Too many bands and too little time, Live at Leeds In the Park basks in the sunshiiiiine.

Review and Photos – John Hayhurst

Checking the clashfinder for Live at Leeds in the Park was the first step to realising that it was going to be a day of running around catching half a set of one artist, before chasing to see the last few numbers of another. The day was 90% sunshine too, who saw that coming after the torrential rain during the week?

With sunscreen on we catch Velkro early doors, a band I saw at Stockton Calling a few weeks ago and if you remember Priestgate, then it was basically that band minus the lead singer who has been replaced, but so has the overall style of the band (for the better in my opinion). We now have some of the best low-fi shoegazing euphoric indie music that straddles somewhere between Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cocteau Twins. Having seen the start, then raced over to catch a bit of Liverpool’s Courting in the Big Top tent, we realised the error and ran back to watch the rest of Velkro’s set, by then the word had got out and the small venue was packed for them. What a start!, elsewhere Vistas were rocking the main stage in front of a large group of fans.

That’s the beauty of this festival, the venues are relatively close so you can do that, if you have the energy, as there is a bloody big hill in the middle of it all.

Antony Szmierek was getting a half full Big Top tent dancing to his indie hip-hop tunes, he has left the schoolroom behind now (was a teacher in his twenties) and now 33 he is playing just about every festival on the circuit this year. However, we chose a band that had travelled from Australia to be here, Radio Free Alice were facing a near empty tent but gradually the punters came flocking in to watch their REM inspired jangly rock. Even one group of fans were spyed in moniker T shirts, as they rocked to the more spikey punk based tunes from their self titled EP released last year.

Briefly catching the bright star from York that is Beth McCarthy, she has such a big smile and I still remember her busking on Parliament Street about 10 years ago. Her guitar strap broke during the first number and she just laughed it off before playing ‘IDK How to talk to girls’, plenty there to see her but we were racing back to the Big Top stage for Sprints, a band I had on my list for about 18 months and never seen. Red haired rocker Karla Chubb is on fire as the first proper harder rock band run through most of their brilliant debut album ‘Letter to Self’. Note to self – must go see them again soon.

A band I have seen several times were Lucia and the Best Boys and they had packed out the smallest stage in the park. Lucia Fairfull looks immaculate and sounds incredible, why they are not on a bigger stage now is beyond me, here we have Scotland’s answer to Florence and the Machine playing some banging gothic electro pop rock tunes and a singer that has literally just stepped off a fashion show catwalk. Those that know are there singing back all the words to ‘So Sweet I Could Die’ and others from their incredible album ‘Burning Castles’.

Meanwhile Baby Queen is on the main stage with a fair turnout of fans wearing crowns and sunglasses, what I liked was that she stayed back after her gig and went to take selfies with them, she was still there when Corinne Bailey Rae took to the stage late due to technical difficulties, her performance of surprise hard rocking album ‘Black Rainbows’ was cut a little short, but she still managed to get a few classics like ‘Put Your Records On’ played too.

It was so good to see Billy Nomates dancing in barefoot and singing again after her set at Glastonbury last year was trolled by some ungrateful idiots. Her performance was immense this afternoon and I wanted to stay for longer but we noticed a huge gathering at the adjacent tent for Overpass. This Birmingham 4 piece had the crowd spilling out of the sides of the tent, they were clearly on the wrong stage and their hype is similar to what happened to Inhaler a few years ago. They cut a good look on stage though with Max Newy vocals and guitar, and the very smiley and beautiful India Armstrong on bass. They have songs to match too with ‘3AM’ destined to become a classic festival anthem. I wonder how long it will be before they are on the main stage, they could certainly have played at the larger DIY venue today.

We aren’t even halfway through the day and already it has been a huge success, I’ve caught 12 bands so far and another 16 to go on my list. Plenty of space to roam at Temple Newsam and no real massive queues like last year for food and toilets, they have rearranged some of the stages and retail vendors much better this year.

I watched the start of The Mysterines on The Temple stage then ran down the hill to catch some of Nieve Ella, another hyped artist who has supported Dylan, Inhaler and the Courteeners so a decent turnout for her indie pop anthems heard on the 2 EP’s she released last year. Then back up the hill for the tail end of Baxter Dury, proving that as the son of legend Ian Dury his style of dead pan talky sing has been fully inherited.

