Leeds Festival sees Harrogate music fans survive storms followed by gloom from superstar Lana Del Ray
It may have been one of the stormiest Leeds Festivals but the 25th anniversary year of the North’s biggest music festival was also one of the best ever.
Once the music kicked in after Storm Lilian had sent tents flying and closed a couple of stages for safety reasons, the line-up lived up to its billing as the most varied and exciting since launch year in 1999.
Following Friday’s 70mph winds which forced the full-time closure of the BBC Radio 1 stage and temporary closure of the spectacular new Chevron stage, organisers – and ticket holders – dusted themselves down and got on with things in the unseasonable weather at Bramham Park.
While main stage headliner Liam Gallagher revelled in the rumours of a forthcoming Oasis reunion in his usual static pose, in contrast The Prodigy almost blew the roof off the 40,000 capacity Chevron stage and its 5,500 square metres of LED lighting.
Among the many other highlights was the performance by brilliant York band Sun King who shone on Leeds Festival’s smallest stage, BBC Introducing, with their sophisticated but soulful 1970s rock band vibes.
Also impressive were The Last Dinner Party who played the main stage in the middle of a cold Sunday afternoon.
The extravagant, nearly all-female five-piece dressed like a mix of Roxy Music and Queen, sounded like a mix of Roxy Music and Queen, and performed with a pizzaz and professionalism that was musically rich and hugely entertaining.
And they boasted good songs, as did intense indie rock band Fontaines DC whose setlist delivered tracks from four albums in just six years, including the newly-released Romance.
With singer Grian Chatten sporting a Rolling Stones T-shirt and adopting rock star poses, possibly an act of irony for such an intelligent, if dark, songwriter, the tension remained between seeking acclaim and snubbing it.
Fontaines DC’s complex honesty seemed unsatisfactory – until Lana Del Ray arrived on stage.
Deploying a setlist of monotone gloom contrasted with a stage set from Baz Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby film felt like one gigantic act of posing in front of an adoring crowd.