Review: Leeds Festival 2024 day 3

Leeds Festival organisers might have had their work cut out after an overnight storm ravaged half of Friday’s bill, but when me and my son Jonah – enjoying his first festival experience at 16 – pay a visit on Sunday the event seems to be again finding its stride.

While Jonah makes his way off to the Chevron Stage for the bassline and dub reggae set by balaklava-wearing DJ Jackum, I opt for the hard and heavy sounds of Scottish rock group Dead Pony in the Festival Republic tent. Led by singer Anna Shields, they succeed in blowing away the morning’s cobwebs with an energetic fusion of punk pop and nu metal, throwing their inflatable mascot Derek the Dead Pony out for a spot of crowd surfing.

On the main stage, American alt-rockers Dead Poets Society brought more rugged riffs with songs such as Lo Air and intoodeep, however The Last Dinner Party prove more fun with a 40-minute trot through the highlights of their debut album Prelude To Ecstacy. Already the recipients of much critical praise, they live up to the hype with a heady musical concoction that occasionally nods towards Florence + The Machine, St Vincent, Queen and Sparks yet remains distinctively their own.

Lead singer Abigail Morris whirls around the main stage and guitarist Lizzie Mayland proudly acknowledges her Yorkshire roots. The flamboyant Portrait of a Dead Girl and The Killer prove musical highlights and there’s a touching moment when they bring out a cake with a message in Albanian cake to celebrate the birthday of keyboard player Aurora Nishevci.

Over on the BBC Introducing Stage, York five-piece Sun King go down well with a half-hour set full of promise as it shifts from polished 70s-style soft rock into rockier territory with impassioned vocals. They look like ones to watch out for in future.

Back on the main stage, Bleachers’ middle-of-the-road US college rock fails to ignite despite being fronted by Jack Antonoff, prolific co-writer for the likes of Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray and Lorde. The presence of two saxophonists hints at an E-Street Band vibe but for all the band’s efforts, their material is unmemorable.

Fontaines DC are markedly better, with a 45-minute main stage set that starts with the steely post-punk numbers Televised Mind and Jackie Down The Line, gets bleaker with Death Kink and finds a motorik groove with Boys in the Better Land. After a sombre moment with In The Modern World, their melodies become bolder with Favourite and I Love You and they finish with the adrenaline surge of Starburster.

The much-vaunted Wunderhorse pull a large audience at the BBC Introducing Stage but sadly it’s hard to hear their high octane rock ’n’ roll amid the soundclash from Barry Can’t Swim on the nearby Chevron Stage, so instead we head to see Raye, who’s in impressive form on the main stage.

Ingeniously managing to cram more singers and musicians into the same space than anyone else today, she also wins the honour for the liveliest interaction with the audience. Promising to spread “positive vibes”, she duly delivers with 45 minutes of soulful contemporary pop, gospel and big band jazz that includes such gems as You Don’t Know Me, Black Mascara and Prada and ends with “the song that changed (her) life”, Escapism.

“I’m an independent artist, I’m living my dreams right now,” she tells the crowd in a touching speech in which she extends her thanks to everyone involved in the festival. When she adds that “I’m going to be doing this until I’m 75 so hopefully I will see some of you there”, it’s easy to picture that by album number two or three she’ll be headlining events such as this.

It’s now 13 years since New York singer-songwriter Lizzy Grant introduced us to her musical persona Lana del Rey, eternal purveyor of brooding cinematic ballads evoking the mood of such 20th century Hollywood classics as The Great Gatsby, Badlands, Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider.

Since then she has gone on to reference artists such as Norman Rockwell and Roy Lichtenstein and explore slo-mo hip-hop beats and burnished soft rock in an evolving critique of American popular culture that’s so far stretched out over eight albums and a collection of poems.

Scheduling restrictions here mean she has to cram a lot into an hour’s set, but elaborate stage props, a large cast of dancers, the strength of her material and the obvious star quality that shines through here combine to make this a performance that will go down in Leeds Festival lore.

A sea of smartphones greet the standout songs Summertime Sadness and Video Games, and there are impressive visuals mid-set to accompany Pretty When You Cry and the biker ode Ride. A jazzy tone permeates the smoky piano ballad Batender and Norman F***ing Rockwell, while an audacious hologram performance of Hope is a Dangerous Thing For a Woman Like Me To Have – But I Have It is accompanied by Bryon Thomas at the keys.

As the set-closer Young and Beautiful transforms from a poignant meditation on ageing into a ragtime vamp the audience is left wanting more – in the best Hollywood tradition.

It’s a hard act for Sunday’s headliner Fred Again.. to follow but he gamely gives it a try with 90 minutes of fizzy EDM and strobe lights for which the word ‘euphoric’ could have been invented.

DJ, producer and musician Fred Gibson’s excitable personality – frequently urging the crowd to enjoy “one last dance for the weekend” – and the melodic knack he shows in songs such as Turn On The Lights Again, Danielle (Smile on My Face), Adore You, Places To Be and Peace You Need justify his late-night status.

The epic drum & bass track Jungle is full of breakdowns and interesting rhythmic twists and turns, Angie (I’ve Been Lost) has a bittersweet air and an elongated Delilah (Pull Me Out of This), rounded off with fireworks, sends the audience home buzzing. Jonah later describes it as the “best hour” of his life.

Looking back on his first experience of Leeds Festival, Jonah Seaman adds:

I particularly enjoyed the Chevron Stage because I enjoyed the drum and bass music and was very impressed by the lights. It made the whole experience feel even more special. There was other little secret spots such as the ‘Rave Cave’ which me and my friends took a particular interest in.

My favourite act of the night was Fred Again.. which I cannot wait to hopefully re-live again. The lights, the set and the crowd were something that will stay with me forever. I also thought that Raye was very good too and it was nice to have some crowd interaction. I did sadly miss a few acts I wanted to see because they clashed with other stages and caused lots of delays.

On Friday evening, Catfish and the Bottlemen were another act that I particularly enjoyed with my friends. The atmosphere in the crowd was really good and it felt like their singer Van McCann was really doing it for the people when he sang the chorus of their last song Cocoon a capella three times.

I thought the festival site was very large but there was plenty of entertainment and things to do. There were lots of food cuisines and bars which were easy to access and had fairly good prices. However, due to how large the site is I think that they should signpost more directions and put up maps around the place.