It’s been the centrepiece of the Magic Meadow throughout Bestival’s four-day Desert Island Disco jamboree, and now we are utterly ecstatic to declare that our frankly magnificent disco ball has set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title! Topping the tape at 10.33 metres, the dazzling disco beauty is as high as a three storey building, is covered in 2,500 mirrored tiles that would stretch out for a kilometre if you laid them end to end, and is filled with 350 cubic metres of air; equivalent to one thousand beach balls!
Verified by Mark McKinley from GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS the Disco Ball was measured by surveyor Ollie Salter at midday on Sunday (7th September), before clinching the record when it was raised and spun, with a suitably disco-tastic light show, at the start of Chic featuring Nile Rodgers’ epic finale set on Sunday evening. And now we’re very proud say that Bestival holds the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the Largest Disco Ball.
Rob da Bank said: “We love a challenge at Bestival, so when Nile Rodgers asked us to do something spectacular we knew it had to be beyond amazing. We don’t do things by halves, we get immersive and take them head on, so we’re very proud to have cracked the world record. Our Desert Island Disco has been utterly incredible, and to top it all off with the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the Largest Disco Ball is the best feeling ever!”
Official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS Adjudicator Mark McKinley said “I’ve had a professional surveyor measure the disco ball, I have verified the measurement and can reveal it is 10.33 metres in diameter.”
Disco legend Nile Rodgers originally laid down the gauntlet and asked Bestival to create the world record breaking disco beauty to accompany his hit-packed and exclusive Desert Island Disco set. Relishing the challenge Josie and Rob da Bank sought to pull together a crack team to build the Disco Ball with cool creatives NEWSUBSTANCE and their top man Mungo at the helm. Aiming to top the previous record of 9.98 metres, Bestival’s creative crew have surpassed themselves and bagged a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title!
Talking directly from Bestival’s Desert Island Disco today our mad scientist from NEWSUBSTANCE Mungo Denisoncommented “It’s taken the team three months of blood, sweat and mirror tiles to design and fabricate this gigantic beast; it’s been a fantastic journey.”
The final night of Bestival is drawing in, a glittery crowd is itching to get it's disco on at the main stage area, and a floor sparkling with strewn sequins shimmers in the neon of the bars. The world record breaking giant disco-ball has been hoisted into the air via crane on the Magic Meadow and spotlights sent fragments of light all over the site.
Chic and Nile Rogers take to the stage in a dazzling array of white leather and gold, and Nile almost immediately breaks into tears and tells us "I just found out, we got a phonecall at the hotel room that my old guitar roadie Terry, died a few minutes ago". At this sad news, the Bestival crowd begins to chant Terry's name and cheer on Rogers.
Gaining composure, Nile and the band start strong with 'Everybody Dance' but a few more speakers would be useful behind the sound tent as it's quite quiet for those further back on the hill. The little extras start early as loveheart graphics fill the giant screen and red streamers are shot from a stage cannon, and Nile laments, "I just want to let you guys know… a little bit about why we're here to play for you… a few years ago I was diagnosed with very very aggressive cancer and they thought I might not be here… thank you for giving me the energy", but moves on to lighter subjects with quip "So when you hear us play a song by Madonna, I don't want you to get weird, cause I played that shit in the first place… Mojo… I wrote all that shit" and invites Bestival to sing along, "If you don't know the words, sing any old bullshit it sounds fine up here".
A huge medley of songs Rogers has written or had a hand in creating gets everyone up and dancing with proper disco moves, 'I'm Comin Out' and 'We Are Family' have the entire arena singing and going wild. Many are surprised at the sheer number of songs they know by Nile and the huge dance party is getting rowdier, despite the tired eyes and sore feet on day four of Bestival.
Madonna hit 'Like A Virgin' incites some very amusing camp dancing all over, and Duran Duran favourite (and namesake of the B.I.G.) 'Notorious' go down a storm, but Nile breaks down in tears again for departed friend Terry, and the crowd hold phone screens and lighters aloft in support. Daft Punk summer hit 'Get Lucky' is the song of the night, moving into 'Let's Dance', the hits keep on coming, as giant multicoloured beach balls are released into the crowd.
'Freak Out' sees the first explosion of stage fireworks and 'Good Times' is a jam session in which fans are hauled up on stage to join the party as glitter rains from the rafters. With the incredible voices and solid musical ability of Chic, as well as Nile's creative talent across the years, this makes for an amazing and memorable show, a perfect close to Bestival's Desert Island Disco. As Chic and Nile exit the stage, all eyes turn to the hillside where the massive closing ceremony fireworks light up the night sky in a magical goodbye to yet another stellar year here at Robin Hill. Rob Da Bank and co. just seem to know the meaning of party and more importantly, pull it off bigger and better every single time. Waiting a whole year is going to be hard…
With a clear sky and the cold creeping in after a soft ambient set from London Grammar, Bestival's Saturday headliners Foals alight the stage with little fuss or presence of entrance.
