“…While its sister festival in Reading became a mudbath, bright sunshine helped the northern leg of this year’s veteran rock event in Leeds get off to an unusually civilised start.
With the infamous “urine alley” finally replaced by chemical toilets, posters of “nu folkies” Mumford & Sons provided a convenient alternative for anyone caught short by the main stage.
Urinary issues have a history at Reading and Leeds, with bags of the stuff hurled at performers — such as Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler in 1988 —
– who the crowd decide don’t rock hard enough.
Rapper Dizzee Rascal proved wise to such risks and tailored his set accordingly by rapping over Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit …
…. a wheeze first attempted on a single by Credit To The Nation in 1994.
Mr Rascal then introduced his signature hit asking “Are you ready to go Bonkers?”, a question already answered by Cribs shouter Ryan Jarman …
… who marked the occasion with a haircut seemingly achieved by placing a pudding basin on his head … and cutting round it with a saw.
It can sometimes feel that this festival favours bands who soundtrack the act of pouring lager over your head …
… perhaps the one thing beyond Arcade Fire.
On the back of their number one album, The Suburbs, Friday’s headliners delivered a consummate show with strobes, special effects, Herculean energy and all those darkly euphoric anthems, culminating in an epic Wake Up —
– everything, in fact, except much of a crowd to see it.
Wrong slot or wrong festival?
It is a reasonable assumption that at some point during the weekend you will be soaked to the skin and confronted by a drunken man in a dress.
The tents provide a means of avoiding both — and the sobering realisation that Saturday’s aged rap metal act Limp Bizkit and generic punk pop bands such as All Time Low pulled twice the audience of Arcade Fire.
The tents are also the best means of hearing new forms of music …
… with brilliant sets from Mercury-nominated operatic guitar band Wild Beasts, Los Angeles Hebrew-singing afro-beat pop band Fools Gold …
… and a transcendental, hymnal Band of Horses …
… whose songs about loss, bewilderment and confusion surely summed up many a punter’s festival trajectory…”
go to source/story>>>Leeds festival 2010 | Review | Music | The Guardian
