Live at Leeds: In the Park – Festival Review

Live At Leeds: In The Park
Temple Newsam Park, Leeds
May 25th 2024

Live at Leeds – In the Park is billed as “The Ultimate All-Dayer,” so with camera at the ready, Louder Than War photographer Melanie Smith headed down for the first time to photograph and report back on her findings. Was it going to be a glorious summer day, an eclectic mixture of artists, with pop bangers, rockers, and indie floor fillers…? Or would it, in traditional UK festival fashion, be ‘chuckin, it down’ as they say in Yorkshire.

Leeds In the Park is designed to celebrate a diverse range of music genres, including well-known acts and emerging talent, across five stages—as they say, something for everyone of all ages and tastes.

Despite a few ominous clouds, the weather gods looked like they might be on our side. We were eager to catch as many artists as possible. As usual, our ambitious plans to experience everything on offer would prove challenging.

The first band of the day for us was Dublin’s post-punk band Sprints, who launched what proved to be a great line-up on the Clash (big top) stage. Frontperson Karla Chubb gave a fiery, high-energy performance, backed by gritty guitar-driven music from their debut album, which is certainly one of the best of the year. Scottish indie pop band Lucia and the Best Boys, led by the statuesque singer Lucia Fairfull, appeared on the Dork stage, a tent which had “Great British Bake Off” vibes, but they are a tight unit and their album ‘Burning Castles’ is rammed with indie-glam pop bangers which wowed the audience.

A dash across to the Cockpit (main stage) – and there was already a buzz in the air, as an excited crowd awaited South African-born popster Arabella Latham, who performs under the stage name Baby Queen. Her music and lyrics certainly resonate with the young audience, addressing issues such as mental health, identity, and the challenges of growing up in the digital age. She normally bounces on stage in a riot of colour and attitude, although this time around she looked like she was dressed for the Slam Dunk Festival (which takes place on the site the following day). She admitted that she was feeling rusty having not played live for some time, but when she hit her stride she had the crowd in the palm of her hands and was happy to pose for selfies with her fans after her set.

Our highlights – Tor Maries aka Billy Nomates was one of our favourites on the day over at the Clash stage. A performer who is quite simply mesmerising, a whirling dervish of raw energy, with a fearless approach to addressing today’s issues in her lyrics, with an edgy post-punk, electronic vibe. Now we were all fired up and ready for LTW favourite Baxter Dury, who didn’t disappoint with his distinctive style, blending elements of indie rock, new wave, and post-punk. Being the son of the late Ian Dury, he has inherited all those quirky moves, yet still maintains his unique character and charisma by the bucketload. I came away imagining what an exciting and unusual duo Baxter and Billy would make. And the Clash stage certainly seemed to be the stage for off-the-wall dance moves!

Other highlights were Orla Gartland, who arrived on stage, armed with a beaming smile, plenty of attitude, and crucially, great songs. Alt-grunge band HotWax from Hastings owned the Dork stage, with their modern twist on 90s alt-rock. They appeal to a wide demographic and their songs are explosive and perfect for the festival stage. One of the best young bands out there right now and we can see them taking festival stages by storm all summer. John Robb described them as “the hottest new band” last year.

Another artist we caught in action was the, seemingly ageless Spice Girl Melanie C on the main stage, who gave one of the sets of the day and lived up to her ‘sporty spice’ name with a hugely energetic performance which included her own hits such as ‘Never Be The Same Again’ and ‘When You’re Gone,’ as well as a couple of Spice Girls classics. Doubtless, she relaxed after the set by doing a Triathlon.

Declan McKenna was another big draw for the younger crowd, having won the emerging talent competition at Glastonbury in 2015, he has gone on to be a successful singer/songwriter. Despite looking like he’d stepped off the set of ‘The Persuaders,’ rocking a suit that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Roger Moore, he came across as a down-to-earth performer and clearly has a huge fan base who sang along to every song.

Corinne Bailey Rae had a huge tech set-up, with the keyboard platform looking like a spacecraft. Sadly, it was a spacecraft that initially refused to take off as her set started and suffered some sound issues. Which was a shame, as this was her hometown crowd and she’s certainly been pushing boundaries with her recent music of late. But those are the breaks at festivals, artists have a quick turnaround time and a limited time on stage.

It was a packed tent for American synth-pop band Future Islands – who entertained us with frontman Samuel T Herring and his energetic ‘Modern Interpretive dad dancing’ routine, leaping about the stage like a cat on a hot tin roof. He’s certainly a mesmerising presence and when the band played their iconic ‘Seasons (Waiting on You),’ he almost seemed to levitate on the energy in the tent.

Imogen and the Knife, a last-minute stand-in for Somebody Child, with no time to get her band together, told us we were hearing the songs stripped back and as she originally wrote them. She’s only released two tracks so far but is a young artist already generating a fair degree of buzz.

And finally, last but not least, down at the DIY stage, aiming her arrow firmly at stardom was the 21-year-old pop artist Caity Baser, who gave an incredible set, with humour and sassiness galore. The young crowd were screaming for her before she even appeared on stage, and when she did, her set was a riot of energy, sing-along pop bangers, and hilarious banter between songs.

Unfortunately, we missed headliners The Cribs and The Kooks due to timing clashes and a sudden downpour of heavy rain. But to sum it all up, I think the winners of the day, at least for us, proved outright to be the female artists and demonstrated that there’s plenty of female talent out there, which pulled huge crowds. So with more effort, festival line-up curators can put together a winning and diverse line-up which works, which is exactly what Live At Leeds did this year so bravo!

Please note: Use of these images in any form without permission is illegal. If you wish to contact the photographer please email: mel@mudkissphotography.co.uk

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You can find more about Live At Leeds Festivals here

Words and photos by Melanie Smith – Louder Than War | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Portfolio