The arena is bustling with the anticipation and little snakes of people holding hands are making their way through to the front. Even the man in the gigantic box-cum-totem pole is making his decidedly difficult way through, much to the dismay of those who would actually like to see.
With their drummer sporting a feathery capelet and other band members rocking silver metallic leggings, it's nice that Foals are attempting to get into the spirit of Bestival. The songs are interesting and musically sound, 'My Number' and 'Blue Blood' are well received by the crowd but as Foals continue through their set staying true to type, there's a certain saminess that creeps in, and by the time 'Late Night' and 'Electric Bloom' come round the arena headcount has dwindled severley.
With the band expected to now go into an extended hiatus, "This is going to be the last show for about eighteen months" muses Yannis, the band give a deeply soulful set which understandably is missing the mark of drawing in those who are looking to Desert Island Disco tonight.
A pretty poor attempt at crowd-walking during encore finale 'Two Steps Twice' is comedically ironic as one step was all it took for Yannis Philippakis to go straight through the clutching hands of fans to the arena floor, and a huge ticker-tape and streamer explosion snows over the Bestival night sky with a bang.
The quality of the headline acts here at Bestival 2014 is undeniable, but with Basement Jaxx filling the Big Top to dangerous capacity and beyond only an hour later, it's a little confusing as to why they were not main stage, where big beats could go arena-wide for everyone, and Foals were instead in the Big Top where nuances of sound could be enjoyed by fans – which was struggling to come across outside.
Photography by James Bridle, please do not use without prior authorisation from the photographer.
Highly anticipated Friday headliner Outkast were set to be something special at Bestival 2014, with a set of high adrenaline dance numbers and some Andre 3000 style cheekiness. As such, the arena is holding a ram jammed sardine can of bodies lined up ready to get their krunk on.
With an epic visual intro and some blindingly bright lights, Outkast hit the stage with gusto to a backdrop of a greyscale American flag. Opening with 'Bombs over Baghdad' the sound isn't great across the site, there's a heaviness missing from it.
Wearing some sort of wig/furry hat that looks like frosted roadkill and a jacket sporting the slogan "My Dad has cool albums", Andre bounces about the stage and hypes up hit 'Ms Jackson' as the crowd roars. Bestival has always been known for great crowd participation but the high pitched 'oohs' were especially loud and proud tonight. 'Ghetto Music' is accompanied by a frankly pointless screen loop of faceless ladies gyrating their backsides at the camera, and the arena crowd begins to thin. For those who know only the Outkast hits, the rap filled tracks are less lively, and wide-eyed revellers head off for rowdier pastures.
Krumping or twerking attempts aside, 'Hey Ya' is definitely well received with everyone trying their best to 'shake it like a Polaroid picture', in an extraordinarily British and sort of rubbish way, but the rest of the set is lukewarm and the crowd has halved at least. It's a shame but there's so much on 'after hours' at Bestival, it's not the end of the world, or tonight's adventures…
Thursday night saw yellow camp beset by a raft of attempted and accomplished theft. Strange men unzipping tents, hiding in porches and slinking around were reported all over before stories of missing wallets, phones and even car keys were reported to security. Police quickly responded and a mere hour later, the four guilty parties were having their Miranda's read, their tents ransacked and being driven off in the Police golf-buggy of shame. ID cards, bank cards and car keys were found strewn discarded between tents, as the perpetrators were only after cash and phones – which were found in their tent-stash, along with a mighty haul of powder based drugs stored inside deodorant cans. Nice work Bestival cops!
Now in its fourth year, Sundown festival has played host to many of the biggest names in music, and this year was no exception. Returning as headliners for the second time, Chase & Status closed the Saturday night, while Ellie Goulding closed the festival on Sunday.
FRIDAY
But all the fun actually begun on Friday night. After waiting nearly 2 hours in the queue for my friends to get their wristbands, we eventually made it to the campsite, with aching bodies from carrying everything for so long.
We weren’t going to let that stop us though, as the Big Top opening party proved to be one of the highlights of Sundown. New to 2014, the action kicked off at 5pm, but after a few drinking games, we joined the growing crowd of energetic teenage ravers a few hours later. Commercial house tracks and big room EDM bass drops were the soundtrack to the party, consisting of ‘Backstreet’s Back’ being mixed into Martin Garrix ‘Tremor’ – certainly not something you hear every day, a dubious Nirvana remix and some old classics in ‘You’ve Got The Love’. It all made for a great night, with an impressive laser light show shining up the packed tent.
