Live at Leeds: a spread of new talent that’s just a little too overwhelming
On Saturday morning, a few hours before Live at Leeds began, I had to run some painfully expensive errands in the city centre. The rain was pouring, and the streets were heaving with shoppers and fancy-dress-wearers gliding across reflective pavements, a sea of umbrellas dancing above heads as the sound of buskers and religious preachers threatened to overpower the music I had plugged firmly into my own ears. It didn’t exactly put me in the best headspace for an all-day festival later in the afternoon.
But I’m not one to get deterred that easily, and within several hours I was back in the middle of Leeds, my wristband dangling down my arm as I wielded my umbrella over my head. I headed for Headrow House first to catch Pem, knowing little about their music but recommended by a friend. It was a rather dreamy start to the festival, giving me a chance to slow down after a rather hectic start. Emily Perry’s voice is incredible, and the room increasingly garnered intrigued listeners who’d gotten down early enough to catch her mid-afternoon slot.
But where to next? My itinerary for the day was startlingly blank. Was I just being too close-minded? The whole point of the festival is to discover new acts, anyway, but when there’s over 150 artists on the line-up, where do you start?
It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re trying to pick out who to see at such a vast festival, and if you don’t organise everything to a tee – do you need to book an Uber, catch a bus, or leave adequate walking time to catch the next band you want to see? – then you might miss out. If you like to go with the flow, then maybe floating in and out of the nearer-together venues, like Belgrave, Headrow House, and Santiagos, works. But trekking between the likes of Oporto, LUU Stylus, Hyde Park Book Club, Brudenell Social Club, and even Vinyl Whistle up in Headingley, is not for the faint of heart – especially in the November cold.
Perhaps Live at Leeds in the City would work better if it took place during the slightly warmer months, when walking from one end of town to the other is much more bearable. Or maybe I just needed to suck it up and get over it. Still, overwhelmed by who to go and see, who to sacrifice, and whether to branch across town alone or stick with friends when we clashed on who we wanted to see, I definitely got tired fast, and it took about seven pints to get me to the end of the night.
During this musical odyssey through the streets of Leeds, I watched Working Men’s Club vocalist Syd Minsky-Sargeant perform his mellow new solo material at a rather quiet Brudenell before heading to LUU Stylus for a change of pace in the form of Warmduscher. It was 7pm, but it was the first time all day I’d stood in an energetic crowd, tightly packed in and actually feeling a festival buzz.
This is the thing with the event: you might find yourself in big crowds all day, or perhaps you’ll walk into a venue and discover that hardly anyone is there. You never really know what you’re going to get, and it’s a risk you have to take.
For me, the two highlights of the night ended up being Leeds bands I’ve already seen copious times before, which only highlighted the fact that the city’s music scene is one of the best in the country. I never get tired of seeing Fuzz Lightyear play, and in Belgrave, they delivered a particularly heavy set, the lighting immersive and intense. Finally, I felt like I was experiencing what I wanted out of the day.
Adult DVD played an hour and a half later at The Wardrobe, further proving Leeds’ dominance as a musical superpower. The group, who only seem to be getting bigger and bigger, played to a packed-out crowd; I could hardly even see the stage, but at least there was a festival atmosphere permeating across the rather small room. If anyone needed a bigger venue though, it was them.
Live at Leeds has always had a headliner problem, with last year’s top billings including the disparate mix of Everything Everything, Alfie Templeman, and The K’s. With this year’s headliner being the soul-inspired Jalen Ngonda, whose name sat alongside the energetic dance-punk outfit Fat Dog on the poster, it seems, even more so, like the festival were just throwing names at the wall and seeing what stuck. Neither feel like top of the bill acts – it felt like something was slightly missing.
So, do I think Live at Leeds gives you everything you’d want out of a day festival? Not really. You might strike lucky and pack your day with some incredible sets, or you might just end up watching a barrage of bang-average indie bands as you weave from one venue to another, searching for something different. It’s a festival practically designed to be unpredictable, and one that requires intense stamina, and probably an umbrella.
