Kick starting the main stage festivities on the second day this year is a much deserving Deaf Havana, who are rightly awarded the honour of dusting the cobwebs off everyone’s hang overs on another seemingly rain free morning.
Their excellent last album (Fools and Worthless Liars) included a track about their lack of chances on big stages such as this, watching on by as their mates moved on to bigger and better things and slots such as this one at Reading and Leeds. As The Past Six Years today closes their set though, it is a real triumph for the Kings Lynn boys, and they finally make the step up to the big occasion and take their opportunity with both hands.
They have had to scrap their way to this point, and write one of the best British albums of the last year to get here, but their brief opening set today is just desserts for one of the most talented young bands on the British scene. Opening with a pounding I Will Try, and keeping their set to entirely new material (chopping their former signature tune, Friends Like These) they keep things fresh, and put in a great showing. Frontman James Veck-Gilodi is in great spirits, with a dry and sarcastic sense of humour, entertaining the crowd throughout a hugely enjoyable set.
The brilliant Little White Lies makes an appearance (albeit sans the lovely Portia Conn on guest vocals) and as they close on the one-two acoustically driven Hunstanton Pier and the aforesaid The Past Six Years, it is clear for all to see that the post-hardcore/scream stylings of yesteryear are now long gone. The band are clearly better equipped for the future as result. This won’t be the last time we see them on stages this size.
Cancer Bats then storm the stage to do what they do best, and cause absolute mayhem. Packed with visceral gutter crawling hardcore /punk fury, they tear it up today, Liam Cornier leading the fray in a wild eyed frenzy, as he stomps and stalks the stage.
Their Beastie Boys cover of Sabotage is massive as usual, slotting in seamlessly with blistering renditions of Lucifer’s Rocking Chair, Shillelagh and a dominant Hail Destroyer. Making up for their aborted main stage slot over at the Download Festival earlier in the summer, the band take every opportunity here today to make up for lost time, and tear the main stage a new one.
Job well done . . .
Coheed and Cambria are an entirely different proposition, and although their crowd thins somewhat, their return to these shores is a very welcome one indeed. It has been some time since we last saw them over here due to band troubles and whatnot, so it’s great to see them here today making up for lost time, and treating those in attendance to the hits.
There are utterly unique. Progressive rock arrangements, and front man Claudio Sanchez’s high pitched vocals and enormous afro, make them stand out from a crowd of bands, many of whom will struggle to live up to the level of musicianship they possess. It’s mostly hits, with the band also slotting in a new track which sounds good, offering early promise from their next record, due sometime in October. The omission of The Suffering and Devil In Jersey City may be a (minor) gripe, but Ten Speed, Welcome Home, No World For Tomorrow and a hook filled A Favour House Atlantic ease that pain somewhat.
They are big tunes, and this is a great performance, Sanchez closing the band’s set whilst soloing from a guitar firmly stuck behind his head (probably to that afro).
Tom Delonge may not be blessed with such voluminous hair, and Angels and Airwaves may be the side project to the main Blink 182 act we all want to see, but they perform well here today, fighting through the impending rain shower to showcase some of their finer recorded moments.
They may be nowhere near the league of the man’s day job, but with Surrender, The Adventure and The War, Delonge and Co. possess three fantastic numbers which will always brighten up a festival set. The Adventure, their first ever single, is one of the best moments of their short career, but it is the thunderous final call to arms that is The War which is their closing farewell to a rather modest crowd here today (in comparison to some that will gather in front of this huge main stage).
The NME stage, the site’s official “second” stage is rammed for the long awaited return, after a lengthy 8 year spell away, of The Hives; a huge crowd greeting a band that is criminally low down the bill, and by all rights should be slotting in somewhere on the main stage at this festival. They are greeted as the returning heroes they are as they take the stage wearing full coat and tails, before shaking loose and ripping into some of the most catchy and fun filled garage rock and roll you will hear all weekend.
Lead singer “Howlin’” Pelle Almqvist is in astonishing form, as he puts the assembled throng through their paces; the crowd give them their all in return, and the mass of bodies goes suitably apeshit to the anthems in the band’s possession. Walk Idiot Walk is huge, but even that response cannot eclipse the set’s highlight, as Almqvist asks the crowd to “rise for their national anthem”, before destroying the tent to an insane Hate To Say I Told You So. The applause is deafening. It is a breathtaking moment, and threatens to overshadow all that has gone before and that is to come in this tent over the course of the weekend.
A blistering Tick Tick Tick Boom is awe-inspiring, the band’s “statue” routine mid-set purposely slipped it, sending the crowd into a frenzy when they all kick back in for a thrilling climax; it should be their swansong, but they return for an encore of Patrolling Days which rounds off one of the most incredible sets Leeds 2012 will see.