We also checked out some of the stools selling funky sunglasses, hipster shirts, bum-bags galore and the festivals best-seller, judging from all the lads wearing them, – black printed bandanna’s.
SATURDAY
The morning after, the campsite looked like a bomb had hit it – especially the far from sanitary toilets located at the bottom of the campsite. But that’s all to be expected, in fairness there was the option to pay an extra £25 to get some brilliantly titled and much cleaner VIPee toilets for the weekend if you wished.
Entering Sundown’s main site just in time to see Disclosure and Tinie Tempah collaborator Sasha Keable perform on the main stage, it was a nice ease back into the party spirit to cure our near-hangovers. Sasha Keable’s sound is mainly synth led electronica with an impressive vocal laid over the top of each track. Performing tracks from her debut ‘Lemongrass and Limeleaves’ E.P, ‘Living Without You’ showcases her powerful vocal range and ‘Sweetest Talk’ takes influence from Jessie Ware’s soulful R&B sound. ‘Careless Over You’ creates the first sing-a-long moment with Sasha’s voice climbing over the rolling drum and synth beats. It’s the collaborations with Zinc and Disclosure which get the biggest cheers and sing-alongs. ‘Only For Tonight’ pumps up the party atmosphere with air-horn sounds just in time for set closer ‘Voices’, with the crowd jumping and singing back every word. Already signed to Tinie Tempah’s Disturbing London label, a few more releases and Sasha Keable will soon be a household name.
Also on Tinie’s label are All About She, who perform next. The London based UK garage three-piece are made up of record producers James Tadgell and Jon Clare and singer Vanya Taylor. It’s Vanya who grabs everyone’s attention though, with a similar stylish appearance and voice to Estelle, she wastes no time in showing off her vocals. ‘I Can’t Wait’ is a highlight, while new feel good track ‘Beyond Heaven’ hears Vanya work the crowd singing “Sundown you take me there” before asking “where are all the lovers at, put your hands in the air.” ‘Like That’ sees Vanya dedicate the track to a birthday girl on the front row before the trio end their set with the song everyone’s been waiting for. ‘Higher (Free)’ still sounds as fresh as when it was released last November and reached the top 20 in the UK. Sung a capella for the first chorus, it’s given an emotive re-work before the garage beats kick in which return ‘Higher’ to its original club-ready state.
Before Foxes takes to the stage, there is an unwilling yet entertaining twerk off to Nicki Minaj’s new single ‘Anaconda’ between Kiss FM DJ’s Michael and Tania, who introduce each act and deserve praise for building the hype effortlessly. Foxes bounces onstage, looking ever the pop star, in a dress and massive sunglasses. Aside from the music, Louisa is loved by, females who want to be her, and males who want to be with her. The whole set is a highlight. Performing the main singles from her debut album ‘Glorious’, including ‘Youth’, ‘Let Go For Tonight’ and ‘Holding On To Heaven’, each song receives mass sing-a-longs with fans arms waving in the air. She’s not bothered by the worsening weather either, which she has experienced the worst of after a storm engulfed her set at Nottingham’s Splendour festival in July. Instead she shouts to the crowd, “fuck the rain”, and they oblige, continuing to jump with her. ‘Clarity’, her massive Grammy award winning collaboration with Zedd goes down a treat and proves one of the weekend’s biggest sing-a-longs.
Meanwhile, over at the Big Top tent, house music lovers are being treated to the best in the business, with the whole day hosted by Defected Records! Earlier in the day Copyright and Cristoph have bass heavy sets before Food music label boss Shadow Child. But it was Second City and Mark Kinchen who provided the best sets of the day. Second City aka 27-year-old producer Rowan Harrington took the crowd on a journey of commercial to more underground house hits including a remix of Breach’s ‘Jack’ (who would play the same stage later), his collaboration with Route 94 ‘Freak’ and his own track ‘I Enter’, but sadly his brilliant new collaboration with Ali Love ‘What Can I Do’ doesn’t get played. Ending with his recent number one piano-house smash ‘I Wanna Feel’, everyone’s hands wave while their lungs are given a full workout much to Harrington’s happiness.
Later, Marc Kinchen, whose set is swapped with Sam Devine’s, draws a massive crowd to the tent. Opening with a dub of ‘My Head Is a Jungle’ before recent single ‘Always’, MK is joined by four less than covered dancers waving fans in front of their face, creating the Ibiza atmosphere, when in reality we’re inside a sweaty tent.
