Outside of Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds are without a question the biggest music festivals in the country. It’s a rite of passage for all teenagers, with many either celebrating or drowning their sorrows after exam results day. This year saw perhaps one of the festival’s best performances dominate the Saturday evening slot.
As the afternoon sun tried its best to beat down on Bramham Park any accusations that the festival had lost its rock roots were quickly put to rest as Soft Play stormed the newly introduced Chevron stage. Tracks from the duo’s latest offering, ‘Heavy Jelly’ ripped through the tent, with the poignant, ‘Everything and Nothing’ being without question the set’s highlight.
Festival goers hardly had time to catch their breath before indie-rock legends The Kooks hit the main stage. As the crowd warmly responded to hits such as, ‘Ooh-La’, ‘Jackie Big Tits’ and, ‘She Moves in Her Own Way’ you could’ve been forgiven for thinking you’d been transported back to the Leeds Festivals of years past, waiting for sets from Dirty Pretty Things or the Ordinary Boys.
It became clear from the moment you arrived on the festival site who the main attraction was. No matter where you were in the arena there were pink cowboy hats as far as the eye could see with the day feeling, truthfully, more like a Chappell Roan gig as opposed to one of the country’s biggest festivals.
However, this was not without it’s advantages as for a festival that has garnered a real reputation for laddish debauchery (see tents being burned in both 2022 and 2024) the atmosphere on Saturday was truly a unified one. With a largely female and LGBTQ+ audience this year round the day felt like one big party as opposed to a stag do that got out of hand.
And it is without question that those that had been waiting in the dust filled fields of West Yorkshire specifically for Chappell Roan were truly spoiled by what was certainly the best pop headliner the festival has ever had. With the singer firing through hits such as, ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’, ‘Feminominon’, and ‘Naked in Manhattan’ what shone through, bar the crowd’s rapturous response, was the production values on stage. In an era where every band seems to think, “less is more” it was refreshing for a set to look like a headline performance.
Speaking of the crowd reception to the set it was truly a site to behold, with even the singer remarking it was the, “loudest crowd for The Subway so far”. As the set progressed, ‘HOT TO GO’, ‘The Giver’, and ‘Good Luck, Babe’ ramped up the audience’s energy to new heights before it reached its crescendo with ‘Pink Pony Club’. As the band excited the stage those in attendance were left with a headline performance for the ages, a truly staggering endorsement of the current wave of female and queer pop music.
Sets from both Hozier and The Chats rounded out the evening in a more than serviceable manner, however it must be said that the evening felt like it had peaked with the main stage noticeably thinning out towards the close of Hoziers set.
The Saturday at Leeds Festival was a truly excellent offering. Many people take issue with the festival’s change in focus, however this year there was truly something for everyone. With excellent pop and rock offerings even the festival’s dance stages even offer an option for those just wanting a party. And if headliners keep putting performances like Chappell Roan’s you can’t go far wrong. Long may it continue.
WORDS BY TOM DIBB
PHOTO CREDIT – LEEDS FESTIVAL
FOR MORE ON NEXT YEARS LEEDS FEST AND FOR PRE-SALE HEAD HERE!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE RGM GIG AND FESTIVAL NEWS.
