After a catalog of musical events over the past week at Temple Newsham, Live at Leeds in the Park closes it with a combination of pop, indie, alt rock bands and artists on 4 stages. With a capacity of several thousand people, the venue is a superb backdrop for a large gathering to celebrate the “Jubilees” weekend.
Partygoers were hoping for the same sunny weather we’ve enjoyed throughout the weekend so far, however, dark clouds came rushing in for quite a cloudy greeting upon arriving at the venue. With 34 bands on the programme, Live at Leeds in the Park offers excellent value for money.
It is relatively convenient to get there and there is plenty of food available on site. Oddly enough, there didn’t seem to be any “merch-based” stalls, which is quite unusual at an outdoor festival, unless I walked around them on my way in.
The days begin with performances by Tom A Smith on the Dork Presents stage. The stage is split in two, left and right, a pretty neat idea for fast continuous music.
Lauren Hibberd opens the main stage with a great pop performance for an ever-growing crowd.
Dream Wife, popular Southern indie pop band, bring a bolshy performance to the tent second stage. Their mix of post punk and indie pop is blowing the crowd away from the offbeat, a much-needed boost to really start the artists’ extended spread days.
Alfie Templeman and Holly Humberstone alternately entertain the main stage mid-afternoon, but the DIY stage on the hill seems to be where all the action is.
Australian electro indie pop band, Confidence Man, smashes the second stage with an exceptional and well choreographed set. Their brand of electric pop really makes sense, and after seeing them perform several times in Leeds venues, their rise to a bigger stage will come very quickly.
Manchester-based indie rock band The Blinders take to the Hill Top stage with a cantankerous, raucous, loud and very Stentorian set.
Thrilling sets from The Snuts, Arlo Parks, Coach Party, Kid Kapachi and L’Objective solidify the carnivorous early-night combination of indie pop and alternative rock.
Personally, I would have liked to see the line-up grow from there, but the headliners and supports are toned down slightly. Although the penultimate act The Vaccines and the high-end Bombay Bicycle Club are popular and well-loved, I think the festival needed a little more experienced artists as headliners.
All in all, though, a pretty good start to a hopefully extended succession of ‘In the Parks’ from the Live at Leeds team.
