweight and inevitably attracted much deliberation over its line-up as festivals of this calibre always do. Whether or not you agreed with the choice of headliners, there’s no denying this year’s line up was a force to be reckoned with, offering something for everyone and showcasing some of the most exciting and promising emerging acts alongside the mighty A-listers.

Friday

Despite colossal road works en route we finally made it on site and got the ball rolling with my fellow Welsh compatriots Joy Formidable. This weekend’s shows marked their return to the UK after spending a considerable amount of time Stateside working on their new album. Ritzy, Rhydian and Matt as sprightly as ever, mixed The Big Roar favourites with brand new material and proceeded to mesmerise and entrance the brimming tent accordingly. Their blend of pulsing, escalating discord the ideal start to anyone’s weekend.

Zulu Winter were next on the agenda; one of the relatively new bands making their festival debut. Competing with The Kaiser Chiefs on the main stage at Leeds isn’t ideal but the five piece weren’t phased, delivering a highly polished, adroit set boasting aberrantly fetching singles ‘We Should Be Swimming’, ‘Lets Go Back To Front’ and ‘Silver Tongued’ as well as other affable tracks from album ‘Language’. A refreshingly un-egotistical performance from an already proficient band.

Friday’s highlight however by far was the return of Two Door Cinema Club for their fourth consecutive year at the festival. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you’ll have noticed that the Northern Irish trio have propelled into a kind- of boy-band stratosphere with legions of female fans across the world and a touring schedule that quite frankly makes you tired just looking at it.

The most inspiring thing about Two Door is how extraordinarily easy they are to enjoy. They well and truly brought the synthy jangly party to Leeds. Complete with a new found confidence they commanded the stage with ease and delivered what could have easily been a headlining set on the main stage such is their energy and aptitude for a sing-along-chorus. Given their second album ‘Beacon’ is set for release in a matter of days, we were treated to some new tracks, risky business at a festival, but all were received impeccably and slotted in effortlessly. Their new material somewhat more intricate and mature, but with frentic chords and pulsating bass aplenty. ‘Next Year’ saw Alex abandon the guitar and set to on the keys for a rousing rendition of a song written about the struggles of maintaining relationships whilst on the road. Harmonious and lovelorn, showcasing a more emotional and melodic side.

Crowd pleasers from debut album ‘Tourist History’ provided much a fevered response from the packed out tent. The largest eruption occurring with the final song of the set ‘I Can Talk’, the mix of expertly executed strobe lighting and that now infamous chorus of ‘ah-oh-ah-ah-oh’ literally seeing everyone self combust into a ball of hysteria.

They’ve come a long way with a lot of hard work . The combination of sheer delight and astoundment on their faces gratitude enough for the overwhelming support.

The climax of the first night came from Leeds veterans, The Foo Fighters. As ever, they didn’t disappoint, delivering a 33 song strong set. Grohl his usual charming self, working the crowd like only he can, and urging us all to follow our dreams and never give up. A fitting thought given our by now weary heads. With a spectacular firework display and echoes of ‘there goes my hero’, Friday was done.

Photo: Giles Smith

Saturday

Saturday soon arrived and first on the list were Spector. Very much a band du jour, they worked the crowd admirably and ‘Chevvy Thunder’ in all its anthemic glory lent itself incredibly well to the festival arena.

Brooklyn’s We Are Augustines marked the start of an afternoon in the Festival Republic tent, that, might we add, was expertly compered by Mr Ali Tant all weekend. This being the three pieces final festival of the year after 15 months of straight touring. Their raw and honest Arcade Fire-esque sounds and strong willed, energetic instrumentation made one of our favourite performances of the weekend.

The delightful Lucy Rose then took to the stage with a full tent’s undivided attention, despite not even having released her debut album yet. Talking of her surreal weekend, she quaintly and coyly ran through her 35 minute jaunty set with piercingly beautiful vocals and uplifting melodies.

Photo: Giles Smith

Locals Alt-J unsurprisingly drew a huge crowd, hot off the success of debut album ‘An Awesome Wave’. Singles ‘Tesselate’, ‘Matlilda’ and ‘Breezeblocks’ all ignited mass crowd participation and a plethora of youngsters forming triangles with their fingers. A brief set which definitely left us wanting more. A job well done.

