Photo: Brendan Docherty
Taking on the multi-venue style of Camden Crawl or The Great Escape in Brighton, Live at Leeds is a sprawling collection of the city's finest exports and a nice amount of up and coming indie bands playing in the cities myriad of pubs and clubs. Despite the fact they have played in Leeds every other week since forever both Wild Beasts' 3pm slot at Joseph's Well and Sky Larkin's tea time performance at The Cockpit are full to capacity lock outs- my fault for not arriving in time 'spose. Not to worry, however, as the first act of the day we catch is The Joy Formidable. The Welsh trio put on an assured performance, showcasing tracks from their excellent album 'A Balloon Called Moaning'. The crowd gathered lap it up as 'Whirring' gives way to 'Austere' the band go from strength to strength. Some tracks fall away into anonymity but ultimately this set is a triumph.
Anonymity is one thing you can never accuse Pulled Apart By Horses of. By the third song ('The Crapsons') of their half-hour set a circle pit has begun spinning and flailing in front of the stage and the atmosphere never drops below jaw-dropping. Essentially playing thrash metal for indie kids their songs are brutal but come accompanied by huge pop hooks which regularly see the audience joining in and punching the air in celebration. By 'Meat Balloon' lead singer Tom Hudson has re-located his microphone to the middle of the mosh pit and leads the "We are so macho" refrain from the heart of the crowd. It's easy to forget you are in the back room of a pub at 6pm in the evening as the sheer sense of fun over takes you. 'E= MC Hammer' and 'I Punched A Lion In The Throat' burst out of the blocks and finish off a set that this reviewer feels will struggle to be beaten by anyone in 2009.
Annoyingly the most appealing line up of Dinosaur Pile Up and Grammatics supporting The Maccabees at the Metropolitan Union has led to a gridlocked que with no sign of entry forthcoming. The walk to The Faversham is soundtracked by the muffled sounds of 'No Kind Words' emitting from the venues walls. Still, in the week the band release their masterpiece 'Wall Of Arms' it can only be a good sign that people are willing to stand in the cold for a chance to see the band play live. At The Faversham Dan Black is finishing off his set with the single 'Yours'- it ticks all the boxes of a major label, watered down Hot Chip but seems dated and a bit cheesy. Nothing however could prepare these eyes for the epically terrible Ou Est Le Swimming Pool. Having seen the best gig of the year earlier in the night it was a nice symmetry to then see the worst. Sunglasses, hoodies with bare chests and frosted tips hair do's made this feel less like an alternative music festival and more like being on the set of Ibiza Uncovered. Their Lonely Island esque jock pop and terrace style chanting from the crowd contributed to a set to forget.
Live At Leeds in photos:
