Gig Reviews

Our very own answer to the Camden Crawl, Live at Leeds should silence any critics who deem the West Yorkshire music scene stale. This year's one day festival showcased, well, who didn't it showcase?

A veritable role-call for any local talent; be it up-and coming (Lord Auch, The ABC Club, Tigers that Talked) or the more established survivors from the Dance to the Radio hype of a few years ago: Duels, iLIKETRAINS et al.

Since it’s inception a few years ago Live at Leeds has grown into something of great magnitude: a lucky dip of quality, a mad scramble to see the hotly tipped. The atmosphere was humming and the weather was beautiful, a perfect recipe for success and for the bargain price of £10, pretty cheap to say there was 70 bands to choose from.

The ABC Club

However, this may not have seemed so cheap if you were one of the unlucky souls who spent the whole afternoon/evening queuing around the block of the Leeds Met, who were operating a one in-one out policy by 5pm. The organisers had sold the capacity of all participating venues, but they seemed to overlook the fact that, in reality, the line-up only sported one ‘big’ headline spot: The Maccabees with Grammatics as main support.

Cue (or queue) hundreds of impatient punters snaking around the block to the LGI, some of whom probably never got to see the bands in question. Joseph's Well had a similar problem earlier on in the day, and perhaps the choice of venue for established acts like Wild Beasts and Dartz! should have been larger.

Later on in the evening, everyone seemed to have the same idea once again - most of the queue was turned away at the Brudenell before Good Shoes' set even began.
Thankfully, there were enough aural pleasures to be found elsewhere to lessen the disappointment. The rather promising upstarts The ABC Club were the highlights of the afternoon slots at the Met. They make a healthy racket and though they are in their infancy they hint at interesting things to come.

Local heroes Pulled Apart By Horses brought down the house at Joseph's Well to a crowd who returned the favour by thrashing around so much that the walls were dripping with sweat. Their shows should carry health warnings; they are an awesome assault on the senses and certainly not for the faint hearted.

Live at Leeds is as much an endurance test as anything else and the fatigue of a long day was exacerbated this year by the strain on some venues. But such issues aren't insurmountable. As long as it continues to represent the best of local talent, with a bit of better planning, its popularity isn't likely to diminish.