Chase and Status, who headlined Sundown festival back in 2011 returned to close proceedings on Saturday night. And what a show it was. An intense laser light show, a number of unexpected special guests and some insanely heavy drum & bass, dubstep and everything in between made it the show-stealer of the weekend. Performing tracks from all three of their albums and some older material, it was a career spanning set with each track sending the crowd absolutely crazy. I’ve actually never seen more mosh pits throughout a set. And it just gets even more out of control when Tempa T pounces onstage to rap his part in ‘Hypest Hype.’ Later, British singer Jacob Banks is welcomed onstage to provide his soulful sing-a-long vocals to ‘Alive’. Moko appears large as life in the background video appearing to jump out of the screen during ‘Count On Me’, similarly with Plan B seeming to smash the screen during ‘End Credits’ and ‘Pieces’. Set closer ‘Smash TV’ from the duo’s 2008 debut album ‘More Than Alot’ made for the perfect end to their genre defying set!
SUNDAY
Sunday hosted a far more pop orientated line up on the main stage while well respected drum & bass label Ram Records took over the Big Top. On the main stage, three-piece M.O, who are receiving regular plays on Radio One from the likes of Mistajam, are bringing the 90’s girl band back! They’ve toured with Little Mix and recently signed with Universal in the US – and it’s not hard to understand why. Arriving just in time to catch the last two songs of their set, the first is an impressive cover of Beyonce’s ‘Drunk in Love’, made completely their own. The second is new single ‘Dance On My Own’ with a garage beat which samples Sweet Female Attitudes ‘Flowers’ – one of the biggest UK garage hits from the 90’s.
Ex-The Voice contestant, Becky Hill, bounces onstage in a white crop top and sparkling Aztec skirt, making the most of the British sunshine. She described her sound recently as “leftfield, alternative, cool pop” and that seems fitting. Two Inch Punch-produced opener ‘Caution to the Wind’ is the perfect solo introduction to the world for Becky who I have been a fan of ever since she appeared on The Voice. Since then, she has achieved two number one singles in the form of drum & bass Wilkinson collaboration ‘Afterglow’ and recent house hit with Oliver Heldens ‘Gecko (Overdrive)’ – both of which receive mass sing-a-longs during her set. You can’t help but love how down to earth she is, there are no airs and graces as she admits “my onstage chat is rubbish” after she cracks a joke about the sun being up for Sundown. She later tells the crowd “I’ve got a bottle of vodka in my room so I’m going to the RAM tent to rave it up” – she comes across as a typical partying teenager. Becky’s rise to the top has been stratospheric but she’s still the same loveable singer, as she tells the crowd, “I was recently working in LA and I got a call from my manager and he said, ‘Becky you’re number one”. She proves that she’s a real pop-star in the making during her next disco infused single, the MNEK-produced ‘Losing’ which she says is out in a few weeks. It’s safe to say that she gave the best live vocal performance of the weekend and I’ve already bought tickets to see her again!
Looking like Annie Mac and sounding similar to Katy B, Jess Glynne is the next rising female vocalist to perform. With two backing singers, a drummer, guitarist and keyboardist, Jess performs a set full of catchy pop hits in waiting. She asks the crowd, “did you enjoy my fellow husky, Becky?” much to the crowd’s applause. Jess gets straight into her recent number one with Route 94 in ‘My Love’ before it’s mixed into her second worldwide number one with Clean Bandit ‘Rather Be’, with both attracting mass sing-a-longs and smiling faces. “This is the last festival for us, so let’s go out with a bang”, exclaims Jess. Gorgon City-produced Set closer ‘Right Here’ which reached the top-ten saw the crowd swaying their arms and dancing along to the house beat.
John Newman appears like a young Elvis with slicked back hair and perfected dance routines from the start of his penultimate set of the weekend. Backed by a seven piece band made up including three female singers. The longtime Rudimental collaborator performs the majority of his debut number one album ‘Tribute’, taking the ever-growing crowd on a journey of soulful pop. Each track comes complete with John showcasing his beyond impressive footwork throughout set opener ‘All For You’, ‘Try’, and ‘Cheating’. It’s obvious that he’s a real showman with plenty of onstage confidence, treating the gig like a real show, saying “welcome to this evening’s entertainment”. During ‘Losing Sleep’ he throws himself and the mic around the stage before he pauses the song to shame a member of the crowd. “This guy’s trying to start a fight during my set. We’re not here to start a fight, we’re here to enjoy the music. Let’s put our middle finger up to him” – and everybody does. Back to proceedings and John gushes about his girlfriend, asking, “Did anyone see Ella Eyre earlier? That’s my other half” – of course everybody cheers. Later, John thanks the crowd for getting him where he is now, “We’ve done 38 festivals this season. It all started for me with Rudimental and it’s taught us that we’re ‘Not Givin In’”. The Rudimental collaboration sees John and the backing vocalists sing their heart out with John running along the front row of the audience to the lucky fans delight. Set closer, and number one single, ‘Love Me Again’, sees him fall to his knees at the end. John’s energy and showmanship far exceeded my expectations and I’d definitely recommend anyone to go and see him.