That December UK tour is simply unmissable off the back of this . . .
The crowd may thin out considerably for The Blackout, but a decent crowd witnesses their full blooded rock assault, as they own the stage and rip it up with a hit packed set. The band have got better and better over the years, and festival sets like this have long since become their forte. With their dual vocal attack, extremely tight musicianship and an arsenal of awesome tunes in their pocket, they have all the tools to slay stages like this, and that is exactly what they do on this afternoon.
An opening one-two of Children of the Night and ShutTheFuckUppercut kick things off in top gear, and gets the blood pumping early. As they rummage through their catalogue, early tunes such as It’s High Tide Baby! (which is majestic here today) and a riotous (pun intended) I’m A Riot? You’re A Fucking Riot! slot in effortlessly with some of the finer cuts from last year’s terribly underrated ‘Hope’ record; Never By Your Side is massive, as is the closing Higher and Higher, Sean Smith ably tackling Hyro Da Hero’s rap segment as his own, and sending the crowd over the top.
He also is a master of the banter with the crowd, such gems such as “does anyone here have a head?” causing a hilarious undertone to today’s party rock set; they even air a new track, aptly titled Start The Party.
It couldn’t be any more self-explanatory. They’re a riot; everytime; and today is no exception.
Saves The Day receive a rather polite and at times apathetic response to their impassioned emo stylings over on the lockup stage, always sounding solid, but perhaps a little unspectacular all things considered. They didn’t do much for me on the co-headliner with Yellowcard last year, and although they are clearly very talented and enjoyable enough, their songs don’t do much for me.
They are worth a watch, and are good at what they do; it just feels like (at times) they lack the killer back catalogue to really own sets like this.
That being said, the set closing At Your Funeral is a tune and a half.
It’s nothing compared to what follows on the main stage, Paramore making a splash to a sizeable crowd, following an insipid and frankly quite shocking turn by Bombay Bicycle Club before them. Following Saves The Day, I caught around 20 minutes of their third headline (yes, third headline set) to a huge crowd; the one problem though; they don’t actually have any decent songs. It’s all very pedestrian, bland and outright boring, and although a large section seem into it, just as large a section of the crowd nearer the rear barriers are clearly waiting for the return of Ms Williams and co.
The less said about Bombay Bicycle Club the better; truly shocking. I’m still trying to process exactly why people listen to music like this, let alone how they end up so high up the main stage bill. #Perplexed.
Paramore kill it here today though, in spite of a stage this size showcasing just how tiny Hayley Williams really is in real life. What she lacks in height though, she more than makes up for in charisma, sheer star quality and a powerhouse vocal which delivers on all fronts.
Their set is everything it should be, jam packed with pop punk/pop rock hits at their finest, and when Williams is on top form, she is a proverbial fireball across the stage, her luminous orange hair striking from even miles away. Her eyebrows might be a little on the crazy side here today (I seriously can’t believe that made it into this review! Haha!) but vocally, she smashes it.
Brick By Boring Brick is a rampant statement of intent to open, segueing into an enormous That’s What You Get, those two numbers getting the crowd warmed up and participating early.
They stick mostly to newer material, but the inclusion of sole early hit Pressure is fantastic, giving the fans the chance to witness one of the greatest rock moves of our time, as the boys carry out their trademark ‘back roll’ during the breakdown, whipping it out here again today to a great response.
It always kills it in the live arena, and today is no different. . .
(See 2mins and 42 seconds in)
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Careful is massive, The Only Exception a lighter fuelled sing-along, and Decode gets the fan girls screaming for their Twilight fix; another highlight comes in the form of singles club releases Monster, and Renegade, the latter heard here today for the first time by me, blown away by one of the best choruses the band has penned. It is truly awesome stuff. Their shortened set from two years is a distant memory as they last a full set out here today, and show just why they are worthy sub-headliners for a festival like this. They are in imperious form throughout.
Ignorance sets up the grand finish, the band closing on their biggest hit, the fast and furious Misery Business. It is still as incredible as it was the first time it dropped, only ruined today (slightly not completely) at the end by a girl Hayley had met in the signing tent who is brought up to wail tunelessly through the closing bars. It’s so nice that Hayley does this at each show, bringing a fan/group of fans up to sing-along, but it’s such a big hit, she should finish it off herself, as it would send the place into overdrive. It is one of the finest songs of the last decade, but with the fan finishing off the track today, the set does end a little tamely. As nice as the gesture really is, the sooner this is dropped from their set the better.
It can’t ruin a fantastic set though, and Paramore dominate here today. That new album simply can’t come quick enough. Headliners next time? You can probably bet on it . . .
