The first of 2 reports from the final day at Leeds Festival 2023 – The 1975, Kenny Hoopla and Sleeptoken topped the bill
Words – Bill Adamson, Photos – John Hayhurst (@snapagig)
This is it then, the final day of Leeds Festival for 2023. What will we get to see before the sun finally sets today? read on to find out! The Festival Republic Stage was my first stop for Glasgow’s Anchor Lane. Heavy, loud, and magnificent, a bit of Royal Blood and a lot of British classic heavy rock. The band is tight and skilful. How they make such a great and deep sound without a bass I have no idea, but they do! The vocalist knows how to rock, and his stage presence and audience involvement are better than many of the so-called bigger acts! I also had the opportunity to interview the band. That will be published soon.
After that, it was a trek through a major downpour for Baby Queen on Main Stage East, it was as though the heavens had opened just in line with the start of her set. But that did not deter her hardcore fans who sang along to every word. Baby Queen reminds me of Self Esteem, with maybe some Kate Nash influence in there too. She is a wonderfully engaging artist who really shows empathy and care toward her fans. The band is incredibly tight and the vocal harmonies from the guitarist add an extra level to each song. The tunes are all full of perfect hooks and Baby Queen has great pop sensibility too. The highlight for me today was “Buzzkill”. In a previous Baby Queen review, I said “If Cyndi Lauper and Kate Nash adopted a daughter and raised her together, I believe that daughter would become Baby Queen”. I stand by that description!
Holly Humberstone played a beautiful set on the Main Stage East in advance of her new album ‘Paint My Bedroom Black’ which is due out in October. She managed to hold off the rain and “Superbloodmoon” had us all bouncing around! Easy Life were on the Main Stage West and played some blissful summery pop and funked-up disco with some jazz tones. Some elements of Bruno Mars and Bran Van 3000. They took a risk singing a song about rain, but they pulled it off and it stayed dry for their set. Next, it was a quick run over to the Festival Republic Stage for Scouse punks High Vis. This was full-on hardcore punk with passion, power, anger, and energy in abundance. Great message songs in their set as well.
My first visit to the BBC Introducing Stage today was for a Leeds band with a French name, L’Objectif. Lots of cool laidback soulful soft rock tunes with emotion and passion turned up to eleven. But when they rocked out, they had a feel of Matt Bellamy in the vocal department. Inhaler played the Main Stage East. What do you need to do as a rock star if your dad is Bono? Probably not sound like his band. Inhaler are exceptionally good, but I cannot shake the young U2 vibe, maybe they will grow on me. Zand took over the Festival Republic Stage and made it their own. They play what they describe as ‘ugly pop’. That is quite an apt description, the sound is jagged, harsh, electric, and so, so good. Zand’s performance was monstrously majestic and reminded me of Peaches with whom they have previously toured.
Today’s not-so-secret set was another appearance by Baby Queen, this time on the BBC Introducing Stage. It was short, punchy, and fun. The crowd was super excited and frankly, they were right. It was an impressive set. I love “We Can Be Anything” and I had not appreciated until now how the “open your mind” refrain sounds like the experimental sound of George Harrison in the sixties. Does it sound like that to you or was it the dope fog I walked through earlier today? Mothica a.k.a. McKenzie Ellis played a storming set on the Festival Republic Stage and thrilled the crowd to the max. This set and her Reading set earlier this weekend was the first time she had ever played in the UK. On the strength of this she will be back. The music is different and very original and yet at the same time evokes an eclectic understanding of music history.
Lucia and the Best Boys were next on the BBC Introducing Stage. They are from Glasgow and are like an alt.Texas. Lucia has a voice every bit as good as Sharleen Spiteri and she put on a striking performance. Their first album is out in September. keep an eye out for it. Pixey, a.k.a Elizabeth Sinead Hillesdon from Ormskirk, was the headline act on the BBC Introducing Stage Sunday night. Her sound feels like a slick 21st Century Motown crossed with the fun and the impeccable pop displayed in Junior Senior’s “Move Your Feet” from 2002. Slaves changed their name back in 2022 and are now known as Soft Play. In contrast to their new name, they played it as hard as hell on the Festival Republic Stage bringing a colossal cacophony of loud, mountainous modern metal.
The 1975 were chosen once again to be the super sub after replacing Rage Against The Machine last year they are here to replace Lewis Capaldi in 2023. Are they conspiratorially nobbling headline acts to ensure that they get the gig? What are the odds on them doing the same thing next year? It was a perfunctory set from a band that first established themselves more than ten years ago. I doubt that it will go down in history as one of the best-ever headline sets, but it was OK. Matty Healy won over some new local fans when he claimed that the band had been exiled from Manchester and that the Leeds Festival was now a hometown gig for them.
KennyHoopla rocked the Festival Republic Stage to its foundations, well at least to its deep-rooted tent ropes. This was easily one of the best sets of the weekend for me an undoubtedly the most energetic. Hoopla ran, leapt, spun, and jumped around the stage like the Duracell Bunny powered by a nuclear reactor. He climbed high up one of the girder-like tent supports at one point and overcame some radio mic issues by prowling around the stage like Iggy Pop on speed-infused Viagra. His band is incredible, especially the guitarist. The highlight, and there were many to choose from in his 9-song set was the electrifying performance of his 2020 US hit “How Will I Rest in Peace if I’m Buried by a Highway?”. This guy is something special.
The mysterious and enigmatic masked rockers Sleep Token followed KennyHoopla onto the Festival Republic Stage. I know that the whole masked thing has been done so well before by Slipknot, but Sleep Token add another deep layer of intrigue, spookiness, and weirdness. The good thing is that it is not just a mask gimmick thing, they are a great band with some stunningly good songs. Opener “Chokehold” and “The Summoning” were my favourites. Hardly any details are known about the band other than they come from London. The lead singer is known as Vessel and the band members use Roman numerals as names; II, III, and IV. Overall, it was a thrilling theatrical show.
The festival was closed by Las Vegas band, The Killers 20 years after their first big hit “Mr. Brightside”. This was the band’s second headline slot ate Reading and Leeds having previously had the honour in 2008. Their set was everything we have come to expect from a Killers gig, all the hits and a few deeper cuts and some snazzy showmanship by Brandon Flowers. A Killers show has become a Brandon Flowers show as many of the original band no longer tour. But that did not matter to a very fired-up crowd. The three-song encore included “Human” and naturally, “Mr Brightside”. The only thing that was missing was an Elvis-style announcement at the end that said, “Brandon Flowers has left the building”.
Well, that is it for 2023 at the Leeds Festival, we will see you in 2024!
