Fontaines DC, RAYE, Lana del Rey and Fred Again were among the acts wowing the audience during the Sunday set at Leeds Festival. Press reporter Alice Kavanagh was there.
Despite the chaos caused by Storm Lilian earlier in the week, Leeds Festival continued at the weekend and put on a blinder of a show.
With boyfriend in tow, I set off for the festival around midday with the first act we hoped to see, the Last Dinner Party, taking to the stage at 2.30pm.
Unfortunately, due to the size of the shuttle bus queue, we made it to the festival grounds just after three and missed them – disappointing but our own fault.
When we arrived in the main arena, Bleachers were performing with lead singer and Taylor Swift producer Jack Antonoff leading the crowd as they sang along to Rollercoaster and I Wanna Get Better. Whilst they weren’t standout for me, I enjoyed the set, and their songs did an amazing job of staying stuck in my head all day.
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Next up on the main stage were Fontaines DC. Whilst I had been recommended their music multiple times, I chose to go into the gig blind and was blown away by the talent of the Irish rockers. My favourite tracks were Jackie Down the Line, Nabokov, and Boys in the Better Land - the latter being a crowd favourite too with people getting on shoulders to wave flags and scream every word.
After a pitstop for drinks and free McDonald's fries, RAYE’s set started early and brought a more chill atmosphere to the main arena. The Brit award winner’s voice was rich and velvety, doing an incredible job at filling the outdoor arena, and was reminiscent of the late Amy Winehouse, with whom she’s often compared.
Whilst I did enjoy her performance, it would have been nice to see some more high energy tracks and less stripped back performances - especially when RAYE does them so well and had earlier claimed the set would be ‘good vibes only’. Furthermore, it felt RAYE suffered by being placed next to Lana del Rey in the running order – an artist who arguably fills the same niche but commands a bigger crowd.
During through RAYE’s set, we wandered off to explore what the rest of the festival had to offer and headed in the direction of Vendors Alley where we shopped vintage clothes, stupid hats, and fun jewellery.
A nice surprise during our time at the site was just how clean it was, even in the aftermath of Storm Lilian, with spotless toilets stocked with toilet paper and minimal rubbish discarded on the ground.
On our wander, we reached the Chevron Stage – one of the festival’s new arenas, intended to showcase electronic music. As we arrived, DJ Goddard was starting his set with drum ‘n’ bass anthem Baddadan by Chase and Status as crowds pushed past us to get onto the dance floor.
I loved the Chevron stage and thought the meshing above, which pulsated with colour and lights in time to the music, looked amazing. Had I been there the night before then I think The Prodigy performance there would have been a highlight.
Before Lana, we joined a queue for popular Greek street food spot, Acropolis. Whilst tasty, it wasn’t worth the 45-minute wait and £17 price tag for a 'gyro' and can of pop.
At almost 7.40pm exactly, Lana del Rey took to the stage. Walking through Leeds earlier, I had spotted at least 10 people in Lana shirts and with flags of her face, and the excitement - mine included - was palpable.
For the first few songs, I felt Lana’s voice struggled over the music, but during the fourth track, sound levels were adjusted, and she was able to shine.
A personal and unexpected highlight was the song Bartender, and I also loved the way she used the screens, creating a show not only for those who could see the incredible staging and dancers but for those watching from further away who saw the performance mashed up with music video footage.
Lana herself was warm as she thanked the audience for ‘their lights’ as we swayed to Arcadia with phone torches in the air. The show ended with fireworks as Lana sat down with her dancers to sing the crowd out to ‘Young and Beautiful’.
After Lana, we rushed over to Festival Republic – a big top tent that was my favourite stage of the festival – to catch the incredibly named Viagra Boys. This was another recommendation where we went in blind and they ended up being one of our favourite acts of the day.
The Swedish rockers were manic and fantastic - getting the crowd dancing, moshing, and holding up the lead singer as he crowdsurfed through a performance of Research Chemicals. Whilst we arrived midway through and didn’t catch the whole set, they’re certainly a band that I would go out of my way to see again.
Our final act of the night was Fred Again – an electronic performer who was closing the festival’s main stage for the year. Whilst it started to rain during the first song, that did little to dampen the spirits of festival goers who responded positively as Fred greeted the crowd with “alright Leeds, one last dance for the weekend – yeah?”
At first, I questioned if Fred would be more suited to the Chevron Stage, but those assumptions were dashed as he drew the largest audience with the entire crowd on its feet and dancing.
As we walked out of the festival, we were disappointed to hear the Wombats – who we planned to see but believed were no longer playing, having originally been scheduled for the closed Radio 1 stage. Later, we saw their new time was announced on Instagram, but had not been updated on other sites.
All considered, I had a great experience at Leeds Fest, especially with the way that the team held the festival together after the devastation of Storm Lilian, and will certainly be back another year.
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