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Live At Leeds 2018 (Part 2)
Various venues, Leeds
May 5 2018
Reporting team: Joanne Morris, Ellie Ward, Izzy Butler
Photos: As credits
Moving into the second half of the day at Live At Leeds, the evening sessions started to set the temperatures rising even higher inside the venues, despite the few degrees temperature drop outside.
The Magic Gang (Izzy Butler)
The 02 Academy saw The Magic Gang take to the stage, bringing some of their Brighton bonhomie up to Yorkshire, where a largely young crowd knew all the lyrics to Gang staples like 'Oh, Saki', 'Jasmine' and 'How Can I Compete'. Meanwhile, over at the Leeds Beckett Stage, Spring King too were getting down, hot and loud and giving out the best in their 11-song set, with Tarek Musa leading from the back on some of their finest, from 'Detroit', 'Demons', 'Who Are You', to new single 'Animal', before a triumphant close with 'Rectifier'.
Fizzy Blood (Joanne Morris)
Fizzy Blood pack The Key Club to the gunnels, with it becoming evident almost immediately that the stage was going to be too small for the five-piece. Leading on the fast-paced, raucous ‘Pawn’ to the delight of the fans who formed a mosh pit instantly, their music filled your whole body, pounded through your chest and nailed you to the floor. The highlight was without doubt ‘Pink Magic’, their epic new single, closely followed by ‘January Sun’, with phenomenal drumming, with both band and audience simultaneously developing into a manic frenzy, aggressively bellowing the lyrics back and forth. Fizzy Blood’s 30-minute set was far too short, but absolutely faultless.
Demob Happy (JM)
After performing a secret show earlier in the day on the Dr Martens Stage in Briggate Street, Demob Happy return at The Key Club some hours later where fans crowd the front of the stage waiting in anticipation for the Brighton-based rock trio. Confident and professional with a heavy, grungy sound, a rowdy mosh pit develops as the tempo increased to their popular and catchy single ‘Loosen It', the strangely hypnotic ‘I Wanna Leave, Alive’ and the intense ‘Spinning Out’, concluding with the singalong ‘Be Your Man’, holding the crowd’s attention to the end.
The Vaccines (Hannah Barnes)
At the 02 Academy, The Vaccines are also holding the crowd in their grip, belting out decibels from the start, with Justin Vernon living up to his frontman duties to bring alive a superb set. That they somehow manage to cram in 22 songs seems near impossible, not that revellers were complaining as they lost themselves in an array of songs, of which two-thirds are from this year's 'Combat Sports' album and 2010's debut, 'What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?'
The Horrors (Ellie Ward)
9.30pm back in the Church, it is by now dark outside, and for co-headliners The Horrors their stage lighting Is as dimly lit as per usual, save for the flash of lighting effects. Always the epitome of cool, if bereft of a few jolly words or quips, they laid out some of their best. Half of their 12-song set comes from their newest album 'V', including opening and closing doubles of 'Hologram', 'Machine' and 'Ghost' and 'Something To Remember Me By'.
Nadine Shah (JM)
The CLASH Stage at Holy Trinity Church sees Nadine Shah perform an immaculate one-hour set. The acoustics are outstanding, and her vocals as powerful as her presence. She was captivating throughout with expressive and emotive mannerisms and facial expressions. Songs like ‘Holiday Destination’, ‘Mother/Fighter', ‘Runaway’ and ‘Stealing Cars’ were interspersed with the singer's witty anecdotes, comments and quirky dancing.
Cabbage (Olivia Williams)
Cabbage kick up mayhem on Dr Martens Stage at The Wardrobe, falling into the 'Arms Of Pleonexia' - as well as those of a few punters when frontman extraordinaire Lee Broadbent goes for his trademark stage dives. Alongside such arch titles as 'Uber Capitalist Death Trade', 'Postmodernist Caligula' and 'Obligatory Castration', there's a cover of Nancy Sinatra's 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin''. You had to have been there...
Pale Waves
Late into the night Pale Waves brought their sense of pop goth to the DIY stage at the Brudenell Social Club, with Heather Baron-Gracie knowing how to keep an audience entertained. The front rows are gathered tightly as right from opener ‘Television Romance’, she hands out the mic for the crowd to be as much a part of the set as the band. Renditions of 'Heavenly', 'New Year's Eve' and 'There's A Honey' are all by now familiar, and welcome.
Circa Waves
Co-headliners Circa Waves on The Independent stage close the night and festival with a sense of wild abandonment, with a crowd exhorting to hands in the air, up on shoulders of their friends, dancing and bringing a finale of the finest through 'Wake Up, 'My Love', 'Get Away' and the song that really matched the day's temperatures, 'T-Shirt Weather'.
Although not the last act to close the Live At Leeds festival for another year proper, for those there it signalled the end to a perfect day.
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