Leeds Festival 2008 - Main Stage

United Kingdom | | 27 August 2008

THURSDAY

While Reading basks in the calm before the storm, Leeds always likes to get the party started as soon as the first welly crosses the main gate. There's no main stage but local label Dance To The Radio’s usual slot on the BBC Introducing stage boasts a host of unsigned gems.

Openers Wintermute’s danceable indie may not win points in the originality stakes but gets the bonus for the best use of an exclamation mark in lyrics ever. Meanwhile The Wallbirds keep things ticking over with their bluesy garage rock, slipping in lyrics from Nelly’s ‘Hot In Here’ for the crowd.

The night is capped by Pigeon Detectives, whose not-so secret set drags thousands out of the campsite mudbath to hear ‘This Is An Emergency’ on such a small stage for probably the last time. Duracell bunny frontman Matt Bowman’s boundless energy is infectious through the adrenalin-fuelled ‘Take Her Back’, the frontman resorting to chucking water all over himself to keep cool. Not even a cut set keeps them down, the band squeezing in extra material before the crowds vanish. Pity poor Broken Records, who are left to close up the night with barely a tenth of the audience for their gorgeous Celtic folk meets Arcade Fire tunes.

FRIDAY

With Bring Me The Horizon’s last night confirmation ending in a last minute no-show, it's left to Mindless Self-Indulgence to open up the Main Stage in their own dry gothic style. Always a divisive choice for the line-up, the combination of buzzing electro-rock and Jimmy Urine’s Jack-Sparrow-goes-glam showmanship makes for a dynamite, yet marmite set, wiping any notion that their booking was mainly due to bassist Lyn-Z’s famous husband. My Chemical what?

Alexisonfire ensure the mosh breaks early on the main stage, even if the appearance of Plain White T's halts the momentum a little. Crowd-wide singalong dirge 'Hey There Delilah' makes an early bid for most irritating moment of the entire festival. However, amongst their irritating Weezer-lite, the Canadians take the chance to showcase the title track from recently-completed album 'Big Bad World' – even if it shows no sign of improvement on their trajectory into MOR porridge.

Yet more bad luck beckons later on, as the rain returns for an otherwise spirited punk celidh from Dropkick Murphys. Even mic trouble for guest Liberty Hayes on ‘The Dirty Glass’ can’t ruin the atmosphere, though. No such luck for Avenged Sevenfold. Despite making it through half a set with three members suffering from flu, and even dragging a girl from the audience to sing ‘A Little Piece Of Heaven’, in the end bad health gets the better of them. Well, maybe not so unlucky after all.

Friday’s token Brit rockers Feeder make a refreshingly humble addition to the lineup, Grant Nicholas’ unassuming stage manner belying the crowd unity that greets the pounding ‘Buck Rogers’ and a sublime live version of ‘My Perfect Day’. A complete contrast then to Tenacious D. Turning up in costumes (“I told you to get a wizard costume!” “I thought you said we were lizard kings…”), Jack Black and Kyle Gass hurtle through 60 minutes of 'The Metal', Metallica-baiting, appearances from Satan and songs about anal sex. But the set lacks something of the sharpness we’re used to seeing from the D – not their greatest and best performance in the world, this proves just a tribute.

For consummate headliners Metallica, however, this is just a walk in the (Bramham) Park.  Virtually incapable of producing a less than perfectly polished set, fireworks and flames light up the skies above the main stage field as the band tear through a set that checks off 'Master Of Puppets', 'Kill 'Em All' and a tender version of 'Nothing Else Matters'. Yet it's the unveiling of blistering new track ‘Cyanide’ from forthcoming album ‘Death Magnetic’ that really get the crowd’s attention. However, frontman James Hetfield seems to be suffering from the same ennui that dogged Tenacious D, unable to hide his disappointment with the crowd size for the encore, but true to his hammy promise that “Metallica loves you”, the band unveils a storming set closer in the form of ‘Seek and Destroy’ – a mixed end to a mixed day.

SATURDAY

With Rage Against The Machine due to hit the stage later tonight, early afternoon on the Main Stage takes a distinctly political feel, with forthright punks Anti-Flag advising one set of Leeds punters that they should burn their Visa Mastercard flag during RATM's set, before bursting into a fast-paced set that sees Justin Sane scale one of the speaker sets. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly take a rather more relaxed approach, their banner starkly spelling out how much African coffee growers receive for beans, but the laidback likes of 'I Spy' make for a more chilled out afternoon's entertainment.

Meanwhile Taking Back Sunday's first Northern set with new guitarist and co-vocalist Matt Fazzi, replacing Fred Mascherino, goes off without a hitch, classic track 'Cute Without The E' showing the loss of the chemistry between Mascherino and Adam Lazzara simply left room for new fire in the band. Leeds regular Dizzee Rascal's first visit to the main stage shows the festival's reputation for being closed minded to music not wholly guitar-based is somewhat unfounded. In a diamond set, the pumping 'Fix Up Look Sharp' and recent single 'Dance Wiv Me' go down a storm, even without the latter's guest star Calvin Harris.

