Thursday
It all started quite badly. The journey down-with friends, Kevin and Gamble and my brother Jake-was okay and we got there earlier than last year; which probably had something to do with the fact, we left Nottingham earlier. Everyone else must have had the same idea though, because we were directed to the furthest place we could have possibly parked…the walk to the where we would eventually pitch our tents, was an excruciating one.
The campsite was very busy and we were lucky to get a decent spot, with enough space for two more tents for the girls. Yes; girls. Matilda, Kristi, Rose and my girlfriend, Izy arrived later. Izy wasn’t in the best of spirits, due to the last ten miles of her journey taking nearly five hours. However, the weather was good and we settled in soon enough to enjoy the usual (and more often unusual) shenanigans of a night at a music festival.
Friday
The beginning of the bands put a stop to any negatives thoughts that had arisen from a bad start and, even though a good festival can be enjoyed without seeing a band all weekend, I love the music. It began with Metric, a band who I saw supporting Death From Above (and Test Icicles) last year; they were amazing then and were amazing once again. I then went with Izy (who was, suitably, dressed brightly and randomly) to see Taking Back Sunday, who aren’t quite my thing, but put on a good show and had a quality set. We all retreated back to the tent, most of us braving the toilets, which already smelt damaging to our health. We walked back for Goldie Lookin’ Chain, who all crammed onto the NME/radio 1 stage. Next were The Klaxons, who sent the crowd loopy in the small Carling tent; we were all lucky to survive the madness and most of us brought an injury back with us from it. They were damn good though, as were Larrikin Love, The Kooks and The Rakes, who followed on various stages. A new feature to Leeds this year, was the silent disco. We jumped the queue and were dancing and singing away in no time, much to the amusement of onlookers, who heard only silence.
The first band of the day were The Long Blondes, who weren’t bad, but things livened up with the craziness of Godol Bordello. With their stereotypically Mexican-looking lead singer (in tight red trousers) and Willie Nelson lookalike on the violin, they created a heavy flow of crowd surfers throughout their set. Belle and Sebastian were over on the main stage, so Izy and I went to watch them put on an amazing performance. Howling Bells were good in the Carling tent, but clearly underrated, as their audience was the lowest I saw for any band all weekend. The Vines put on an excellent show, especially considering they don’t do many gigs, due to Craig Nicholls’ (lead singer) condition. Later, at the tent, Izy and I heard some of the crew talking outside. There was Kevin…Jake…Gamble…Australian woman…
Wait… We didn’t come with any Australians! We got out the tent to investigate and the guys were sitting round the fire with someone who was, in fact, Australian (and also a woman). Her name was Mel and she spoke of how Australia has disowned Fosters and the band Jet. By 4am. though, it was time for bed. For us, anyway, as many others on the campsite were dead set on not sleeping for the entire weekend.
Sunday
Wolfmother (also Australian) started the last day’s music. I then went to see Be Your Own Pet, who I thought were great. The Futureheads aren’t one of my favourites and they didn’t go any where near to winning me over, with their live performance. From then on though, many of us had at least a six-hour and five band standing/dancing/moshing marathon at the main stage. First, were Dirty Pretty Things, then Feeder and The Streets, who were all top notch. But then (with what I later found out was the biggest Leeds crowd ever) Artic Monkeys came on. Despite the hysteria for them, I love this band and their popularity was clear, as the crowd knew the words to every song. Before Muse came on it chucked it down and we despaired as we thought of all our waterproofs and wellies that had been left at the tent during the sunny morning. The rain continued to get harder during Muse’s incredible performance. And that was that; a weekend that had a worse crowd than previous years and we were rather unfortunate with bands clashing (I missed Clap Your Hands Say Yeah/Mystery Jets/Maximo Park/Yeah Yeah Yeahs/Noisettes/Eagles of Death Metal/Automatic/Raconteurs/Subways/Bedouin Soundclash/Spinto Band/Fratellis and even local Ilkeston band Censored), but it was still great stuff and I’ve already bought my ticket for next year. Roll on Leeds 2007!
See Harry's Leeds Festival review from last year
Leeds Festival website
