Live at Leeds 2015: The Review Part 1

Leeds city centre took on a different characteristic last Saturday. With the first roar of guitar at 12pm, Live at Leeds officially went into full swing. If you wanted a simple trip to the Trinity centre that day, chances are you got caught up in the traffic of festival goers looping the town looking for a new band to fall in love with, dodging plastic cups of spilt cider as you went. If you (like a good student) went to grab some lunch from Essentials on a break from your 5-hour revision stint in the Brotherton, chances are you heard a racket emanating from Stylus. Honestly? You missed out.

 

New life was breathed into the city as people of all ages and tastes, from the old-school indie kids queuing for The Cribs for three hours to the new-school rockers checking out rising bands like Crows, flooded Leeds’ finest bars and hang-outs for a good ol’ time. If you wanted a quiet pint that weekend, you most likely couldn’t find a place to get it.

 

The actual weekend kicked off on the Friday night, with twin gigs taking place at the Brudenell Social Club and Stylus as part of the Welcome to Live at Leeds Party. Whilst Darlia headed things up in Hyde Park, I headed over the union to see a favourite band of mine, and one of Leeds’ finest exports to make it on Radio 1, Pulled Apart By Horses. A homecoming gig of sorts, with support from fellow local bands Dinosaur Pile-Up and Allusondrugs, the band ran through fan favourites from the three albums with the same skewered humour they have become known for. This included guitarist and lead singer Tom Hudson apparently finding his faith and bassist James Brown (yes, that is his name) doing a classic stage dive at the expense of his ankle. The desert rock vibes of the evening made for a rowdy show which riled up the crowd for the next day’s activities.

 

(Photo by Giles Smith)

 

After picking up my wristband, my first band of the Saturday came in a spot of confusion after being unable to find my friends. I drifted into Leeds Beckett – forgive me – and discovered the sugar, spice but not-so-nice sounds of Bruising. A two piece band who met in a Leeds nightclub, Bruising take the catchy, breezy California melodies of bands like Best Coast and combine it with the fuzzier, shoegaze guitars of British bands like My Bloody Valentine. One of the few bands I’ve heard who make me want to dance like no-one’s watching yet sound like a lullaby, they proved an easy gateway band to get me into the festival spirit.

 

(Photo by Giles Smith)

 

Next, heading to Nation of Shopkeepers to finally meet up with friends and get started on the day’s session, I stumbled on Scarlet Rascal. A less dreamy affair than Bruising before, I was brought back to reality with their more menacing beats and doom-laden vocals, which reminded me a lot of Ian Curtis of Joy Division or Julian Casablancas of The Strokes. Scarlet Rascal proved to be an enjoyable rehash of the post-punk sounds from the late 70s and early 80s, but less enjoyable was the congestion at Nation’s bar, which struggles for space as it is. If you decide to go next year, be aware that you should go early to your must-see bands in order to get a good space!

 

I spent the rest of the evening in the Leeds Town Hall, a venue that I often wonder why it doesn’t get used more often. Incredibly spacious and generally gorgeous to look at, the high ceilings make for great acoustics for live music. The first band to play the headline slot were Dutch Uncles, a bizarre American group whose infectious, dizzying rhythms can’t help but put you in a good mood. Despite being surrounded by the more muted greys and navys of Fred Perry shirts, Dutch Uncles were an explosion of colour who couldn’t be tied down to one genre. If you’re looking for a groove at your gigs, they aren’t a bad bet.

 

The next band were much more favourable to the Fred Perry gang, that being NME darlings Palma Violets. Their best known song, Best of Friends, went off to a rapturous crowd bouncing like they’d never been to Propaganda before. Despite a fiercely northern crowd – the simple ‘Yorkshire!’ chant came out quite a few times that night – the Londoners held firm. Kudos must go to their frontman Samuel Fryer, who showed his Lambeth roots in a dapper suit and wide-brimmed hat which Pete Doherty would have approved of.

 

(Photo by Ben Bentley)

 

Then came the band everyone had been waiting for. The Cribs for me are a band who you can mark the progression of very neatly. I first heard of them when they broke through the mainstream with Men’s Needs in 2007, a song which turned all my friends away from Avril Lavigne towards Peter Pan collars and blunt fringes. Starting out like every indie band back then – and there were a lot of them – the band have crafted their own sound and stuck to their roots, not tempted by making a big album or changing their look. The result is a die-hard fan base and an ever-improving live show which would impress even a newcomer. They could have easily been a flavour of the month band which faded into obscurity, like so many did at the turn of the decade. Having defied that and now are legends of the British indie scene, they prove that working hard and being true to your sound pays off. Compared to the rest of the bands I’d seen today, they showed their experience. Every song slotted in the set list perfectly, the guitar line were crisp and didn’t bleed into noise from the distortion pedals, and the crowd sang every word. If there’s any sense in the young local scene, they’d be inspired by the show The Cribs put on.

 

(Photo by Andrew Bengo)

 

As my day drew into a close in a haze of real ale and an ill-chosen Subway, I reflect on what has been a relentless barrage of music from LS1 to LS9 – and I had a damn good time. Check out part II of Her Campus’ bumper review for more on the weekend’s acts and a bit of the festival’s growing history.

 

 

All images with credit courtesy of http://press.liveatleeds.com/2015/

 

Title Image by Tom Joy