Leeds Festival Leads!
Our team were at both Leeds (North) and Reading (South) English Festival -cum-travelling-rock n roll circus sites over the BAND holiday weekend. We had a brilliant time; unanimously stunned and impressed by the calibre of entertainment, nu skool musical sounds and old school crowd vibes. Now fully recovered, here is a visual souvenir by Tarquin Clark, with a flavour of Leeds Festival 2016 stars.
Good Charlotte
TheZineUK story is honoured to have magnetised key documentarians of the most pulsing music movements for decades. Tarquin Clark is definitely one of them. In this key "Britz16" year, here are just a few of his images from Leeds Festival. An impressive photographer (and all round ace person) contact him via this link.
Below: Stormzy
As one of the UK's original 20th century, heritage music festivals (and the annual end of summer holidays weekend) a slot at this weekend's events is a definitive landmark for any artist to appear at, on any stage.
Above : Creeper. Below : SWMRS
Above : Tonight Alive. Below : Modern Baseball.
Leeds Festival was a culture clash of musical genres and a variety of entertainments.
Below; Cage The Elephant
Above ; Kurupt FM, below Lion Babe
Blossoms
Nas
Nas, above, performs 'The World Is Yours' at Leeds/Reading Festival 2016 (BBC video below)
Leeds Festival had 2016's essential new music stage; Jack Rocks, programmed by the nation's No1 Rock n Roll club, This Feeling. The Zone was such a massive one that a packed tent of lively music fans basically set up camp there all weekend as star after star hit the stage. Below: Derbyshire outfit, Trash, (who Tarquin has already photographed) said on their facebook page "Leeds Festival was really great. Big up anyone who came out to see us and everyone who looked after us while we drank probably too much Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey but who's counting haha ;) "
One thing is for sure, This Feeling's extending family or the new rock n roll stars (on and off the stage) were a gem of an addition to the festival circuit in general. Alongside Grime, which repped in fine style at Leeds Festival, guitar bands have been developing into the biggest and most exciting new music force in the small venues over the last couple of years. Youth have NOT "seen it al before". This was recognised by new music talent's national media allies, BBC Introducing, who are local to the buzzing artists and audiences, supporting them with radio play and slots on their festival stages at events around the country.
SuperGlu
From our own story, our friends at End Of The Trail and This Feeling crossed over here, too. The headliners for this year's BBC Introducing Stage were Fronteers (from This Feeling's stable) with both SuperGlu (above) and Coquin Migale (below) playing at End Of The Trail Records' stage at The Great Escape's @AltEscape scouting fest in May.
A week before the festival, Coquin Migale (above) released their debut album, 'Munro'. The band were as knocked out by the monumental reaction to it, as reviews were by these eight songs. The BBC article "From BBC Introducing to glory: Four acts that hit the big time (and four that will soon)" included our chapter 9 cover stars, Slaves, This Feeling tipped Blossoms (who, like Slaves, made a surprise appearance on the BBC Introducing Stage), Jack Garratt (all the aforementioned, photographed by Tarquin at last year's Leeds Festival),Spring King. Strong Asian Mothers, The Shimmer Band (before they head off on their This Feeling UK tour), Ten Tonnes and Coquin Migale, who we witnessed win a so many new friends with this performance of aural acrobatics, sounding all main stage contenders, at the Reading site;
"Keep your eyes on this lot, they're going places" - said BBC Music. They certainly are, courtesy of Liverpool Sound City, Coquin Migale are repping the UK in South Korea at the end of September.
And talking of live shows that would set 2017 alight, it is almost impossible to wipe the delight off yer face and the thrill out of your heart after catching Die Antwoord on the main stage and home grown, energy rocketing rabble rousers, Asylums and Cabbage, in This Feeling's zone of the Jack Rocks stage. Surely?
Die Antwoord; Infectious beats, alien sounds and highly visual live show. Otherworldly demented brilliance that definitely deserves to move up the main stage bill, to sunset or after. They performed like headliners.
Cabbage, a poetically articulate new band absolutely taking all witnesses by storm. Noisily.
Asylums (below) released their debut album, 'Killer Brain Waves', at the end of July, DIY style (Cool Thing Records). It's an instant home grown classic that makes you jump around like you're in the playground and, like their live shows, should be prescribed as the perfect pick-me-up. They also played the Jaeger Hut at Reading Festival. Not surprising that they are increasingly in demand, really, that LP is one of the 20th / 21st Century's finest and FUN-nest rocking reflections of life.
That's just a little bit of a giant weekend where a town's worth of music fans each had a completely different adventure. When it comes to being big enough to bring new music talent through the ranks, then Leeds and Reading Festivals have the capacity to do what's needed.
With so much world class potential escaping from the small venues to the annual festivals this year, it feels like there is momentum in the uniqulture of artists, promoters, venues, DIY labels/media and the aforementioned BBC Introducing being among the accessible connections that the under-a-tenner gig community can make just by being there.
Love the look of this massive party? You know what to do. 2017 tickets are available now at the Leeds Festival website and the Reading Festival website.
Thank you to Gordon Duncan at The Zeitgeist Agency and Kelly Munro at End Of The Trail Records for our festive frolics - WHAT a weekend!
additional words; Caffy St Luce