CLUB SMITH (1) opened up Leeds Festival on the BBC Introducing Stage this year. As THE HAIR they had played on the same stage once before. But this incarnation was as good as a new band with newer, sharper, tighter songs and a leaner look all round. The crisp rhythm section leaves plenty of space for the twin attractions of Sam Robson’s strong voice and Neil’s gorgeously vintage keyboard sounds. A big friendly crowd was generous with its applause.
SOUL CIRCUS (2) could not boast as distinctive a sound as CLUB SMITH. But they put plenty of swagger and bombast into their guitar-pop anthems. They came through with some power, but it has to be said that they don’t stray far from the Oasis corner of Brit Pop and don’t boast the same level of song writing skill. Good as they were, there must be hundreds of bands up and down the country who are now part of a world where practising up to a decent performance standard for local gigs is the norm.
Hemsworth’s PENGUIN (3) were a real anomaly, and therefore most welcome. Very young, very promising and lots of fun, the three piece band had been called to this stage through victory in a competition run by the Festival’s main charity (The Martin House Children’s Hospice). And if that sounds a bit cheeseworthy, the band were there on merit as one of the most distinctive and credible acts of the weekend. Their bubbly, communicative presence backed up some quality indie rock tunes. They started with a good crowd and ended with an even bigger one – the ultimate test on this walk by and stop if you want Stage.
ROTATING LESLIE (4) from Royston excelled on Jam-flavoured tunes with strong bass lines and lots of vocals. The raw simplicity was interrupted for one tune where the guitarist pulled out a slower song with a lot of jazz chords and no real sense of purpose. They seemed to me like a band who haven’t yet found their identity, despite the singer’s imaginative quiff/jacket combo. Sadly there was no Leslie organ and therefore no rotating speaker.
Three-man LADY FORTUNE (5) were a much more interesting object. The contemporary social mores thing, with a hint of Mike Skinner, was the main drift. There was a bit of indie shout and jingle going on too. And they did carry off the best chorus of the weekend: “Let’s dance, let’s drink and let’s fuck in your sister’s old room!” Sadly, the audience didn’t rise to its full shouting potential. One to listen out for though.
THE INVASION OF... (6) came to the stage with guitar, bass, keyboards, a rapper/vocalist and The Libertine’s Gary Powell on drums. They made a busy sound with plenty of pace. It sounded London, and it was London. The vocals were more incantation than singing, and very effective with it. The material wasn’t great, but my feeling was that they have the potential to do something interesting if they really went for it.
MY FOREVER (7) had graduated from being a duo to a full band in the couple of weeks preceding their Festival appearance. Modest looking singer Roy Williamson and showy glam rock guitarist Dave Ingham make an odd, but fascinating central couple. Very decent romantic pop rock was standard. Thier recorded material to date sounds big on production and careful musicanship. They did their rather good single “Silk and Butterflies” that had been play-listed for Radio 1 during the week.
MIDIMIDIS (8) were two guys and a pile of 8-bit bleeps and not a huge stack of talent on display. The Strokes/Marc Bolan visual clues suggested dissolution and hipness but I couldn’t hear much in the music. London’s Ant Struselis and Marcus Fairley might have a scene going, but none of their friends were here for them and the crowd was very thin. THE CRIBS were about to start in the main field and the MIDIMIDIS ended in a flurry of feedback with the same Super Mario tune they had opened with. This was as slight as it got all weekend.
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As 6pm arrived, the air was getting a chill and competition for the BBC Introducing Stage from then on would be DIZZEE RASCAL and THE LIBERTINES. LOVE ENDS DISASTER! (9) had started life as students at Loughborough. They played well-structured songs in a clever set that developed throughout. My impression was of a six-piece band without a lot of gigging experience but who will make a lot of progress once they get it. Their big finish was ace.
Canterbury’s MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK (10) were a classic four-piece band with epic tunes. A solo guitarist (Nick Watts) filled out the sound with loops and triggered synth parts. It was simple stuff, but engaging and affecting. They had some big bass lines that carried things along sweetly. The whole sound was delicately controlled and dynamically satisfying. I noted an echo of I LIKE TRAiNS that felt pleasantly nostalgic. Alastair Blackwood’s voice has real star quality and the songs are good enough to make me think of early COLDPLAY and forget the later dross.
I wasn’t as impressed by Coventry’s SHOCKPARADE, (11) I’m afraid. I noted them as a louder, less tuneful version of CLUB SMITH. But the keyboard had a great rack of Korg, Apple Mac and other bits and bobs that still sounded less interesting and less diverse than CLUB SMITH’S single Roland. The underlying dance rhythms were clearly the main attraction, but somehow, with extra members added to the normal duo things just got a bit unfocussed. Bringing on a leather clad female vocalist for a couple of songs didn’t do anything for the music but it did attract photographers.
THE LAW (12) were on last – not really a coveted headline spot given the limited chance of getting a big crowd. But they did make the best of it with their guitar bass drums vocalist indie rock thing, There were great twangy guitar sounds and neat bits of harmony vocal. Nothing to write home about though.
There was a conservatism thorughout the weekend with too many just-above-average talents pursuing styles that were perfected years ago and haven’t been bettered. I had an very uneasy feeling about the BBC suit who had picked the bulk of the Introducing Stage acts this year. Where considerable local and regional input had been the norm, this year had a feeling of less adventure and less engagement. For no more than bureaucratic reasons, the genuinley unique and special bands that could and should have been “Introduced” were sidelined for the nearly fashionable clones of already waning sounds.
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