Ending the weekend was Ellie Goulding, who barraged through tracks from both albums ‘Lights’ and ‘Halycon’. Songs like ‘Figure 8’ and recent single ‘Goodness Gracious’ showcase Ellie’s unique breathy vocals. ‘Starry Eyed’ is dedicated to all of Ellie’s fans who have been with her from the beginning. Madeon-produced track ‘Stay Awake’ pushes Ellie’s vocal range to its highest and most impressive point. After a quick costume change, Ellie performs a chilled electronic cover of Alt J’s ‘Tesselate’ before switching to James Blake’s ‘Life Round Here’ – two breathtaking, somewhat haunting renditions. Picking up the guitar for an acoustic version of ‘Guns and Horses’, Ellie shows off her unmistakable vocal capabilities. Laughing she says, “It’s about the time where I like to do some voluntary movements which some people may call dancing” before pop hit ‘Anything Can Happen’. Teasing the crowd she jumps down to run across the front like John Newman did during ‘I Need Your Love’. Then comes the sad news, “This is my last show for quite a while and I’m not sure when I’m going to be back on tour”, Ellie genuinely seems upset but powers on through ‘Lights’ which sees everyone light up their camera phones, creating a special memory for everyone there. Finishing with ‘Burn’, Ellie signs off hinting at a return for the following year.
Ellie certainly won’t be the only one coming back to Sundown festival if this year’s brilliant event is anything to go by!
It’s officially been one week since we were stood in the middle of a field, listening to some of the best talent that one of the best festivals the UK has to offer. Back this year with some killer headliners and an insane line up; Reading Festival was set to please gig goers far and wide. With thousands heading towards the southeast, wither you are a metal head or EDM lover the line up catered for everyone needs. We were lucky enough to head down to the festival to see what went down in arena. Wither you’re in the middle of the annual post festival flu, post festival depression or just looking to see what went down, keep reading to hear our thoughts on this years performances.
Starting things off on the final day of the festival, The Story So Far opened up the main stage with an energetic performance, which was set to get the crowd moving – setting a high mark for the rest of the acts to follow. Despite some of the crowd not knowing of the band before, there wasn’t many heads in the crowd not bobbing along to the bass line, showing that there is certainly something contagious about the pop punk band. The Australian female fronted Tonight Alive followed on the main stage, with strong vocals from Jenna playing many crowd favorites including ‘Listening’ and their newest single from the Spider Man Soundtrack, ‘The Edge’. The bands confidence oozed out of their performance, and the true smiles from every member at the slightest vocal response from the crowd showed just how much they appreciate and treasure every moment on stage. It was clear to see that Young Guns had their heart set on making an impression on the festival goers by the constant encouragement to get involved, however despite the impressive performance from the band there was a minimal response. Despite this, the band continues on and produces a performance to be proud of.
Being a band I have been wanting to see for a while, Papa Roach were a band that I had high expectations of and I was very happy to see every expectation I had was met. Vocalist Jacobi wasn’t scared of crowd interaction; in fact I am sure around half of the performance was spent on the ground giving the fans memories that they will never forget. Ending on everyone’s favorite ‘Last Resort’ the crowd erupted, proving to still be everyone’s favorite.
With the crowd packed, A Day To Remember stormed onto the main stage armed with flying toilet rolls and t-shirt launchers, set to impress. ‘All I Want’, ‘All Signs Point To Launderdale’ and ‘Homesick’ were definitely crowd pleasers, with multiple mosh pits and a constantly moving crowd, A Day To Remember were truly welcomed back to Reading Festival.
You Me At Six were easily one of the most anticipated acts of the weekend and with the addition of All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth during Fresh Start Fever the crowd were not disappointed. With somewhat mediocre vocals from front man Josh Franceschi, the band played through a mixture of new and old tracks catering to every fan present. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are one of the most influential acts to brace the Reading and Leeds main stage this year after their astounding actions when releasing their debut album ‘The Heist’. Playing ‘Can’t Hold Us’ twice added emphasis to their act, however I could not complain as this was my personal favorite track from the record. Certainly one of the best acts to help draw the weekend to a close.
