Leeds Weekend part 2. Better late than never!
By the way, pictures of the whole weekend can be found if you click here
Still on Saturday:
Queens of the Stone Age (Main): A slightly better set than they put in at T in the Park, but the band are still really suffering without Olivieri and Lanegan. The new songs aren't the most coherant live anyway, and when they go off into jam territory, the pace drops off too much to keep the interest up. Still capable of a stunning set I imagine, but wrong choice of songs and a wasted frontman doesn't do it. Good, but could do so much better.
The Killers (Main): While they were very good, for many a review to call them the best of the weekend is just wrong. Now milking "Hot Fuss" for all it's worth, to play only one new song is still slightly disappointing. They put on a good performance, but with this being my third time seeing essentially the same set, it's starting to get a bit thin. Here's hoping for a great return following the enxt album.
Charlotte Hatherly (Carling): Brilliant. The gorgeous Ash guitarist has a great array of solo material and just about endless stage presence. Hits like "Kim Wilde" and "Bastardo" filled the tent with singalong moments, and Coxon even played on one song in some sort of Britpop dream team. She looks great, she plays great, and when Ash are on a break, she makes the perfect festival solo act.
Kasabian (R1/NME): The tent was absolutely rammed. There is a reason for it. Kasabian are stunning live. Right from opener "Reason is Treason" through all their hits and a couple of new tracks, to the festival highlight closer "Club Foot" this band have the sound, the songs and the swagger to be true headliners. In a different dimension in the live arena, there is just so much raw power in their set. Kasabian are a must see live band, and if the second album is as good as the first, it won't be too long before they're main stage headline material.
Saturday night in the campsite was histerical due to random shite talking, and meeting the funniest guy in history, who was known as Saudi Steve. A Mackem who lives in Dubai. You couldn't have made it up. Reeling from Sunderland's defeat to "a rugby team, not a bloody football team" Wigan earlier in the day, he criticised Nyron Nosworthy for about 20 minutes before going off about Saddam's loveshack and televisions rotating 90 degrees - "Aye, you've got a good telly, but does it do this? (He rotated his hands around 90 degrees). He disappeared after a while, but had given us some of the best laughs of the weekend!
Sunday:
Louie (R1/NME): I had no idea who they were beforehand and still don't. Not very memorable at all.
From Autumn To Ashes (Main): A loud, brash way to open the main stage, and while the band were tight and the songs were as good as ever, I can't help but think FATA would have been better off in one of the tents. Very enjoyable though.
Biffy Clyro (Main): The Biffy are a very good band. But they will never be any more than that. That said, they always put on a great show and today was no different. Songs from all three albums flowed and the crowd ate them up as always. Again though, a tent would more suit their style.
Nine Black Alps (R1/NME): The tent was absolutely packed, and with good reason. Nine Black Alps are going to be huge with songs as good as they have, and with their down to earth attitude. They showcased their sound perfectly. A sight to behold, and a great set (even from just outside the tent!)
Juliette and the Licks (R1/NME): Juliette Lewis and her band did not disappoint with their lowdown and dirty brand of Rock N Roll. Her trademark dark locks bleached and in a red catsuit, she looked every bit the rock goddess as well as the Hollywood A-Lister that she is. Great set, and the first American band to really set the place ablaze.
Capdown (Lockup): Our only venture into the Lockup tent was to see Milton Keynes skacore heroes Capdown. Every bit as good live as they were the last time I saw them just shy of three years ago, they still belt out the classics like "Ska Wars" which was aborted due to a kid scaling the tent pole and being told to get down before being started off again. And their new songs sound great as well. One of Britain's best kept secrets may be mving on up following a set like this.
Ed Byrne (Comedy): He's from Ulster, and he's absolutely histerical. If you get a chance to see Ed Byrne, take it, the jokes will have you in stiches, and his observational style is perfect. Sheer Class.
Daniel Packyard (Comedy): A very funny American. He interacted with the crowd, and again had an observational style which is my favourite comedic style in stand up. He ended his set with a stage dive and won a legion of new fans in the process.
Hot Hot Heat (R1/NME): Catchy, funky and downright danceable. Hot Hot Heat are a really good band for festivals. Good stuff.
Razorlight (Main): Borell may have a huge mouth and talk a lot of crap, but Razorlight are simply made for festivals. The anthems just keep coming during their sets, and love them or hate them, there is no denying that on songs like "Golden Touch" they are worthy of their place on the bill (if perhaps just a little high up).
Kings of Leon (Main): Less hairy than the last time I saw them, but no less dynamic. "Molly's Chambers" opened things up, and the Kings didn't look back once. The set was song after song of Southern fried rock at it's prime, the pace didn't let up once, and even as the penultimate band, the Kings put themselves up there among the very best of the festival. Absolutely stunning.
Foo Fighters (Main): One word - outstanding. From the opening bars of "In Your Honour" right through to the closing seconds of "Monkeywrench". The Foo Fighters are the best rock band on planet Earth. With songs from all five albums sounding as fresh as ever - no mean feat considering some are ten years old now - everything they played was spectacular. The solo acoustic "Everlong" had more power and emotion than ever before, and the spaz-out ajme frenzy during "Stacked Actors" showed what fine musicians the band are. Seeing Dave Grohl on the drums for the Taylor Hawkins led "Cold Day in the Sun" was as much a highlight this time as it was six weeks previously in Balado, and indeed the Foo's eclipsed that show by far. Simply spectacular, and the best possible way to close the festival.
The riots were sort of amusing at first, then got a bit close to home. It was an early piss off home on Monday morning for that reason. Great festival though.