They even depart in time to allow fans to catch a nice little bonus of Every Time I Die who are mid-set over on the lock up. They are at their awesome best, and they kill it like they do on a regular basis here, Keith Buckley ever the showman as he rages through the bands southern stomp, screaming his lungs out all the way.
A big crowd is well into it, and as they close out on We’rewolf, the band appear from the wreckage triumphant, having absolutely nailed their debut Leeds Festival set.
The Cure are perhaps a strange choice as a headliner for a festival as commercial as Leeds. Although they play to a crowd that is nowhere near the size of that which greeted the Foo’s last night, they still play to a massive collection of people who assemble to watch them take a huge dip into their extensive catalogue. With a 33 song set, their appearance is more than likely the longest set this festival has ever seen.
I catch in the region of 90 minutes of their set, and they go down really well, the inevitable highlights coming in the form of their best known songs; Just Like Heaven is a big moment, before the place truly erupts for an awe-inspiring rendition of their signature track, ‘Friday, I’m In Love’. The godfathers of goth rock truly excel amidst their dark settings, and they have some great songs for even the uninitiated.
Whether or not they have enough hits to ensure that the set doesn’t lull in places is a big question, but there is no doubt that they are not only a real influence on a lot of later bands in the scene, but that they are still more than capable of putting in a fantastic shift.
Their booking is well and truly justified from what I say.
Following on from this, I catch five minutes of Social Distortion; big on reputation, but sounding absolutely dreadful as they open with So Far Away (Mike Ness really struggling to hit any note at all). This convinces us to an early finish, getting back to camp just in time to hear The Cure bow out to Boys Don’t Cry from afar.
Although a somewhat strange choice to headline Reading and Leeds, they certainly prove their mettle here tonight, and show just why they were a solid booking.
Setlist - Deaf Havana - I Will Try / I'm A Bore, Mostly / Little White Lies / Leeches / Hunstanton Pier / The Past Six Years
Setlist - Cancer Bats - Pneumonia Hawk / Bricks & Mortar / Pray for Darkness / Deathsmarch / Shillelagh / Road Sick / Sabotage (Beastie Boys cover) / Lucifer's Rocking Chair / Hail Destroyer / Rats
Setlist - Coheed and Cambria - No World for Tomorrow / Blood Red Summer / The Running Free / Delirium Trigger / Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial) / Key Entity Extraction I: Domino the Destitute / A Favor House Atlantic / Welcome Home
Setlist - Angels and Airwaves - Saturday Love / It Hurts / Surrender / Dry Your Eyes / The Adventure / Everything's Magic / Anxiety / The War
Setlist - The Hives - Come On! / Main Offender / Take Back the Toys / Walk Idiot Walk / My Time is Coming / Hate To Say I Told You So /Wait a Minute / Go Right Ahead / Tick Tick Boom / Patrolling Days
Setlist - The Blackout - Children of the Night / ShutTheFuckUppercut / Ambition Is Critical / Save Our Selves (The Warning) / It's High Tide Baby! / Start the Party / This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things / Never By Your Side / I'm a Riot? You're a Fucking Riot! / Higher & Higher
Setlist - Saves The Day - Firefly / Shoulder To The Wheel / Deranged & Desperate / The End / Cars & Calories / 1984 / Anywhere With You / Freakish / Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots / Undress Me / Can't Stay The Same / At Your Funeral
Setlist – Paramore Brick by Boring Brick / That's What You Get / For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic / Careful / Decode / The Only Exception / Renegade / Pressure / Monster / Ignorance / Misery Business
Setlist - Every Time I Die - No Son of Mine / Apocalypse Now and Then / Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space / Holy Book of Dilemma / Kill the Music / Wanderlust / I Suck (Blood) / The New Black / Ebolarama / Bored Stiff / Typical Miracle / Tourette's
(Nirvana cover) / After One Quarter of a Revolution / Floater / We'rewolf
Setlist - The Cure - Open / High / The End of the World / Lovesong / Sleep When I'm Dead / Push / In Between Days / Just Like Heaven / Pictures of You / Lullaby / The Caterpillar / The Walk / Friday I'm in Love / Doing the Unstuck / Trust / From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea / Play for Today / A Forest / Bananafishbones / Primary / Want / The Hungry Ghost / Wrong Number / One Hundred Years / End / Dressing Up / The Lovecats / Close to Me / Just One Kiss / Let's Go to Bed / Why Can't I Be You? / Boys Don't Cry
Setlist - Social Distortion - So Far Away / Bad Luck / Far Behind / Machine Gun Blues / Sick Boys / Telling Them / Cold Feelings / Gimme the Sweet and Lowdown / Story of My Life / Don't Drag Me Down / Ring of Fire
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