Leeds Festival 2014 Review

Whatever counts as a British summer these days usually ends by the August Bank Holiday weekend so if you wanted to see it out with a bang your best bet was Reading and Leeds Festival. With UK exclusive performances and a line-up to sate most tastes, the 2014 edition was a true vintage.

For the Friday afternoon Bramham Park looked pristine. Lush, green grass underfoot, en vogue floral garlands atop peerless haircuts, even the stages appeared freshly polished. By glancing at the line-up you could be forgiven for thinking it was the summer of 2007. In one of those clashes that makes you wonder whether the schedulers are bordering on sadists you could pick from Klaxons on the Dance Stage who were showcasing their new album, Love Frequency, in all its idealistic, pie-eyed charm. On the NME/Radio One Stage were The Horrors and while frontman Faris Badwan appeared sulky the enveloping din was anything but. Finally, on the Festival Republic Stage was a homecoming of sorts with the long-awaited return of The Sunshine Underground to LS23. Decisions, decisions.

Back to 2014 and headlining the Friday night were Blink 182. Despite having a combined age of 118 they are still very much in touch with their youth, even if that does mean baseball caps, fart jokes and a cringe-worthy set. Alas, it appeared that their fans have moved on as a largely disinterested crowd grew thinner as the night wore on.

Glorious Saturday morning sunshine was enough to coax a sizeable crowd to bear witness to only the third solo gig of Gerard Way. The blue suit, white shirt, red tie and bright red hair looked akin to Richie in Bottom as played by the late, great Rik Mayall yet the former My Chemical Romance frontman still impressed with a polished, energetic set.

The first of numerous rain showers soon fell yet guttural guitar riffs from Laura-Mary Carter of Blood Red Shoes brought hundreds to the main stage into blissful sunshine. As rain returned it was back under cover for a powerful, business-like set from the two-piece Drenge, expect them higher up the bill next time. They could take tips from Temples who graduated from the Festival Republic Stage last year to bring their psychedelic grooves onto the NME/Radio One Stage. After receiving plaudits for their debut album, Sun Structures, the likes of ‘Keep In The Dark’, ‘Mesmerise’ and closing song ‘Shelter Song’ already sound like they belong on an even bigger stage. Following them were Warpaint who appeared effortless in creating an immersive, hypnotic din seemingly greater than the sum of their parts.

Sharing headlining duties on Saturday night were Paramore and Queens of The Stone Age with the latter up first for the Leeds leg. Tearing into the likes of ‘No One Knows’ and ‘Go With The Flow’ with a menacing, relentless gusto, the bar had been set by the time Josh Homme was standing awestruck at Jon Theodore’s drum solo finale for ‘A Song For The Dead’. Follow THAT, Paramore.

Up against them were The Courteeners on the NME/Radio One Stage and it seemed like half of North West England had crammed in. Even before a note had been played this felt like an emphatic home win. Frontman Liam Fray was drowned out as every lyric was bellowed back to him before climaxing on crowd favourites ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and ‘What Took You So Long’.

Sunday was a day of rest but for Royal Blood this weekend should mark their breakthrough moment. Ten minutes before they were due on the NME/Radio One Stage and space was already at a premium. The past twelve months have been a whirlwind for the duo yet the likes of ‘Come On Over’ and ‘Figure It Out’ already sound familiar. Perhaps next year frontman Mike Kerr will get to finish the set on his terms instead of being cut off before delivering the outro to final song ‘Out Of The Black’. Chvrches have been there and done it so their early evening slot was comfortable enough as they ran through the highlights of their debut album, including ‘We Sink’ and ‘Tether’.

If bands were looking to see how far they can go then look no further than headliners Arctic Monkeys. Nine years ago they played a set which included ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ and ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ on the New Bands Stage. Such tracks now sound like classics alongside highlights from ‘AM’.  Alex Turner was chief instigator of the mutual love-in with a white Yorkshire rose sewn onto each lapel of his gorgeous suit and he genuinely appeared to be having as much fun onstage as the fervent crowd in front of him. They needed no encouragement yet he still instigated chants of “Yorkshire, Yorkshire” before smashing into ‘Brianstorm’ while he sung “Oh Sheffield is wonderful” over the intro to ‘Old Yellow Bricks’. The band closed the set with ‘505’ which Turner introduced by saying, “We’ll leave you with a love song because we love you.” There was still an encore featuring a cheeky refrain of ‘Mardy Bum’ before the band closed on ‘R U Mine?’ but by then a smitten crowd left the question redundant.

By Omar Soliman