LEEDS FESTIVAL 2017 - SATURDAY // BRAMHAM PARK, LEEDS
KASABIAN, BASTILLE, TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB, JIMMY EAT WORLD, RAT BOY, THE AMAZONS AND MANY MANY MORE ROCK THE AUDIENCE AT DAY TWO OF LEEDS FESTIVAL 2017
KASABIAN HEADLINING DAY TWO AT LEEDS FESTIVAL 2017 - 26/08/2017
PICTURE BY: MATT EACHUS
★★★★★
Music fans at day two of the Leeds festival were blown away by incredible performances by headline act Kasabian, Bastille, Two Door Cinema Club, Jimmy Eat World, Rat Boy, Oh Wonder and many, many more as the sun shone down on Bramham Park, creating an incredible and unforgettable atmosphere.
Fans were treated to an outstanding array of international stars, with some travelling from as far as United States of America to catch their favourite band grace the Bramham Park stages.
DEAP VALLEY OPENING DAY TWO AT LEEDS FESTIVAL 2017 ON MAIN STAGE - 26/08/2017
PICTURE BY: ASH ROBERTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Deap Valley got the party started opening up the Main Stage, treating the early arrivals to a high-energy set packed full of punk spirit and attitude. Over on Festival Republic Stage... upcoming English rock band 'The Amazons' from Reading were rocking the stage given biggest performance of their career so far as band at Leeds Festival this year. Performing the hit singles such as 'Stay With Me', 'In My Mind' and closing with their most recent single 'Junk Food Forever' got the crowd inside the Festival Republic tent going for Saturday afternoon performance.
THE AMAZONS PERFORMING ON THE FESTIVAL REPUBLIC STAGE DURING DAY TWO AT LEEDS FESTIVAL 2017 - 26/08/2017
PICTURE BY: SHOT BY PHOX
Next up over on the Main-Stage was Essex upcoming RAT BOY who took the main stage by storm. The twenty-one year old singer who recently started to make his name ahead of his debut studio album 'Scum' performed his biggest show to date at this year's Leeds Festival on the main stage.
The atmosphere of the crowd at Leeds Festival for RAT BOY was ecstatic, every festival goer in the crowd was singing along to every lyric, moshing and dancing along not one person was standing still in crowd, especially when RAT BOY first came on stage performing his track ‘Future’ then straight into ‘Move’ and 'Knock, Knock, Knock'.
The set lasted half a hour included some of hit singles and new numbers such as ‘Get Over It’ and ‘Revolution’. RAT BOY also included a performance of his new single 'Laidback' which has music scene by storm recently. The crowd at Leeds Festival were pretty excited to hear this song. Twenty-one singer who bought on road signs and left Leeds crowd in good mood for likes of Circa Waves and Jimmy Eat World about come on stage next is really now starting to leave his name out there.
RAT BOY PERFORMING AT LEEDS FESTIVAL 2017 - 26/08/2017
PICTURE BY: GETTY IMAGES
Next up on the Main Stage was the brilliant Arizona based band 'Jimmy Eat World' As they return to Leeds’s main stage, you sorta already know that it’s going to be perfect. Luckily the band never disappoint Leeds crowd. The likes of ‘Sweetness’ and ‘The Middle’ are sure-fire crowd pleasers while the slightly less obvious fireworks of ‘Futures’, ‘Pain’ and ‘A Praise Chorus’ never gave reaction which well known tracks gave to the Leeds crowd.
This isn’t a band leaning on nostalgia though. ‘Pass The Baby’ is moody, skulking about the stage before a big, gnarled finish that grins as it rages before ‘Get Right’ is as charged, vital and glorious as anything that’s come before. The band are humble (we doubt any band will say thank you as much as Jim Adkins) and appreciative of the crowd before them and they know just what they want.
Jimmy Eat World might be a safe bet but that doesn’t take away from how magical their time today is.
JIMMY EAT WORLD PERFORMING AT LEEDS FESTIVAL 2017 - 26/08/2017
PICTURE BY: Sarah Koury - Entirety Labs
Two Door Cinema Club’s were next up on the Main Stage. The irish band who cemented their place year after extended break with a headline set on the NME / Radio 1 Stage at last year's Reading and Leed's Festival, now taking on the Main Stage a year later have shown what this band is capable of doing.
As the bouncing melodies of ‘Undercover Martyn’ wash over the field, fans tear their way towards the stage front, dancing all the way. Frontman Alex Trimble is a steadfast master of all he surveys, gazing out over the sea of swaying arms and shapes with a sly smile of satisfaction.