Looking like a bohemian circus master in cream suit and straw top hat, former System of a Down man Serj Tankian continues the politically-conscious sentiment. Not content with the biting 'Praise The Lord and Pass the Ammunition' and his own eccentric take on Abba, 'Money', he also manages to bring together the holders of an Israeli flag and the holders of a Lebanese flag together in the centre of the crowd in a poignant display of unity.

Meanwhile, Biffy Clyro are content with the spectacle of punching Brit rock in form of the brooding 'Living Is a Problem Because Everyone Dies' and anthem '27'. And if that isn't enough of a stage show, the sight of all three members onstage in nothing but tight, light blue trousers as the weather turns suddenly cold is proof, if proof be needed of their dedication to provide one.

The Enemy's working class anthems, such as 'We'll Live and Die in These Towns', '40 Days and 40 Nights' and 'Away From Here' strike a chord with the Leeds crowd, but offer little beyond the tired zeitgeist for the NME crowd. Thank God for The Fratellis, who discover there is more to the stage than just the small area in front of their own mic stands, the Glaswegians rolling out glowing versions of ‘Chelsea Dagger’ and ‘Baby Fratelli’ for the rabid Leeds crowd.

“I’ve been drinking since 6 this morning because I wanted to be ready for you,” drawls Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, after listing the blood content of half the crowd in ‘Feel Good Hit Of The Summer’. More a festival band by default than by merit, what could have easily slid into an exercise in stoned mediocrity was a frenetic, almost salacious show, punctuated by the likes of ‘Sick Sick Sick’ and ‘Go With The Flow’.

The return of Rage Against The Machine to Leeds festival after eight years was always going to be the talking point of the weekend, regardless of what happened tonight. What happened filled every expectation, and more. From the debut live outing of their take on ‘Renegades of Funk’, to the furious ‘Know Your Enemy’, it seem events in their time away have done little to dull their fire; Zack de la Rocha even switches up the lyrics of ‘Killing In the Name’ to read “some of those who hold office are the ones who burn crosses”. And the Leeds crowd respond in kind, so much so that the band have to halt their set midway through ‘Bombtrack’ to get the crowd to move backwards, the only band on the main stage who have to do so during the entire festival. It's without doubt the performance which leaves everyone in Leeds in no doubt about which band made their weekend.

SUNDAY

Indie day at Leeds sees the battle between the British and the Stateside scenes hit the Main Stage. But first Welsh hardcore upstarts The Blackout make the most of their status as the heaviest band on the stage today. Courting controversy with their opinions of the rest of the lineup, as well as the odd dodgy comment on naked myspace pictures, the sweet yet savage likes of ‘I’m A Riot, You’re A Fucking Riot’ are their saving grace.

Fellow countrymen The Automatic make the most of one of their first festival slots since Paul Mullen joined their ranks, the former yourcodenameis:milo frontman taking to keyboardist Alex Pennie’s role with relish and bringing new fury to old favourite ‘Monster’. British Sea Power’s quiet climb to main stage status feels like vindication for the kings of understated British indie, as well as anyone else who never thought the mellow ‘Waving Flags’ would ever get an airing in front of such a large crowd.

The Nicest Band In Britain™ The Subways hold the afternoon crowd in the palm of their hands, the crunching rock’n’roll of ‘Oh Yeah’ marking the set of their lives from the trio. An unfortunate contrast to Editors, who have moved down the bill in the wake of their Sunday support to REM in Manchester, and whose brooding and dour output clashes with the last dregs of Sunday sunshine on the Leeds site. More disappointment arrives in the form of Dirty Pretty Things, as while the likes of ‘Deadwood’ go down well with old Libs fans, the pots’n’pans stylings of Barat and co. are starting to get old. Fast.

Stateside supergroup The Raconteurs kick off the evening’s entertainment with their constant “we-are-the-raconteurs-from-memphis-tennessee” mantra. Look, White, we could virtually taste the whiskey dripping off your piano-work on ‘You Don’t Understand Me’, and the southern crunch on ‘Steady As She Goes’. You don’t need Elvis-type sideburns to convince us. Give it up.

Then it's time for the final showdown. In the blue corner, Bloc Party keep the British end up. In previous years, the band’s sets at Leeds have often suffered from a lack of passion, but somehow this year, something changed. ‘Flux’ is charged with an energy missing in previous years, while ‘Mercury’ makes a surprising crowd-baiting anthem. "I never normally enjoy Leeds this much", remarks frontman Kele Okereke, in the understatement of the weekend.

But in the red corner, The Killers have the yanks on the floor from the word go. Emerging from a set decked in flowers, vases and lights, ‘For Reasons Unknown’ offers a subdued start, but things soon picked up with 'When You Were Young'’s uplifting melody ringing out across the Leeds crowd. Frontman Brandon Flowers’ charisma has become undeniable. Dressed like a Vegas Croupier, he leads the band through the alternative music hall tune 'Bones' with the grinning, albeit self-knowing, flair of  a gambling hall MC on opening night – yet still manages ‘Jenny was a friend of mine’ with a deftness of touch. Where Bloc Party were “just” a great show, The Killers are one night in Vegas, warts and all.

Closing  with 'All These Things That I've Done, confetti cannons explode across the audience, The Killers give a spectacular end to Leeds 2008. We’ll see you down the front again next year.