Some say it's a blessing, some say it's a curse

Leeds Festival, Bramham Park, 28-30 August 2009

It is just gone 11pm. I am wearing an electric blue wig, sequined sleeves and Wellingtons. I am the only person walking away from the car park, through Camping Apocalypse Now, down the Valley to Piccadilly Circus. In the other direction flow thousands and thousands of people. Some carrying their possessions, others too drunk to even be aware of me. There is noise and smoke and dirt and smells. This is not stressful, I feel serene, for this is Leeds Festival 2009.
This year has been the most chilled Leeds I've had. Musically it was sparse for me. There were only a couple of bands I really wanted to catch over the three days and not many more in the 'wouldn't mind seeing' category. Perhaps I am getting too fussy / lazy. Or perhaps my taste and the festival are getting further apart.
Anyway, here is what I did see.

Friday 28 August 2009

Prodigy
The field in front of the main stage was heaving with people covered in glo-sticks and neon face paint. The majority of these people would have been but twinkles in somebody's eye when raves actually happened in fields.
Having been possessed by the Prodigy on their recent tour I was hoping for good things. Take me to the hospital was fired out across the expanse as the sun set and was followed up with a set list not far off the one they toured.
It lacked a little something though. The sound from the main stage was once again coming second to the elements and so the bass was lost if you were further away than mid-field. A crowd pleasing set for sure but I couldn't help feeling this crowd came to throw shapes but never really felt the call.

Glasvegas
So we left the Prodigy snarling with their people and headed over to the Radio One / NME tent for a bit of Glasvegas. This was an obligatory attendance for me having managed to miss all but the end of the last song last year and been too ill to see them on tour in the Autumn. I needed to see for certain what I thought I'd missed.
They didn't disappoint. For such a massive tent this stage always feels more intimate, especially after the wind-ravaged amphitheatre of main stage. Their image is cooler than cool with their intensity back lit by the (what else?) Vegas style name in lights.
They opened with Flowers and Football Tops and made their way through plenty off the debut album and a few more besides.
The beat sparse but steady, the accent strong, the lyrics crammed into a space they shouldn't fit and James Allen with his quiff and leather jacket.
He stripped the jacket as they reached their peak; finishing with Geraldine and Daddy's Gone. A more emotionally charged moment I have rarely seen at Leeds. Allen lying on the edge of the stage, his voice almost cracking as the whole tent sang it back to him.
A performance which didn't just make up for the times I'd missed them, but made me want to see them all the more.

Present but not engaged: Maximo Park

Saturday 29 August 2009

Le Donk
Compared to the lazy day on Friday we managed to shift arse for early doors in the Alternative Tent today in order to catch a screening of new Shane Meadows' flick Le Donk as well as the Q&A afterwards.
This is yet another great Meadows' vehicle for Paddy Considine, an actor who can both scare me witless (Dead Man's Shoes) and make me giggle like an idiot (Hot Fuzz). His character of Le Donk is spot on. Playing the manager of real-life Nottingham rapper Scor-Zay-Zee the film follows, in documentary style, his attempts to get a slot on the bill at the Arctic Monkey's Old Trafford gig.
Subtly brilliant, funny, touching, sort of sad. I'll be trying to catch this again to fill in the bits missing where the sound went bonkers. And yes, Calm Down Deirdre Barlow absolutely must get a single release.

The XX
Quietly, slightly psychedelically, lovely.

(I had plans for this afternoon which involved Passion Pit, Lady Sovereign and a couple of other bands. However, I had a cider and then got stung by a wasp and it all went a bit wrong from there really)

Radiohead
Oh Radiohead. You are, without doubt, musical geniuses. Your songs are intricate, clever, charged and immense. It's also very cold in the field and although this is my own fault, I don't know the songs you are playing.
I know those made of stronger stuff than me were rewarded with (your more accessible?) older stuff - Just, Street Spirit, Karma Police. But I wasn't the only one to wander away feeling a little bit stupid and disloyal that I couldn't hack it.
From what I saw your set was spot on in terms of ability. I just wish I could say it had given me goosebumps because it got me, I got it, not because it was night time and there was an evil sharp wind.

