If you’ve been to Reading Festival, everyone tells you that you need to go to Leeds instead because it’s supposedly better, so attending the Sunday of Leeds festival, I was expecting big things. With their line up looking more rock music driven than ever, it seemed like it would be a day full of mosh pits and head banging, and that definitely wasn’t a wrong assumption.
If you haven’t been to Bramham Park before, it’s a fair distance away from civilisation, but the expansive fields are well worth it once you arrive. As a first time attendee there was a little bit of getting lost, but I arrived at the festival just in time to see my first act of the day; South Arcade.
It felt like getting in a time machine and heading back to the early noughties. The video for Avril Lavigne’s ‘Complicated’ felt like the inspiration for their look, and to an extent, their sound as well. Taking the main stage, their tracks were lively grungy pop that got the crowd moving and set the tone of the day perfectly. They were the ideal warm up for some of the later acts that were to grace that stage.
It was then over to the Chevron stage, where Example was playing. I’m not sure whose idea it was to put an upbeat DJ set on in the middle of the afternoon, on a Sunday when everyone is shattered, but somehow it worked. Thankfully, the people giving out free energy drinks were located just outside, which I think gave everyone a jolt of liveliness. With crowds running over just as he began, everyone jumped up and down to his hour-long marathon of festival anthems. ‘Changed the Way You Kissed Me’ was a particular highlight as masses shouted the lyrics back. He got Leeds festival pumped up with his hype man style set and not a single person in the audience wasn’t energised following it.
Staying at the Chevron stage, and only twenty minutes later (because Leeds festival has surprisingly quick turnarounds) Pale Waves started their track list. This was their first performance of the day as they were announced as the secret set later that evening as well. Although I didn’t get a chance to see that one, seeing their main set in full was the perfect experience to hear their fun pop rock style, a mixture of songs from all four of their albums being played.
Keeping the friendly Reading vs Leeds rivalry alive, lead singer Heather encouraged the Leeds crowd to be even better than Reading had been the day before, having faith that we could because we are all Northern. And I think we smashed it. But so did they, delivering an incredible set.
It was a quick dive over to the little tent off to the side to see the second half of V.I.C on the BBC Introducing stage. Another completely different style of music, really showing how diverse and open Leeds is to every genre, the set was chock full of rap and hip hop. Although it was upbeat, it was also quite chill, which for that time of the day, was great for anyone who wanted to just switch off and listen to something a bit calmer. He gave out free t-shirts at the end too, so he was incredibly popular.
On my way over to the Festival Republic Stage, I took note of the amount of people who had gathered around a DJ set which I assume was the Reload Stage. It looked like a lot of fun and a whole crowd of people were dancing and doing that thing where you put an arm in the air and pump your hands like everyone does at a festival. It’s refreshing to see that some parts of the experience don’t change no matter where you go.
Ecca Vandal was on the Festival Republic Stage, and the music sounded great. On arrival, she said that they were experiencing a few technical issues, which perhaps is related to the fact that the sound quality was poor and actually quite hard to listen to. Only a few songs into the drum heavy, upbeat set, I had to leave because the mixing was getting increasingly more unbearable. Which is a shame because I really liked what I heard, and will definitely be checking her stuff out.
Leaving this stage meant I had time to pop over to the main stage where Conan Gray was halfway through his songs. Maybe aimed at a younger audience, the former youtuber had plenty of people singing his catchy pop tracks and as he waltzed around the stage like he belonged there, it was hard not to be invested. He was dressed in what can only be described as something similar to an 1800’s vampire too, which was an absolute vibe.
Then it was onto Enter Shikari. At this point, more and more people were beginning to join the main stage, which isn’t a shock at all, as Enter Shikari are a big name in the world of rock music. Even though there were a significant number of spectators there to watch them, at no point did it feel overwhelming, thanks to brilliant crowd control at the festival, which is something similar events should take note of.
The band gave it their all, which they did give a heads up on, claiming they would be delivering a set full of ‘energy, energy, energy.’ Synchronised dance moves, knee slides, roaring the lyrics. It was quite an show. Even their soundcheck prior to being on stage had been enthusiastic and over the top though, so I expected nothing less.
Keeping things serious, Rou Reynolds, the band’s singer, reminded us to be mindful of how we treat the planet, with a rousing speech that bordered on TED talk level of inspiration. It was very in keeping with Leeds festival’s attitudes towards climate change, with their Climate Live: Bus Stage hosting a range of musicians throughout the day to help highlight the topic.
I didn’t get to see their whole set sadly, but what I saw was brilliant, but annoyingly their stage time clashed with Wunderhorse, who I was very excited to see. Despite having seen them already this summer at another festival, due to sound issues, their set had been cut short there, so I wanted to see them perform in full. They did not disappoint.
Playing songs including, ‘Leader of the Pack’, ‘Purple’ and ‘Girl Behind the Glass’, Wunderhorse had the crowd eating out of their hand as they effortlessly made every song sound as great as it does on the records.
At this point we were really building up to the pinnacle of the festival, and as Limp Bizkit took to the main stage, so did most of the crowd. Pulling in a mega amount of people, the group really gave what felt like the most stereotypical festival set of the day. Crowd interaction, fun hip hop infused rock and a stand out moment; bringing someone from the audience onto the stage to join in for one of their tracks. It was raucous and wild, filled with swearing and swagger and the night was truly alive with Limp Bizkit’s energy. I could not stop laughing just from how weirdly giddy their set made me. Genuinely brilliant.
As soon as they finished, a noticeable amount of people left the festival, which meant that they missed the last act. Bring Me The Horizon closed the festival, and they did so in style, despite the decrease in watchers. They had a big job to do, leading the entire Leeds festival out and saying goodbye to another year so we can all get excited to do it again next year. Bring it on!
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PHOTO CREDIT – LEEDS FESTIVAL
