For many of us, the arrival of Live At Leeds has long since announced the beginning of festival season. This year, with it’s split into two separate dates on the calendar (In The Park and In The City, respectively), the beloved festival descended upon the glorious Temple Newsam. With a knack for introducing you to your next favourite artists whilst offering up some of the tastiest sets from veteran artists, there’s something special and delicate about the balance the festival manage to strike. Seeing them take that ethos and expand into something bigger and better is absolutely thrilling. As shuttle bus after shuttle bus made their way onto the historic grounds on bank holiday Saturday, one thing was clear: an absolutely massive day was in store.
Fresh from the release of an explosive debut album just last week, Alfie Templeman’s arrival at the MTV Main Stage was one filled with buzz. With an army of supporters behind him and various music industry professionals advocating for the 19 year old, it’s easy to imagine that there might’ve been some pressure on his shoulders after so much hype. There’s no sign of that, however. It’s blazing confidence that sets the stage alight from Alfie and his band: exhilarating guitar riffs, top-class vocals, layered basslines all make for a set overflowing with sheer joyful energy. There’s a reason everyone and their dog has had Alfie’s name on their lips lately – he’s full of absolute talent, and his main stage set showcases that perfectly.
Shortly after, there’s a slightly different set on the very same stage. Holly Humberstone is all shy smiles as she greets the crowd, and it’s a shyness that makes the heart-wrenching contents of her set all the more unsuspected. It’s an incredibly affecting set as she reels through the tenderness and angst that lingers in her discography – ‘Deep End’, dedicated to her sister and a stunning promise to help through the dark times, is an absolute standout. Holly’s vocals are absolutely crystalline across the sound system, and there’s a magic to the set too. Enchanting and completely mesmerising, it can’t be coincidence that just as Holly sings of the ‘bad British weather’, the sun emerges from behind the clouds and casts her in lights. It’s a particularly ethereal moment of the day.
Over on the Dork stage, which is cleverly split into two to ensure the fun never stops, Finn Askew is having a slightly more raucous moment. He does manage to get serious and sentimental during gorgeous back-to-back renditions of ‘’Rose’ and Daffodil’ – he loves flowers, so he says – but it’s not for long. ‘Adidas’ breathes some life back into the tent, with its inescapable hook of ‘Adidadidas’ destined to remain bouncing around our heads for the remainder of the day. As he launches into his closing song, ‘Tokyo’, he leaves the crowd rejuvenated and ready to dance the rest of the day away.
After a quick Schöfferhofer stop, it’s back to the Dork stage for one of the most deliriously enjoyable sets of the day. Faced with arguably the toughest choice of the day as the ultimate battle of the bands commences in the form of Courting VS Sports Team, it’s down the hill from the main stage where Courting proceed to deliver an incessantly tumultuous set. Setlist-less and revelling in spontaneity, frontman Sean O’Neill repeatedly gets cosy with the crowd, drolly delivering lyrics up close and personal. Guitar difficulties perhaps should’ve put a spanner in the works, but instead the disorderly nature of their set revels in the opportunity to ditch it and get back into the crowd. With audience requests and a slight humming of ‘Chaise Longue’ (those Wet Leg comparisons are blown out of the water with this set), it’s a lawless land for Courting, but god, is it a good one.
On the very same stage, Porij deliver one of those magical sets that seems to get everybody moving. ‘Lose Our Minds’ is primed for a festival stage – it’s glitchy brand of dance-pop is an absolute groover, and the audience responds accordingly. Even when Porij sing of things that should be dark and difficult to stomach – ‘Nobody Scared’, for example, recalls the fear women feel walking home at night – it’s empowering and incredibly uplifting. They provide mantras and motivation through the heavier times, and their set banks on that lightness.
