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Leeds Festival Day One

Here is a summary of day one...

LEEDS FESTIVAL BLOG:

FRIDAY 06.00 AM:

Having foolishly stayed out all night following a Sweethead gig - and a very hazy few hours afterwards - this scribe left a flat in Camden at six am, reflecting on the poor decision she had made in not going home. The worst part was not having a spare pair of pants, a sleeping bag or a tent. Or indeed a Leeds Festival ticket due to the postal strikes. Once the shops opened in Camden a few essential purchases were made: toothbrush and toothpaste, baby wipes, dry shampoo.

By this time it was about 9am, so I headed over to King's Cross to meet Kate who I was getting a train to Chesterfield with. We would then be picked up by a third person and driven to the festival. I thought this was the best (and more importantly cheapest) way to get to the festival. £53.60 later it dawned on me that this wasn’t a cost effective means of getting there whatsoever. This was also confirmed when our train became delayed mid-route and had to back track at what seemed like 1 mph. By the time we got to Chesterfield it rained. I went into the Chesterfield train station toilets and attempted to get clean:



While Kate got a bit excited.



We then met Nick, who went to buy a car – though I’m sure it wasn’t just for the occasion of Leeds Festival. In that time Kate and I piled into a taxi destined for Netto. Except before we were allowed to get in Kate was given a severe reprimand for drinking a can of lager. Fair enough, except that when in the taxi our driver launched into a truly violent tirade on motorists and the vices of driving. He concluded that: “If any of them had brains they would be dangerous”, before muttering about how he “wasn’t keen on London.” When we saw Netto, and continued past it I asked if we could just stop somewhere close by. This was not the thing to say; as he swerved the car around realising we had gone too far and then shouted abuse when drivers began to beep at him. I won’t lie, I was afraid. When we reached Netto with the intention of getting a sleeping bag and a tent for me and of course one or two drinks, it began to pour with rain so we took shelter in the alcohol isle. Low and behold a wondrous sight appeared before us.



Proclaiming it self to be ‘A delicious blend of mature British wine and fine whisky’ we got incredibly excited. At only £2.99 a litre that excitement reached new heights.
Unfortunately there was no tenting equipment or sleeping bags so I bought a sheet that looked like it might be quilted –an error of judgement there!

Nick arrived in his new car and announced: “I don’t know the way to the M1.” He truly didn’t. But after stopping in at a house grabbing a cup of tea and heading in a different direction to the sounds of Marmaduke Duke we were finally en route yay!
I was a bit disappointed to miss Dinosaur Pile Up play, but we made it to the campsite in okay time (about 8 hours after leaving Camden!)

On the way to the press tent not one, two but three members of Hollyoakes passed me by.
Finally got to see some bands, including Middle Class Rut, 65daysofstatic, The Bronx – which saw Matt climb up the scaffolding in the NME tent and launch himself into the crowd! It also spawned a copycat who had less success.



At this point I turned to Scotsmack to help deal with the shock pf such goings on…



Next up watched Thursday, who were brilliant then headed over to try and see the end of the Prodigy but time lapsed so it was Arctic Monkeys I caught.
Backstage I bumped into a few friendly faces, including Matt from The Bronx, who when asked how he would rate his dive gave it an eight saying: “Eight out of ten for aggression, I attained rotation but not quite enough distance.”





It was a fair surmise.

I then bumped into ATREYU, and spent a long time with them, particularly Dan who ended up helping himself to a few of our beers. (Not that we minded!)




He told us how “fucking awesome” it was to be at Leeds and spent a long time praising Marc’s moustache. Here is a picture so you can see it in its true glory.


By this point in the evening Saturday had well and truly rolled round so after many ciders I returned to Kate’s tent – as she kindly decided to put me up. All in all despite the misery and the pneumonia throughout the evening – day one was a success!