Next up were Foster The People, a prime example of a band catapulted to success thanks to a catchy song. Their second from top billing over on the NME stage attracted many, by now heavily merry, revellers and they delivered a suitably buoyant set that seemed to build up and up until it literally exploded (into a shower of confetti). Energy levels were high, the drums thumping, the hooks jerky and the beats electric. Throw in a few sleek dance moves from front man Mark and you’ve got yourself a bit of a spectacle. A finale of a remixed thwomping version of ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ naturally proving a big hit with the crowd.

The Maccabees headlining was invariably going to be a highlight and they surpassed any expectation. Their last festival date of the year was indeed perfect in every way possible. Third album ’Given To The Wild’ with its lustrous, cinematic sounds was always going to lend itself impeccably to a festival like Leeds. The swathing basslines, harmony-drenched saccharine vocals and sumptuous strings of the gloriously technicolour album echoed around the tent and plucked at all our heartstrings. The climatic ending of 'Feel To Follow' and 'Grew Up At Midnight' with mirror ball lighting was nothing short of beautiful.

Photo: Giles Smith

Of course it wasn’t all emotion and ethereal. No set would be complete without the juggernauts ‘Can You Give It?’, ‘No Kind Words’ and ‘William Powers’ in all their sky scrapingly euphoric glory. This weekend proving heir willingness to push boundaries with the new record well and truly paid off. We’ll see you on the main stage next year lads.

Los Campesinos! kicked off our viewing pleasure on Sunday. Making their main stage debut they secured a hefty crowd given the early set time. ‘You! Me! Dancing!’ proving an ever popular final song complete with flourishing xylophone.

Blood Red Shoes also made an early appearance on the main stage bringing with them their bursting wall of sound, colliding aggressively tuneful guitar and shunting drums. The ever professional duo informing us that it had always been their dream to play the main stage at Reading and Leeds. And play it they did. Mixing older songs with newer offerings from ‘In Time To Voices’ they yet again highlighted their credentials as one of the most exciting and consistent live acts around.

Skiddle favourites Dog is Dead made their proper debut over on the Festival Republic stage and brought along some snazzy female backing singers for the ride. With songs infused with glittering summer spirit, captivating harmonies and jazz soaked interludes they brought a sense of carnival to Leeds.

The main stage saw The Vaccines make a triumphant return to Bramham Park. I’m not entirely sure what’s happened to them but it’s all got a lot ‘bigger’ and Justin’s acquired a strange American twang along the way. They seem a lot more sure of themselves and given the way Justin was throwing himself around the stage and gesticulating at the amps, they’re not afraid to show it. Consciously trying to break away from the indie label, they’ve taken a rockier edge and by the looks of the hysterical crowd, it’s working. ‘If You Wanna Come Back’, ‘Post Break Up Sex’ and ‘Norgaard’ all providing much raucous screaming and general beer slinging. ‘Wetsuit’ providing the biggest sing-along.

Photo: Ian Taylor

We also caught up with Florence and The Machine, a whimsical set with Flo appearing to be in a world of her own, darting around the stage like a fairy and chatting to the crowd as if she knew each and every one of us personally. There’s no denying she has an incredible set of lungs on her, the growling swirl of her voice resonating surprisingly well given the sometimes hit and miss nature of main stage sound. Despite enjoying the varied set, the cynic in me at times felt it was all a little overly contrived and slightly nauseating; the jumping into the crowd and the evidently scripted between song blabberings a bit too much. Nevertheless she brought many smiles to many faces and you can’t knock her for that.

Given that everyone was talking about them, it seemed only right to end our weekend with At The Drive In. Admittedly I’m not overly familiar with their back catalogue but I can tell you it was loud and involved a lot of screaming. Whether they were quite so thrilled to be back up there remains to be seen, the odd dig at one another and the lack lustre looks on their faces did put a slight dampner on the reunion. That said, given the sheer frenzy exuding from the crowd I don’t think anyone minded too much.

Words: Michelle Lloyd

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