It’s moments like this that Two Door Cinema Club were made for, engaging the masses with an unparalleled dexterity. Smoke flares scatter through the crowd throughout, coloured mist only adding to the vibrancy the group present. As they draw their set to a close with ‘What You Know’, giant balloons bounce overhead, energy bubbling to eruption in an all out dance celebration of everything the field is here for.
TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB PERFORMING AT LEEDS FESTIVAL 2017 - 26/08/2017
PICTURE BY: MATT EACHUS PHOTOGRAPHY
Bastille stormed Leeds Festival paying tribute to the city where they went to University - as well as insulting President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May. It was a semi-homecoming for the London band. “Most of the people on this stage went to university in Leeds,” beamed frontman Dan Smith, who once studied English there. “We fucking love this place so much.”
Warming up for headliners 'Kasabian' on the Main Stage, the group opened with ‘Send Them Off!’, taken from second album, 2016’s ‘Wild World’, before tearing through ‘Laura Palmer’, from their 2013 debut ‘Bad Blood’. During ‘Flaws’, Smith descended into the photography pit, hands outstretched as he prowled the barrier, high-fiving and shaking hands with the front rows.
Introducing ‘The Currents’, he took the opportunity to bash Donald Trump – as he had the night prior in Reading. “This song is dedicated to a giant American orange baby child,” he snarked, before adding, “Actually that’s an insult to children and babies.”
It was stage patter that reflects their politically-charged show. While they blitzed through ‘Fake It’, footage of a menacing, demented Theresa May look-a-like holding up a manifesto entitled ‘Strong and Stable’ appeared on a screen behind them.
Before ‘Of The Night’, their party-starting mash-up of Corona’s ‘The Rhythm Of The Night’ and ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’ by Snap!, Smith – as has become customary at Bastille’s gigs – mocked his own shape-throwing with endearing self-deprivation.
“I’m really absolutely, completely terrible at dancing,” he said. “It’s very embarrassing. Basically, I’m going to ask you guys to help me out.”
He continued: “At one point, I’m going to shout ‘everybody get down’ and that’s your cue, if you’re feeling nice and kind, and charitable and if you physically can, to get down with me and hopefully we’ll all jump up and down together and it’ll look amazing and I will look a little less stupid for about two minutes.” Bramham Park duly obliged, as the up-for-it crowd leapt up on command like whack-a-moles.
The band closed their mighty set with rousing renditions of "Things We Lost In The Fire" and their massive hit number "Pompeii". This set proved Bastille are ready to take on Headliner slot one day in future at Leeds Festival. The Crowd's atmosphere was estatic and engegetic for this band performing on stage.
BASTILLE PERFORMING AT LEEDS FESTIVAL 2017 - 26/08/2017
PICTURE BY: ANNA HJORTRONSTEEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Saturday night's headliners 'Kasabian' destroyed Leeds festival this year with an all-conquering performance that proved exactly why they were invited back for a second stab at the top spot. From the moment they open with ‘Ill Ray (The King)’, they’re relentless in ensuring that they never lose the attention of the crowd, and it’s duly repaid with a reaction that is, by their own admission, better than the one they received at Reading.
“I tell you something! You’re burying Reading already. The fuckin’ North eh?”, Tom Meighan screams at the Leeds faithful early on.
Kasabain's performance also proves that their new songs are as stadium-ready as ever, with ‘You’re In Love With A Psycho’ receiving a deafening reception from the crowd as it’s sung back at the band. Later on, the band also find time to indulge their love of the surreal, with ‘Treat’ seeing guitarist Serge Pizzorno busting his best moves as he briefly takes over frontman duties from Meighan, his feet flitting between lasers.
One of the more intimate moments comes late on when Tom Meighan tells the Leeds Crowd "We would like dedicate this next song Sergio's grandpa who sadly passed away this week!" Kasabian start playing a cover of Nirvana’s ‘All Apologies’ that reduces the crowd to the briefest of silences. It doesn’t last long though, with the cover immediately followed by a rendition of L.S.F which receives one of the biggest reactions of the night as countless fans clamber onto the shoulders of the person standing next to them.
KASABIAN HEADLINING SATURDAY NIGHT AT LEEDS FESTIVAL 2017 - 26/08/2017
PHOTOCREDIT: Sarah Koury - Entirety Labs