They get a great reaction from the early rising punters as well.
If they can write some more songs like their set highlights, then they could easily push themselves up the bill in the years to come.
Setlist - I Found Out / What Can I Say / Emergency / Lost / Say It Like You Mean It / Done in Secret / Romantic Type / Everybody Wants Me / Take Her Back / I'm Not Sorry
Although I had never heard of them before the weekend Teenage Bottlerocket in the Lock Up stage put in a great set. Although playing to a really small crowd, their punk rock anthems were catchy and a solid listen. They may never set the word on fire, but they still played some cracking songs throughout their brief set.
Next up were letlive. who, as expected, ripped up the place much like they did with their Download set earlier in the summer. They are still one of the most exciting bands on the planet, and with a captivating front man, letlive. are on blistering form right now, playing to a sizeable crowd and once again justifying the hype surrounding them.
You can’t take your eyes off them for the duration of their set and the unhinged Jason Butler plays the part to perfection, energetic, tormented, and on fire as he works the stage (and the floor in front of the stage) to full effect. The man is one of the most charismatic and damn well enigmatic men in the game right now, and the world is there for the taking with this band.
Setlist - Le Prologue / The Sick, Sick, 6.8 Billion / Homeless Jazz / Renegade 86' / Muther / Casino Columbus
Killing time before boysetsfire, I caught Street Dogs, fronted by former Dropkick Murphys front man Mike McColgan, who went down a treat. Showcasing an almost celtic age to their punk rock anthems, they had some enjoyable songs, and much like Teenage Bottlerocket before them, although they may never quite set the world alight, they were still well worth a listen for 30 minutes. Their set was very enjoyable.
Playing to a tiny crowd, I felt sorry for boysetsfire who played one of the sets of the entire weekend, but who faced a clearly fatal clash with the main stage slot of Madness, who had a massive crowd. For those that made it in to see boysetsfire though, they were treated to some massive post hardcore hits that didn’t fail to hit the spot. Walk Astray, Empire, Requiem and Rookie were all massive moments, and they are just fantastic songs that deserved a bigger crowd.
The band are on fire at the moment after their return to the scene, and considering it was Leeds 2006 which got me into the band, it was great to see them once more on the Lock Up stage.
An awesome band, who deserved much more today, and you simply cannot fault the power with which they attacked their set, even though they must have been disappointed to see such a sparsely populated tent.
Setlist - Release the Dogs / Eviction Article / Empire / Pure / Twelve Step Hammer / Program / Walk Astray / Requiem / My Life In The Knife Trade / After the Eulogy / Rookie
Heading back to the main stage, Madness were in the throes of finishing off their set, which attracted one of the biggest main stage crowds of the entire weekend. It even felt as though they had a bigger crowd than the headliners the night before. Ska pop anthems will always go down well at a festival, and Madness have the hits to set any stage alight. I only caught the last 4 or 5 songs, but they were all massive hits, and sent the party atmosphere through the roof.
House Of Fun, Our House, It Must Be Love, and a blistering Baggy Trousers had everybody skanking like mentalists, and their set was clearly one of the successes of the weekend.
Surely off the back of the massive reaction they receive, they will be back in the next couple of years.
The Sun And The Rain / Take It Or Leave It / Iron Shirt / Clerkenwell Polka / The Prince / Forever Young / House Of Fun / Baggy Trousers / Our House / It Must Be Love / Madness / Night Boat To Cairo
There is not a lot that I need to say about Jimmy Eat World other than they play 15 songs, hit after hit, putting in a simply outstanding main stage set today.
They, like many before them this weekend, just have the songs to back up their reputation. Whether it’s the likes of Big Casino, A Praise Chorus, Work or the closing quartet of Pain / Salt, Sweat, Sugar / The Middle / The Sweetness, Jimmy have classics in abundance and can never fail to disappoint.
I was worried at one point that they may run out of time to play some of the big numbers, as they did throw out quite a few new tracks (the best of which being Coffee & Cigarettes), but there was no need. They must have had about 50 minutes in which to hurl out the hits, and that is exactly what they do.
No nonsense, world beating festival sets is what the band do, and they don’t disappoint. It may be freezing cold outside with the gale force wind, but the power with which the songs deliver make standing in the field well worth it.
Stunning stuff.
Setlist - My Best Theory / A Praise Chorus / Lucky Denver Mint / Coffee And Cigarettes / Futures / Big Casino / Let It Happen / Hear You Me / Work / Get It Faster / Action Needs An Audience / Pain / Bleed American / The Middle / Sweetness
Another band making a return after some time away is Capdown, playing their ska punk to one of the bigger crowds in the Lock Up tent, which was rather under populated for most of the weekend it seemed. Although Act Your Rage is a glaring omission, Ska Wars will never disappoint at a festival, and their set is a huge success, clocking in around at 50 minutes in length.
They tease the fact that they could well be going away once again after their return, but I wouldn’t bet against them returning in this same slot in a few years time.
A festival staple, and a band that can never fail to bring the good times.
I caught a little bif of The Strokes on my way out of the arena, and in all honesty, the band just do nothing for me whatsoever. Their latest record Angles is one of the worst albums of the year in my opinion, and when I saw them play an hour long set supporting Foo Fighters in 2006, they were, to me at least, one of the most boring bands to watch live that I can recall.
I had no desire to sit through them once more that was for sure, and as much as I would have liked to have seen Pulp it was so cold in the darkening field, that I knew there was no way I could sit through The Strokes, a changeover, and then another 90 minute headline set.
With that in mind, I headed back to the tent to pack up, and trek to the car. Although I would still like to see Pulp, I only really know Common People and Disco 2000, and I’ll probably get the chance to see them again sometime in the future. I did end up watching their Reading set on the BBC highlights, and in places they were fantastic, especially on those two enormo hits. I would probably have to brush up on my knowledge of their songs though before seeing them, and in places, some songs did seem to plod a little. They are still a band on my list to see, but there was no way I could brave the elements anymore on this weekend
Both The Strokes and Pulp seemed to go down well with the crowd as far as reports suggest, and they were both well attended.
All in all, it was a cracking weekend of great company, great bands, but ultimately shitty weather. Hopefully festival season 2012 enjoys much better weather than 2011.
Setlist (The Strokes) - Is This It / New York City Cops / Under Cover Of Darkness / Someday / Reptilia / Machu Picchu / The Modern Age / Last Nite / Life Is Simple In The Moonlight / 12:51 / You're So Right / What Ever Happened? / Under Control / Hard To Explain / Juicebox / Alone, Together / Take It Or Leave It
Setlist (PULP) - Do You Remember The First Time? / Pink Glove / Razzmatazz / Pencil Skirt / Something Changed / Disco 2000 / Sorted For E's & Wizz / F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E. / I Spy / Babies / Mis-Shapes / This Is Hardcore / Sunrise / Bar Italia / Common People
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