Time for a Spice Girl and Mel C shone brightly in the sunshine as she did at Kendal Calling last year, I was always ‘Team Sporty’ so this was another run through of her best solo stuff including her duet with Bryan Adams and a slew of Spice Girls tunes at the end. Mel B was also in town apparently on a talking tour for her book, but she sadly didn’t show up at Temple Newsam this afternoon.

Matilda Mann and her soft folky pop acoustic tunes could not compete with White Lies as they put in one of the sets of the day in the Big Top tent. It was crammed in there and this London post punk band started with 2 songs from their ‘To Lose My Life’ album in ‘Death’ and ‘Farewell to the Fairground’ – they saved the title track for later in the set. This was like a greatest hits performance from them and the hour went by so quick.

From that to Sea Girls was a little tame but they have some really catchy songs in ‘Violet’ and ‘All I want to hear you say’. Guitarist Rory Young being the front row girls favourite, he’s all floppy hair and a neat turn and kick while he is playing guitar. We then catch the tail end of Seb Lowe whose politically charged folk punk was going down a storm at the Dork stage. Complete with violin and an attitude, he is certainly a prodigious young talent and very refreshing to see rather than the trad lads indie bands, which I tried to avoid all day.

Future Islands singer Samuel T Herring is a force of nature, constantly dancing theatrically across the stage and holding his arm out to grab something that he can only see. It is part music, part performance art. Not for everybody, but definitely worth checking out, the live version of ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’ was worth that trek up the hill alone. Orla Gartland with her 2-piece band (Including Pearl Harts drummer Sara Leigh Shaw) put in a fine performance on the DIY stage and Declan McKenna has matured into a much more credible performer since I last saw him some years ago.

However, probably my favourite set was in the smallest tent, headlining it were the brilliant alt rock trio from Hastings – Hotwax, and yes I have seen them about 5 times now but they really get better everytime. The fabulously named Tallulah Sim-Savage on vocals and guitar, and Lola Sam on bass and vocals (not forgetting Alfie Sayers on drums) are developing into such a unit, and they are barely out of their teens. I swear that Lola was channeling some kind of prog bass playing whilst looking like a punk starlet from the New York Dolls. It will not be long before they are on much bigger stages and they set out supporting The Mysterines later in the year, what a tour that promises to be!

Indie rivalry is still strong with The Cribs telling everyone they could go home after their set as there is nothing else to see tonight – a nice dig at The Kooks. Another great live performance from the Jarmans, these local Wakefield lads who have honed their talent over the years and aren’t frightened of changing the set list if the audience demands it. That happened tonight when the audience chose ‘Hey Scenesters’ instead of ‘You’re Gonna Lose Us’. They also dedicated ‘Give Good Time’ to Steve Albini who sadly passed away recently and complimented Courting on their early appearance. They are the only trad lads indie band I will watch today, partly because ‘Mens Needs’ is one of my all time favourite singalongs.

Only 2 artists left to go and when I arrive at Caity Baser’s gig she is full on doing the splits on stage wearing moon boots, not easy! This is her 2^nd gig of the day as she was in Luton at the BBC Big Weekend earlier, and her set is pretty much the same. ‘Pretty Boys’ being the big number we are all waiting for. Her banter mid song is almost as good as the songs themselves, and she resonates with loads of teen girls that have sacrificed a spot for The Kooks just to be here.

Much of The Kooks set is still centered around their debut album ‘Inside in/Inside Out’ which is now 18 years old folks – don’t you feel old now? No less than 7 tracks will be played from it including all the hits you would expect – ‘Naive’, ‘Ooh La’ and ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’ etc. The stage is all platforms and bright white lights, mainly for Luke Pritchard to stand in, as – lets face it, who really knows anyone else in the band. A surprisingly entertaining set. I’m not saying they aren’t headline material for this kind of festival but I would have expected an arena filling artist to command the top spot, especially as their start time was when all the other stages had finished, so there was no alternative.

All in all, a truly fantastic day of some great bands for the future, and as it’s my first proper outdoor festival gig of the year – a nice practice for what is to come. Live at Leeds In The Park goes from strength to strength, and the variety on show today means it will be the first one in my calendar next year too.