Keep your eye on the Summer Festival Guide website for the final instalement of our Reading Festival one week on which includes our thoughts on this years headliners!
It’s officially been one week since we were stood in the middle of a field, listening to some of the best talent that one of the best festivals the UK has to offer. Back this year with some killer headliners and an insane line up; Reading Festival was set to please gig goers far and wide. With thousands heading towards the southeast, wither you are a metal head or EDM lover the line up catered for everyone needs. We were lucky enough to head down to the festival to see what went down in arena. Wither you’re in the middle of the annual post festival flu, post festival depression or just looking to see what went down, keep reading to hear our thoughts on this years performances.
Opening up the main stage on Saturday, Gnarwolves gave a performance that was set to impress. Full of pop punk loveliness, the trio were a great edition to the amazing fresh talent opening the main stage this year, bringing out decent numbers to the main stage very early in the morning for their set. By the crowd reactions, it was well worth it. Playing their first set of two, Marmozets are the one of the most talked about talent around at the moment in music. Performing crowd favorites ‘Why Do You Hate Me?’ and ‘Move, Shake, Hide’ saw the NME tent turn into ciaos. Judging by their performance, Marmozets will be a name you won’t want to forget because soon you will be seeing it everywhere. Following on the NME stage with rumors spreading that the band will soon be no more, Lower Than Atlantis pulled out a memorable performance. With their contagious energy and the regular airplay of their track ‘Here We Go’, the band performed to a packed tent full of fans eager to see Mike Duce and fellow band mates rock out.
Wovenwar were one of the smaller bands to be heading down to the The Pit stage this year at Reading, and despite the small crowd gathered the band were successful in creating an overall pleasant rather than awkward atmosphere that is sometimes given to those less recognised artists. Walking on stage five minutes late resulted in We Came As Romans set to be cut, however they didn’t let this ruin their moment at Reading Festival. Sing-alongs to fan favorite ‘Fade Away’ could be heard from afar letting the rest of the festival know that We Came As Romans have arrived. Walking around the festival site, it would be difficult to be unaware of While She Sleeps performance as hundreds of spectators could be seen wearing the bands statement merchandise. The band were next up on The Pit stage, creating a performance to be remembered. Despite Loz’s throat surgery and time taken out for recovery the northerners created a flawless performance for the fans, and mention of the bands new album sent the crowd into a frenzie. With the tent packed, there wasn’t one body stood still. Despite only being a band with the current line up for one year, Issues pulled a monumental crowd with many stood around the outside of the tent creating a ‘had to be there’ atmosphere. Singalongs and mosh pit galore, truly making stage security earn their wages.
To hear our thoughts on this years headliners and the rest of the weekends artists, make sure you check back here each day until Sunday night as we look back one week on from Reading Festival.
Leeds Fest 2014 began with an extra-early bang, with the introduction of bands and comedians on the Thursday night.
I myself plumped for the madcap comedic stylings of Adam Buxton, the bearded half of 90's comedy duo Adam & Joe, as a result of the tirade of rain which unleashed itself on the site on Thursday evening. Whilst the comedy tent itself offered shelter from the elements, Buxton's wacky style of humour failed to warm many of the on-lookers, although his unique blend of using his laptop to show us all strange goings-on from the internet, to his own home videos was a great idea for a comedy show- I can imagine if it wasn't the precursor to a weekend of music and camping, it would be pretty enjoyable.
As it was, once the rain had cleared, it was over to the Relentless Stage, situated in a tree-lined strip inbetween the thriving campsites of Red and Orange, following the closure of the stage during 2013's torrential weather. DJ's like Zane Lowe, DJ Fresh and Klaxons were due for the three days, but we had fun nonetheless as the riotous atmosphere was a great set-up for the upcoming weekend.
With a few bleary eyes and banging heads (althoughI like to blame that on camping just a tad too close to the campsite DJ!), Friday was kicked off for me with a slice of the ultra-cool Jungle. A mysterious act made up of an array of vocalists, guitarists, keyboardists and drummers, many of whom do some serious multi-tasking, the West London band were pretty excellent. Sure extensive falsetto vocals can wane on even the most hardened of fans after a while, but when the beats were as fresh and bouncy as they were in the NME/Radio tent, you don’t mind. After an excellent LP and summer festival shows, they have proven there worth, even getting a pre-Clean Bandit crowd to loosen up and lose themselves in the sultry grooves.
