Live at Leeds in the Park - REVIEW
- Natasha Judge
- May 27
- 5 min read
Festival season is now upon us, with fields and parks nationwide preparing to open for some of the biggest names and upcoming stars in the music industry making the line ups.
We kicked off our gig season at Live at Leeds in the Park, - a day festival based at Temple Newsam. With five stages, headliner spots by Bloc Party and Manic Street Preachers, a comedy tent, and a public house - what more could you need from a festival. The day was a well organised mix of multi genre acts, with some excellent nods to the northern music scene.
Welcomed to the park by Fickle Friends performing, all stages were within walking distance, with the two main stages having less than a 10 minute distance between them.
It was an excellent start to the day from band Corella, a northern four piece alternative indie group, who definitely proved they are one to watch.
Performing tracks including 'Bloom', 'Lady Messiah', and 'Barcelona Girl'. Lead vocalist Joel Smith joined the crowd in the mosh pit, and later energetically greeted the growing crowd, before signposting the bands upcoming tour.
He said: “Welcome to the family, we are from Manchester”.
Their half an hour set certainly proved their journey across the Pennines was worth it, and they will definitely keep moving up line-ups in festivals to come.
Next up on the DORK stage was Fleetwood Mac tribute band - Weetwood Mac, who drew in a large audience, with some overflowing out of the tent due to demand.
Californian group, We are Scientists, also took to the Main Stage South, before returning to the Temple Newsam park the following weekend, for the Kaiser Chiefs hometown gig.
Romcom soundtrack star Natasha Bedingfield welcomed many happy audience members for her afternoon set on the Main Stage North. Although there were many grey skies looming, by song three she brought a Pocketful of Sunshine!
Her set surprisingly featured a few snippets of covers, with Billie Eilish’s ‘Birds of a Feather’ and Coldplay’s ‘Politik’. A notable highlight was her vocals whilst covering The Cranberries hit song ‘Zombie’ and of course with her finale performance of ‘Unwritten’.
Bedingfield adoringly greeted the Leeds crowd, and incorporated much back and forth throughout her set. One particular moment was her using a member of the crowd's phone to swipe on a dating app, as a means of introducing her song ‘Single’.
The Amazons gathered a mighty crowd at Main Stage South for their set which incorporated tracks from their most recent album 21st Century Fiction, including ‘Wake Me Up’, ‘Pitch Black’ and ‘Joe Bought a Gun’. Before closing their set with an extended version of their hit ‘Black Magic’.
Despite a technical issue resulting in a shorter set, the band’s performance was well worth a watch, and it is likely that many people will have let the park new fans of the Reading formed rock band.
The Amazons front man, Matt Thompson, said: “There is a place for rock music in 2025, we’re trying to show you that”.
A festival highlight year after year is definitely The Pigeon Detectives, and their set at Live at Leeds in the Park was no different. The Rothwell, Leeds based band certainly know how to put on a performance and liven up a crowd - with jumps, water sprays and swinging microphones.
This year the band are celebrating the release of their greatest hits album ‘Still Not Sorry’, so they performed a special best of set, including indie anthems ‘I’m Not Sorry’, ‘I Found Out’ and ‘Take Her Back’.
The Leeds lads are returning to their hometown on October 4 for a stop on their Best of tour - Still Not Sorry. Of which front man Matt Bowman confidently expressed he would see the crowd at, after their atmospheric performance that day.
Norwegian singer songwriter - Sigrid, delivered a strong set early in the evening. The 28-year-old stated that she had been in the studio, and treated the crowd to a preview of several new tracks - all of which lived up to the groovy dance tracks we know and love.
The rapport between Sigrid and her band mates was evidently a close knit one, which was great to see, and really showed throughout the set. They performed hits ‘Strangers’, ‘Don’t Feel Like Crying’ and 'Mirror’, of which the crowd were happily dancing and singing along to.
Also fresh out of the studio and on Main Stage North, were Leeds band - Yard Act. The alternative group had not performed live in 6 months, and they were extremely missed judging by the energy of the passionate Yorkshire crowd.
The multi instrumental group premiered new track ‘Gonna Need A Little Music’, which was really well received with the audience, and proceeded to get even more lively by going straight into track ‘We Make Hits’.
Across the field, headlining the DIY Big Top stage was West Lothian formed band The Snuts. Formed in 2015, the band have produced some incredible indie tracks, and they gathered quite the crowd on the Saturday evening.
Notwithstanding lead singer, Jack Cochrane, expressing how they don’t like to perform their older tracks, the crowd was still treated to a finale of tracks ‘Glasgow’ and ‘Gloria’.
Finally, no festival is complete without a headliner, and the stage times were planned in such a way that nobody faced a dilemma of missing the mighty Bloc Party perform.
The rock band performed many hits, and the ‘Silent Alarm’ album was interwoven throughout the set, in celebration of its 20th anniversary.
Lead vocalist and guitarist, Kele Okereke, greeted the Yorkshire crowd with an ‘Ey-up!’ and then performed hit after hit.
The staging and lighting went hand in hand with the band's discography, and the song ‘Banquet’ live was remarkable.
Thankfully the band are almost embarking on a festival tour within their world tour, so you might be able to catch this excellent set this summer.
Notably, the event was well organised when inside the grounds. Also, a worthwhile addition was the collaboration with Big Green Coach, as this was a much quicker way for people to get to and from the venue, especially with it being away from Leeds centre.
The day certainly allowed for a lot of music to be heard, and new bands to be discovered, and it is easy to see why this event is a staple for bank holiday weekends. With something for a variety of age groups and different demographics, the different tents and stages allowed people to build a festival day unique to them.
To see our day at the festival unfold, check out our Instagram ‘Live at Leeds’ highlight.
The Live at Leeds festival will return with a metropolitan edition - Live at Leeds in the City this autumn, taking place at over 20 venues on November 15. Further information on the line up can be accessed here.
Comments