It's seemingly a day of contrasts – from the bouncy beats of Porij, we turn to the more melancholic tones of L’Objectif. On home soil, they’re triumphant. It’s dark and atmospheric as they lean into the edgier side of their sound live — lead singer Saul Kane looks anguished as they growl through their recent EP, ‘We Aren’t Getting Out But Tonight We Might’. Suited and booted, it’s a big day for the hometown heroes — they pull in quite the crowd and play into the future rockstar energy they project. It’s moody and volatile but it’s a refreshing energy for the indie-heavy crowds. Showcasing the best of their back catalogue, L’Objectif prove that they might only be young but they have years of festival sets ahead of them still — on to bigger stages they shall go.
From L’Objectif, it’s a mad uphill dash to Sea Girls, victims of multiple unfortunate clashes. Greeted by the sight of frontman Henry Camamile adorned in full tangerine attire, we’re met with a crowd already deep in the throes of singing every word of the band’s recent second album back to their vibrantly dressed vocalist. Regardless of your thoughts on Sea Girls, there is no denying that they know how to get a festival crowd under their thumb — when they demand the crowd to open, they open. When they demand they sing a certain refrain, they sing it. They’re in their element on those big, outdoor stages, unleashing their classic indie lyricism onto the masses. It’s a commanding effort.
A particularly special set of the day graces the stage of the DIY Big Top — it’s none other than Arlo Parks. Stage adorned with sunflowers and vines, comforting warm lighting and those unbelievable vocals invite you into a set filled with poetic verses and breathtaking soundscapes. Arlo Parks has this enthralling quality of offering immense comfort and tranquillity with her soft vocals. That charms transcends just her talents too — bashful of the praise of her crowd, she’s all wide grins with one of the loudest audiences of the day before her screaming the words to ‘Caroline’. It’s a spellbinding set, brought to a too-soon close by the notes of her latest single ‘Softly’. Following the release of the bewitching ‘Collapsed in Sunbeams’ last year, what came next for Arlo Parks was always going to be something to get excited about. With that magnetic set at Live at Leeds now under her belt, whatever is on the horizon only seems more thrilling.
It’s with churros in hand that we’re able to catch a fraction of The Vaccines set, which feels like an ode to years gone by. It’s classic after classic, from ‘Post Break-Up Sex’ to the unbelievable ‘I Always Knew’ by Justin Young and the band. Hits from last year’s ‘Back In Love City’ go down a treat, of course, but this is a set overflowing with nostalgia for many. Onstage, the band seem ageless and it’s hard not to get wrapped up in that energy, even eleven years on from their much-adore debut album.
It’s back to the DIY Big Top for an expectedly chaotic set from easy life, seemingly incapable of ever having a chilled one. Kitted in matching double denim, the Leicester lads have really gone all out for this one. Launching headfirst into ‘pockets’, one of the oldest hits in their arsenal, it’s teetering on the edge of lairy from that point onwards. Frontman Murray Matravers, who has a history of getting on security guard’s nerves, demands the fans be allowed on one another’s shoulders regardless of concerns. With most of the crowd now bouncing above us, it’s a cheerful set from Easy Life which perfectly mixes old favourites and hints of their newer stuff, promising another chaotic festival season ahead for the band.
Closing the day, it’s the inimitable Bombay Bicycle Club. Thankfully, there’s no clashes at this point, which means the absolute alchemy they produce is shared by all in attendance. It’s completely transcendent – capturing the timeless essence of some of their earliest releases whilst demonstrating that they still have that unparalleled capacity to make deeply moving music to this day, it’s a complete masterclass. The crowd might be shivering at this point (in typical Bank Holiday style, it’s not the warmest of weekends) but Bombay Bicycle Club manage to conjure up a different kind of warmth. It’s been over a decade since ‘I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Off’, but for those at Live at Leeds the songs strike with the same disarming quality as they did in 2009. Their brass section absolutely shine, and the vocal responsibility shared between Jack Steadman and Liz Lawrence is absolutely arresting. It’s a mystical, joyous end to the evening that undoubtedly leaves us wistfully waiting to be back at Temple Newsam to do it all again next year.
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Words: Neive McCarthy
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