Band of the moment, Clean Bandit were next up, and showed surprisingly that there is more to them than mega-hit ‘Rather Be’. No, their live show was assured, confident and FUN! Their unique twist on the genre is intriguing, throwing in classical music influences alongside the bass beats we’re more accustomed too, aswell as the familiarity of guest vocalists peppering the majority of tracks. They weren’t mind-bending, but packed out the tent and offered heaps of fun and innocent pop music for those who wanted it.
The Kooks are another band that bring back memories of adolescence for those of a certain age, and their new wave of sound, with increased R&B influences did certainly not disappoint. Infact, whilst they didn’t match solid favourites ‘Naïve’ and ‘Seaside’ for the sing-a-long aspect, it’s arguable that new singles ‘Down’ and ‘About Town’ were the best performances of their set. The new album releases this week, and it’ll be very interesting to see whether it can revive what many thought to be another band lost to the ages. Based on this performance, the Kooks could stay with us for while.
To many Macklemore & Ryan Lewis seem wildly out of place on a Reading & Leeds bill, their chart-friendly beats and raps surely not acceptable at such a venue? Such things are simply not true though, as Macklemore proved with a friendly, yet humoured stage presence and half a set of gold. That is the one issue I had with this set, it was far too long for the one album rapper, who actually, rather embarrassingly, played the same song twice. But that aside, his song introductions may have been to mask the extended set length, but he made it work- just.
Man-children, Blink-182made it three times they had headlined both Reading and Leeds sites, the first for four years and ahead of a new album rumoured to be released to the world by the turn of 2014.
Kicking off with ‘Feeling This’, the US rockers breezed through their set, peppering song breaks with some genuinely crude, hilarious humour and entertaining the masses excellently with their extensive back catalogue.The crowd of course reacted magnificently to all-time hit ‘All The Small Things’, but then this was Friday night of Leeds 2014, it was heaving and pits were breaking out all over the inside barrier.
The trio of songs that made up the encore summed up the evening for the Americans; ‘Violence’ a breath-taking tune that allows every band member to step up to the plate, ‘Dammit’ a veritable classic that the first strokes of the guitar riff sent everyone into a fit of excitement, and ‘Family Reunion’, a 40 second tune that manages to pack in all of the band’s trademark crude humour in an expletive-ridden blast.
One way to blast out any morning cobwebs are Derbyshire duo, Drenge. The much-hyped two are loud and fast, known for thrashing away at their instruments and barely stopping to acknowledge their audience. This mid-afternoon slot was not dissimilar to the expectations, they were impressive if straightforward, more new tunes alongside those from their self-titled LP would’ve been nice, but after a year of touring, I’d expect them to hit the studio and get more content to take their live show truly to the next level.
Firm R&L festival favourites, Enter Shikari appeared for their sixth straight festival (in more than one guise!), with circle hits in abundance as frontman Rou Reynolds took time to sprint across the Main Stage, kick out at amps and generally cause a bit of a racket- but a good racket nonetheless! Shikari have grown at this festival, as has their sound, but they know how to work their crowd and how to entertain the masses, even if they’ve never truly broken out into the mainstream, but you know what…I think they prefer things that way!
Vampire Weekend were a band I had been waiting to see ever since their inception as an act, a trio of album in and the NYC collective were incredible. They hit every right note, from Exra Koening having the nerve to play the set in a full grey tracksuit, to the imperious moods they created, from the heart-melding ‘Walcott’ the riotous ‘A-Punk’, to an exclusive track never played live before, ‘California English’, they were exceptional. The start of the set saw one of the day’s torrential downpours, but by its crescendo, the sun was beating down on a magnificent performance.
Josh Homme and Queens of the Stone Age were up first, having closed the previous night at Reading. The band put on a simply brilliant rock show, with thrills in the shape of some impressive laser-shows and some mind-melting guitar-driven beasts of songs. The energy from the band was subtle, growing and growing with each tune. ‘No One Knows’ as song number two was a daring choice, but paid off handsomely as newbies ‘My God Is The Sun’ and ‘Smooth Sailing’ more than benefitted from the buzz generated. Classics like ‘Feel Good Hit of The Summer’ and ‘Make It Wit Chu’ ensured that ardent fans were catered for too, although personally I felt that the fresher songs from 2013’s ‘…Like Clockwork’ were those more warmly received and those better performed generally.
The last coupling of ‘Go With The Flow’ and ‘A Song For The Dead’ were awesome. The latter allowed drummer Jon Theodore to take centre stage, with a sizzling drum solo, it was a song that the band performed with such intensity and vigour, it was hard to take your eyes away from it. And that was that from Queens, a band who managed to surpass my sky-high expectations.