Normal updates will resume shortly.
Still on Saturday:
Queens of the Stone Age (Main): A slightly better set than they put in at T in the Park, but the band are still really suffering without Olivieri and Lanegan. The new songs aren't the most coherant live anyway, and when they go off into jam territory, the pace drops off too much to keep the interest up. Still capable of a stunning set I imagine, but wrong choice of songs and a wasted frontman doesn't do it. Good, but could do so much better.
The Killers (Main): While they were very good, for many a review to call them the best of the weekend is just wrong. Now milking "Hot Fuss" for all it's worth, to play only one new song is still slightly disappointing. They put on a good performance, but with this being my third time seeing essentially the same set, it's starting to get a bit thin. Here's hoping for a great return following the enxt album.
Charlotte Hatherly (Carling): Brilliant. The gorgeous Ash guitarist has a great array of solo material and just about endless stage presence. Hits like "Kim Wilde" and "Bastardo" filled the tent with singalong moments, and Coxon even played on one song in some sort of Britpop dream team. She looks great, she plays great, and when Ash are on a break, she makes the perfect festival solo act.
Kasabian (R1/NME): The tent was absolutely rammed. There is a reason for it. Kasabian are stunning live. Right from opener "Reason is Treason" through all their hits and a couple of new tracks, to the festival highlight closer "Club Foot" this band have the sound, the songs and the swagger to be true headliners. In a different dimension in the live arena, there is just so much raw power in their set. Kasabian are a must see live band, and if the second album is as good as the first, it won't be too long before they're main stage headline material.
Saturday night in the campsite was histerical due to random shite talking, and meeting the funniest guy in history, who was known as Saudi Steve. A Mackem who lives in Dubai. You couldn't have made it up. Reeling from Sunderland's defeat to "a rugby team, not a bloody football team" Wigan earlier in the day, he criticised Nyron Nosworthy for about 20 minutes before going off about Saddam's loveshack and televisions rotating 90 degrees - "Aye, you've got a good telly, but does it do this? (He rotated his hands around 90 degrees). He disappeared after a while, but had given us some of the best laughs of the weekend!
Sunday:
Louie (R1/NME): I had no idea who they were beforehand and still don't. Not very memorable at all.
From Autumn To Ashes (Main): A loud, brash way to open the main stage, and while the band were tight and the songs were as good as ever, I can't help but think FATA would have been better off in one of the tents. Very enjoyable though.
Biffy Clyro (Main): The Biffy are a very good band. But they will never be any more than that. That said, they always put on a great show and today was no different. Songs from all three albums flowed and the crowd ate them up as always. Again though, a tent would more suit their style.
Nine Black Alps (R1/NME): The tent was absolutely packed, and with good reason. Nine Black Alps are going to be huge with songs as good as they have, and with their down to earth attitude. They showcased their sound perfectly. A sight to behold, and a great set (even from just outside the tent!)
Juliette and the Licks (R1/NME): Juliette Lewis and her band did not disappoint with their lowdown and dirty brand of Rock N Roll. Her trademark dark locks bleached and in a red catsuit, she looked every bit the rock goddess as well as the Hollywood A-Lister that she is. Great set, and the first American band to really set the place ablaze.
Capdown (Lockup): Our only venture into the Lockup tent was to see Milton Keynes skacore heroes Capdown. Every bit as good live as they were the last time I saw them just shy of three years ago, they still belt out the classics like "Ska Wars" which was aborted due to a kid scaling the tent pole and being told to get down before being started off again. And their new songs sound great as well. One of Britain's best kept secrets may be mving on up following a set like this.
Ed Byrne (Comedy): He's from Ulster, and he's absolutely histerical. If you get a chance to see Ed Byrne, take it, the jokes will have you in stiches, and his observational style is perfect. Sheer Class.
Daniel Packyard (Comedy): A very funny American. He interacted with the crowd, and again had an observational style which is my favourite comedic style in stand up. He ended his set with a stage dive and won a legion of new fans in the process.
Hot Hot Heat (R1/NME): Catchy, funky and downright danceable. Hot Hot Heat are a really good band for festivals. Good stuff.
Razorlight (Main): Borell may have a huge mouth and talk a lot of crap, but Razorlight are simply made for festivals. The anthems just keep coming during their sets, and love them or hate them, there is no denying that on songs like "Golden Touch" they are worthy of their place on the bill (if perhaps just a little high up).
Kings of Leon (Main): Less hairy than the last time I saw them, but no less dynamic. "Molly's Chambers" opened things up, and the Kings didn't look back once. The set was song after song of Southern fried rock at it's prime, the pace didn't let up once, and even as the penultimate band, the Kings put themselves up there among the very best of the festival. Absolutely stunning.
Foo Fighters (Main): One word - outstanding. From the opening bars of "In Your Honour" right through to the closing seconds of "Monkeywrench". The Foo Fighters are the best rock band on planet Earth. With songs from all five albums sounding as fresh as ever - no mean feat considering some are ten years old now - everything they played was spectacular. The solo acoustic "Everlong" had more power and emotion than ever before, and the spaz-out ajme frenzy during "Stacked Actors" showed what fine musicians the band are. Seeing Dave Grohl on the drums for the Taylor Hawkins led "Cold Day in the Sun" was as much a highlight this time as it was six weeks previously in Balado, and indeed the Foo's eclipsed that show by far. Simply spectacular, and the best possible way to close the festival.
The riots were sort of amusing at first, then got a bit close to home. It was an early piss off home on Monday morning for that reason. Great festival though.
Normal updates will resume shortly.