Reviews

HEYA, so it was Leeds (festival) time again and yes i'm a sell out and a gimp going to leeds... how uncool of me.
Anyway leeds obviously meant more coke fueled sex parties and skanking out to the one and only DJ OD (he's from holand) than i do on a normal weekend.
Somewhere inbetween these things i saw some bands which i vaguely remember, so i m filling in fuzzy details with lies and quotes.

THurseday evening was DTTR's lineup (a leeds label started by wiskas from forward russia) on the BBC intro stage. It was pretty cool but the crowd seemed bored and just going becuase it was something to do and making trouble.
Holy State: Amazing live, they brought a really rocking set. Edgy riffs and banging tunes... shame the crowd was a bit tame for these when they were the only band of the night deserving it.
Airship: Pretty good guitar pop with a bit of dirt and some good angsty tunes. by this point the crowd was ridiculous "moshing" for the sake of it. …

Fri 28 Aug – Leeds Festival 2009

Let’s be honest, Leeds 2008, as good as it was musically, weather-wise was a complete washout. After so many years of glorious sun and more importantly, dry camping, the streak was ended with horrible downpours that inevitably saw me on my arse covered in mud. Surely 2009 couldn’t be any worse? Armed with a good pair of wellies, dozens of wet wipes and enough bin bags to clean up the bloody remains of the goriest slasher movie, I wasn’t taking any chances.

Arriving on site for an impressive 11am, Thursday was full of promise. With the sun out, and the skies blue-ish, after an afternoon spent getting into the festival spirit – via slightly warm beers and good company, Bear Hands provided a gentle ease into the weekend’s festivities with their set on the BBC Introducing Stage. Granted, the sound wasn’t brilliant, with the vocals lost in the gathering wind, but a decent outing regardless.

After a tiny downfall late Thursday night, thankfully Friday was once again dry. …

Fri 28 Aug – Leeds Festival 2009

Interview with Paul Smith

Hey, how’s Leeds/Reading Going so far?
It went extremely well for us. The crowd's reaction was brilliant as the sun came down behind them. It was the first time we've invited a brass quintet to play on our songs, but I've always loved the melancholy lift of brass band music, and I think it suits our songs.

Your quite well known for the bowler hat & suspenders look. Do you think fashion plays an important part of being in a band?
I just do what feels comfortable, and since being onstage is an unnatural environment, I decided to put on a show. There are tons of bands trying to make themselves heard and since we believe our music is significant, it made sense to stand out from the crowd. When we first started out, Roxy Music and Talking Heads were an inspiration to me as a frontman, since they managed to combine great music with a sense of performance without damaging their integrity. …

Fri 28 Aug – Leeds Festival 2009

Got back a few hours ago, absolutely fucked, didnt have much sleep last night, so pretty much collapsed into bed when i got home. ff***ing great weekend. Had bout 2-3 hours sleep each night, and almost none on the Sunday night.

We camped in Red bit further along from the red entrance sign. (aka 5-10 metres away from the massive tent/gazebo bonfire)

Weather wasnt great throughout the weekend, lot of rain, but it was all quite patchy with bits of sun, so could of been worse.

Bands I saw.

Thursday:
Blood Red Shoes - Played quitea few new songs, good way to open the festival
Wild Beasts

Pendulum DJ SET
Chase & Status DJ SET


Arctic Monkeys - 6 Played too many songs off the new album, whilst its good, its only been out a few days so was a shame they didnt play more older stuff, which spoiled it slighlty for me. Also slighlty funny after they finished and we were walking out we passed NME tent and on the big screen saw Beth Ditto on stage with one of her breasts out of her dress…

Fri 28 Aug – Leeds Festival 2009
http://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=7bd7a250
Edit this setlist | More Radiohead setlists

Fri 28 Aug – Leeds Festival 2009
http://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=73d7a26d
Edit this setlist | More Fall Out Boy setlists

Fri 28 Aug – Leeds Festival 2009
http://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=63d7a257
Edit this setlist | More Black Lips setlists

The dead formats will be opening for Lostprophets on their 3 warm-up shows to Reading & Leeds end of August. Dates below:

25 August –Academy, Manchester
26 August – The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
27 August – Newport Center, Newport

www.myspace.com/thedeadformats