Reviews >Reviews 2006 > Across the Tracks

British Sea Power - More confident now the bear has gone

First the bad bits. There are a few of these so be patient. The organisers had never put on such an event before, usually running a couple of smallish venues in the city. Thus as feared they totally underestimated the demand for the basics made by those who pay the money. There were not enough toilets, the food stalls whilst good quality were sparse resulting in long queues, and ditto the bars, where there were simply not enough staff. Hey and I know its Leeds where the bars are generally over priced and terrible but £2.50 for a small can of beer is taking the piss (literally given the quality too).

Compounding these problems was the fact that once inside there were no pass outs so it was a case of queue for ages for food or do without, I did without, hoping my large alcohol intake would do as a substitute for solid nourishment. What made the lack of grub worse was that one of the food stalls was curry and the aroma seemed to follow you around on site, grabbing your shoulder and forcing you into the queue of doom. To make things worse for some, after queuing for your curry for the length of a Yes song, you find there are no veggy options so are resolved to mopping up the gravy from a lamb curry with a nan bread. The final moan was that there was nowhere to chill out outside as the area was all tarmac or concrete resulting in a sore arse after about 5 minutes of sitting. It was very dusty too, though I accept the recent weather was to blame for this. I think the bottom line is that city centre music festivals are generally a bad idea unless held in a nice park. The land it was held on this year is up for development soon so they will have to find a new location if they continue the event next year. Here's hoping they find somewhere a bit better.

Could the organisation problems be overcome by the quality of the music though? There were 3 stages all showcasing different music styles, the main al fresco arena for the biggest bands, an outdoor DJ setup and the traditional Granary Wharf indoor arena putting on the new bands. It was in this venue that the more interesting events were scheduled early on. Local band were pretty much to the fore early on the Saturday. This Et Al are from Leeds and play to a decent crowd. Their style is very much alternative rock, never going near to metal, but making quite a racket, like the Winnebago Deal if those guys had bothered to learn how to be technically excellent. They certainly have been listening to Muse and Queens of the Stone Age too. Very good and highly recommended. The crowd fills to somewhere near capacity for local heroes on the rise the Pigeon Detectives. Like the Kaisers before them they are being tipped to be the next big thing from the city, but do they justify the hype? The look is pure indie and the sound is not a million miles away from those other local heroes the Cribs. Frontman Matt is straight out of the Dominic Masters school of frontmen, and he spends most of the set climbing on the amps, trying to get singalongs going, or fighting with the bouncers who seem determined to stop him diving into the audience. Sadly a fairly poor PA system didn't do them justice musically though the fans certainly got into the songs. One to watch definitely and I recommend you check 'em out at the Carling Weekend.

Magic Numbers - About to go into heavy metal pose number 5

Outside, and its straight into some light rain. Jose Gonzalez is playing a very nice acoustic based set which I half listen to. The technically perfect set includes a cover version of Kylie's 'Hand on your Heart'. Next up The Bees who are ok but seem a bit lost on the big stage. Still the new stuff sounds pretty good. By now its early evening and British Sea Power hit the stage which is now decked out in the usual foliage. There is a fair bit in the audience down the front too. They pull the biggest crowd of the day so far, and not just in the arena as several passengers on platform 19 on Leeds Railway Station poke their necks over the wall to get a free view. Either that or they were platform ticket buying pikeys. I made a mental note to try this next year. Set wise its a bit of a change from their normal outing, they drop the 15 minute epic which is 'Lately', but put in its place the 15 minute epic which is 'True Adventures' complete with guest violinist. Everyone sings along to surprise chart hit 'Oily Stage'. 'Remember Me' is still fantastic and they do a fair chunk from the debut, including 'Carrion' and 'Fear of Drowning'. 'Spirit of St Louis' provides the manic stuff with a working World War 2 air raid siren being brought on as a stage prop. No one can ever accuse this lot of being dull and even though the legendary bear has now been well and truly killed off and is sadly missed, there are still two stuffed owls on stage. One or two newies have found their way into the set and these sound pretty good too. On the subject of new songs, headliners The Magic Numbers play several. The problem is that at this early stage none of them sound anywhere up to the quality of the debut album stuff, a fact hammered home when they finish with the 4 best tracks from that album in a row, of which 'Forever Lost' and 'Wheels on fire' sound awesome. Still its a great way to finish the festival, and being close to the action up front is a bit of a bonus. So its a bit of a mixed bag with some sound problems and a bit of rain affecting things. Overall its a reasonably enjoyable event, though the organisers need to learn from this year's problems if the festival is to be repeated. Oh, and it's not every day you can walk out of a festival and straight away hail a taxi to take you home.

Top