Leeds 2009: The Strange Glue Review

In 2009, a reputation was in danger of being forever lost. For years, the Reading & Leeds festivals had been a bastion for eclecticism. While other sites narrowed their focus, they proudly refused.

Taking in elements of rock, metal, punk, pop, electro, avant-garde, post-rock, folk and generous helpings of indie. There used to be something for everybody. Then, as is often the case, it all went horribly wrong.

The punk bands slowly disappeared, replaced by the growing hordes fresh off the Fueled By Ramen production line. The headline-acts stopped changing and there were few, if any, surprises. No longer could you spend hours happily exploring the various stages in pursuit of your next favourite band. Chances were, if you hadn't heard of them before, they were a floppy-haired 'emo' band, some with annoying screams!

With that in mind then, 2009 was a familiar breath of bleach-drenched faeces (in a good way). The emo-kids had their scene represented, the punk kids saw their heroes, and the indie kids could happily ignore that any other type of music ever existed as they sprung open their deck-chairs in front of the main stage. Everyone's a winner!

As one comedian noted as he conducted a location census on the audience, "Have you ever seen Hull. I'd bet that's the town where they actually invented the colour grey!". Leeds was little different. With rain kicking off proceedings then providing a two-day respite before fully unloading on the Sunday. Downside: miserable-looking sky, upside: not too muddy! Bigger upside: seeing how glum all the Oasis fans were on the Saturday as Bloc Party front-man Kele Okereke gently ribbed them over the parting of the Gallagher brothers.

Of course the main acts grab all the headlines. Who can argue with a three-day barrage of Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon. But it was in the smaller tents perhaps where lives were more likely to be touched, or enriched in some way. The powerhouse showing by The Bronx as their front-man took a forwards somersault off the tent rig from twenty feet up: completely entrusting his life to the people below. Or the spellbinding set put on by 65daysofstatic in the Festival Republic stage on Friday. It was worth having to catch the end of the atrocious Go:Audio show to witness post-rock utterly decimated by the best Northern band currently active.

For those willing to travel, there were rewards aplenty, was the central theme.

Even the comedy tent provided a draw this time around. No longer the preserve of people too drunk to stand, the likes of Tim Minchin, Brendan Burns and Mitch Benn took their stand-up to the potentially hostile, but warm crowd. Minchin's ode to prejudice was hard to shake. "Only a ginger can call another ginger 'ginger'. Just like only a ninja can sneak up on another ninja." he sang, underlining the fragile nature of racial politics. Brendan Burns likewise raised a few heckles with his discussion of the late Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. "If ever there was a man who deserved to die," we paraphrase, "...it was Steve Irwin. He was like an unruly child on speed. 'Don't put your head in a crocodile's mouth'. You have to think, at some point, all the animals got completely fed up and held a meeting. 'We gotta get rid of this [insert string of expletives], making us look like monkeys. No offence Fred. What's the most embarrassing way we can take him down?' At which point a stingray at the back pipes up and says 'Gentlemen, I have a cunning plan...'".

When Monday morning came, it was fair to say that this year was the one where Reading & Leeds reclaimed their crown. Other festivals may excel in specialist areas, but for sheer diversity and fun, once again, this is a hard one to top. For individual reviews of the bands we saw, please use the links provided below. Thank you.

LIVE PHOTOS AND REVIEW LINKS:

• 65daysofstatic
• Thursday
• Rival Schools
• Rise Against
• Patrick Wolf
• Frank Turner
• Brand New
• Crystal Castles
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Bloc Party
• Radiohead

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