Hoping to shake off the electrical problems which had plagued them the previous night at Reading, Hayley Williams and Paramore, started off by complimenting QOTSA and brought out an extensive light show as they closed the night. The first half of the show was full of the old fan favourites, with a big sing-a-long for ‘The Only Exception’. As a result, the second lacked the punch of the first, with many of the recent self-titled record, which featured a distinct change of sound, making it up. I felt Williams was as good a leader as a band could hope for, fully of charisma and energy, but the performance didn’t connect with myself as much as it did with the ravenous crowd, who screamed and applauded for Williams and co in their droves.
Closing off the night the co-headliners rocked with a stint in the Silent Disco was a good choice. The tent, which had to be closed in 2013 due to high winds, was packed to the brim and offered great variety of current and past pop hits on one channel, with the other devoted to the rock the Reading & Leeds fanbase are more accustomed too. However, it was nice mixing it up every now and then, the atmosphere crackling into life every time a sing-song came on, with each DJ encouraging their sides to make some noise, always a great experience.
The last day of Leeds Fest 2014 saw the much-anticipated Royal Blood finally play, ahead of their just released debut LP. It was a fast, frenetic set which saw the bass and drum duo tear apart the Radio 1/NME tent, packing it out and then some at two in the afternoon, a pretty decent achievement at the end of a weekend chocced full of live music. I can certainly see them making their way up the R&L bill in the future.
Another band I’ve kept my eye on for a while are Brummie starlets, Peace. Possibly the most popular of the current crop of B-town talent, the indie rock outfit made their maiden Main Stage appearance and had a sizeable crowd, their fans amongst the most passionate of the modern day indie era. It was nice for new single ‘Money’ to get an outing, and their new material may swing towards a more poppy sound, but if the UK is to re-start its Britpop scene, look no further than these guys.
Next up was a guaranteed party with the madcap antics of The Hives. Sure they’d released no new material since last appearing at the festival in 2012, but they really didn’t need to, as they performed a masterful set dripping full of favourites like ‘Main Offender’ and ‘Walk Idiot Walk’, beginning with the customary ‘Come On!’, descending into a crowd sit-in and ending with the front section losing it to ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’. Sure, I heard some complaints about frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist’s extended crowd interaction…but I loved it!
I caught only the backend of Foster the People’s Main Stage set, but from what I saw I regretted not seeing the previous half-an-hour. A more mellow version of ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ was pretty memorable, but more than anything they were a band full of confidence and had some good crowd interaction, you got the feeling they were genuinely excited and ecstatic to be with thousands of us in a field in Yorkshire.
One band who’ve had an incredible 12 months are Imagine Dragons, going from a smallish spot on the NME tent last year, just before they made it big, to collaborating with Kendrick Lamar, selling bucketloads of their debut record and making it up to third on the bill on the Main Stage. Again, frontman Dan Reynolds was immensely likeable and thankful for being up there, complimenting R&L for believing in them when no one else would and taking a chance on them. Crowd favourites, ‘Demons’ and ‘Amsterdam’ peppered the set, before a cover of Blur’s ‘Song 2’ paved the way for the rendition of ‘Radioactive’ Leeds had been waiting for. Album number two should bring more exciting times ahead for the Las Vegas act.
Bombay Bicycle Club were as charming as ever as they headlined the NME/Radio 1 Tent, packing it to the rafters, as slices were taken from 2014 album ‘So Long, See You Tomorrow’, most notably ‘Feel’, ‘It’s Alright Now’ and ‘Luna’. I’d seen the polished show around the time of the album’s release, but it was nice to see it having been developed and smoothed out for a festival crowd. Collaborators Rae Morris and Liz Lawrence added that little bit extra to one of the most satisfying hour the weekend had to offer.
From the NME tent, it was a mad dash to see the band most had been waiting for the entire weekend; Arctic Monkeys. The Main Stage field was packed as far as the eye could see, as the Yorkshire quartet cemented their status as one of the biggest rock bands in the world, even if their set wasn’t entirely perfect.
One look at the setlist would tell you the Arctics dusted off all the favourites, alongside extended coverage of latest record ‘AM’, but the performance was rather erratic, as frontman Alex Turner was occasionally slurry in his delivery and a bit out of it, plus the performances of songs like ‘Brianstorm’ and ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ lacked their usual rapid rhythm, for whatever reason. But come the end of the set, it was hard to come away having not enjoyed at least a portion of the set, whether you were an old or a new fan, there was something for everyone in this intriguing 90 minutes.
And that was that for Leeds 2014, another grand Bank Holiday weekend with stacks of memorable moments and top performances by some of the most exciting acts on the planet, Leeds '15 can't come quickly enough!