Present but not engaged: Vampire Weekend (who didn't get bottled like they did supporting Blur. Everyone very up for it), Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bloc Party.

Sunday 30 August 2009

Deftones
My husband loves this band. At least he has loved them in the past. Now he wants to love them but sometimes they make it hard.
Not today though. He was noncommittal about his mosh intentions before they took to the stage, doubting his pit fitness. But the opening bars saw him throw his belongings and leap through the crowd to get his hit from as close as possible.
A Sunday afternoon rock out ensued as they made their way through hits from across their albums and he came back, drenched in what I hope was sweat and bemoaning the lack of mosh etiquette from the young 'uns.
Worth mentioning that even though the wind was still up they had more bass than the Prodigy. It fair reverberated through the ground so even if you weren't listening you could feel the Deftones.

Fight Like Apes
Change of pace for us now as we head over to the Festival Republic stage for some power pop.
They managed to get through opener Something Global before being beset with the problems which seemed to plague all stages this weekend.
But they continued on and treated us to a selection from their debut. All good po-going fun and post-modern-ironic lyrics.
A happier sounding band you couldn't hope to find.

Jack Penate
I only caught the end of his set but it struck me exactly how much he has changed in the last year. It was all said about his album; how he had ditched one sound for another for the better. This performance made it obvious beyond the hype.
Tighter, more confident, louder and stronger. I sort of wish I'd seen more as while his debut album had some catchy ditties it now seems he has some really compelling tunes.

Florence and the Machine
Is her image contrived? Maybe. I honestly don't care. Her voice is IMMENSE.
Despite being at toward the back of the tent (with about 1000 people left outside) so much further away than at Hyde Park she commanded this crowd with her presence and vocal from the word go. Starting with Between Two Lungs and working her way through the rest of the debut album interspersed with happy chatter this is where the songsmithery and the stage presence collided to make for an amazing set.
While water poured onto the stage we raced through Kiss with a Fist, Dog Days, Howl and Cosmic Love amongst others. Then she decided to inject disco into this rock festival and hit us with You Got The Love. The whole tent bounced along and lost themselves in both the bittersweet lyric and disco beat. This song made sense live in a way it didn't on the album. Gone the emotionless karaoke replaced with a passionate honesty.
The only shame was the set list was cut short due to running over on time so we got no Rabbit Heart but I'm excited now to see if she can make it three of three when I see them / her at the end of September.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Transgressive showcase
Soulsavers with Mark Lanagan
I don't have huge amounts to say about the last three things we caught other than they were all fabulous and worth watching.
The Transgressive DJs and showcase which transform the Alternative Tent into the closing party have thrilled for the second year running and the band we caught (I will find out their name at some point) were tighter and more inventive than many of the big name acts.
Anvil! gives the real life Spinal Tap and reminds us that you don't get a guaranteed income with that Triple A. Great to see a film where the audience all get behind it and cheer and woop as the tale is told.
Then we closed our festival experience with Mark Lanagan. By God, his voice is deep.
Soulsavers doesn't hit me in the same spot as his collaborations with Isobel Campbell but this is the chilled and swamp-lit mysterious air we need to say farewell to Leeds '09.

Present but not engaged: Funeral for a Friend

So, I could have done better on the amount of bands I saw. There were a few more I intended to see and didn't get round to. There are a few artists I thought might make the line up that didn't.
Leeds is changing. This year there were more rules to follow (and yeah, I know they are for our safety and enjoyment but, whatever, my Leeds is about freedom) and whether it really had happened or was just my perception but the make up of the crowd and the atmosphere have changed too.
Whereas last year at this point I was trying hard not to admit I was back in the real world this year I only miss the drop in levels of responsibility and the time spent with friends. Will I be back? Of course. You always give love a second chance, right?