Festival Review: Live at Leeds In The City // November 2024
A Celebration of new music.
A new music showcase for new music fans: Yorkshire city stake their claim all for the love of music.
Dot to Dot. Great Escape. Outer Town. For many a time in the year, cities embrace the cultural importance of live music, beckon them from their festival fields several miles out and give them a fully-fledged city as their poetic playground. For this weekend, it was Leeds' turn.
For their 17th edition, Live at Leeds In The City, being held in November for the first time, welcomed over one-hundred artists across the West Yorkshire's city's famed and treasured independent venues in a day of discovery for music's most exciting.
Flaunting some of the country's most anticipated upcoming artists - and those already well and truly established in the independent scene - Live at Leeds in the City have built a steadfast reputation in championing new music which has seen them become an honorary flagship not just on the local calendar in Leeds - but setting the standards for all existing and future multi-venue festival events in the country. And there's no other city that does it better. It's fantastic student culture earmarked by a distinct style in history and textile decor make up for a trendy, on-topic city fresh full of ideas for a bustling nightlife.
The festival were not certainly lacklustre on the venue front. From the student powerhouses Leeds Beckett SU and LUU Stylus, the iconic independence of The Brudenell Social Club, The Wardrobe, Oporto and The Key Club to the colourful Belgrave Music Hall and Headrow House, they all managed to play an integral role in giving these exciting prospects a worthy platform to capacity festival crowds.
With over a hundred artists playing across the day though, you can't help wonder if you could clone yourself, allowing to be in two places at once.
It was evident what kind of day we'd have when the likes of The Key Club and Oporto are getting crammed to capacity at midday. Soft Launch landed the hot spot at the Club as they rifled out their indie rock psalms. Piano Hands - a single released in 2024 that has topped a million listens - and In My Bed were sure-sign favourites from the packed-out 300 capacity Key Club. With every single release topping their last, it's evident that these wonderful lot are heading in the right direction.
The New York soft rock sibling quartet of Infinity Song brought their soulful vocals to their last leg of their UK tour in Leeds before flying back over the pond. Of course, this wasn't the bands' first time in Yorkshire. The band were here back in May performing less than two miles down the road at the Brudenell Social Club. Now, they've upped in size performing at Leeds Buckett Students' Union, marking a grander return with a 1020-capacity venue. The minor technical difficulties at the start of their set rarely caused a distraction as they tweaked and dazzled their way into a Fleetwood Mac cover of Dreams, followed by mesmerising staples from their 2023 album, Metamorphosis including the likes of "Hater's Anthem" and "Slow Burn".
On the same stage, Oxford-born singer songwriter Willie J Healey performed his indie slow burners of "Thank You" and "Woke Up Smiling" as he celebrated his 2023 release, Bunny all the while never missing an opportunity to share the love, as he joined the crowd giving out hugs and handshakes.
Elsewhere, with a slice or two of pizza in our bellies, we headed upstairs to Belgrave Music Hall to watch whimsical post-grunge two-piece Human Interest. Whilst singing the alphabet and brazenly sprawling on the venue floor amongst the crowd, it was an emphatic showing off from a band who are settled in for quite a year ahead.
From opening the festival last year at The Wardrobe, English Teacher returned to their roots marking their first hometown show since winning the Mercury Prize. In a mass turnout which resulted in the venue to limit entry (which shocked no-one considering the year they've had), the Leeds-based quartet put on a world-class performance as they slung out a slew of hits from their record debut, This Could Be Texas. Performing The World's Biggest Paving slab and Nearly Daffodils amongst others, it sees the post-punk alternative perform at both Live at Leeds concepts, one in the city and one in the park.
Joining English Teacher were fellow Northerners and avant-garden Mancunians, Everything Everything as they whipped up the SU stage into a frenzy performing some new material from 2024's Mountainhead, aswell as dusting off the palette for some old-worn art rock classics with Cough Cough and Kemosabe. Undoubtedly chomping at the bit however, we were finally indulged to the double act of Distant Past and No Reptiles, which wrapped up the Students Union Main Stage in a heap of splendid exhilaration. As a band devoted to seismic experimentation and originality, no group operating within the realms of 'alternative' comes close to Everything Everything. Despite the tumultuous touring schedules, Higgins' voice still sounds as unmistakable as the original recordings he sang the songs on.
While Everything Everything were the poster headliners, the night was still early in Leeds. Rising star Alfie Templeman packed out LUU's 1000-capacity Stylus in an impressive load-out of feel-good indie to keep spirits high, while Master Peace took on Brudenell further afield with his boundless flair and energy. The three-piece on the stage were having a blast as they bust out tracks from Okezie's discography from his Album of the Year contender, How to Make a Master Peace including dance floor filler I Might Be Fake.
The night began to wade out at Headrow House - a varied venue with a unique roof terrace offering all manner of quirky critique in the city. 49th & Main were the ones in charge to evidently close out the festival, two suitable headhunters in the world of hypnotic Irish dance music.
Hosting a whole array of exciting prospects and intriguing individualists, LAL's aim was to support and celebrate the rise of alternative music in an equally alternative city of colour and culture. Well it's safe to say that they've managed to do it again for their seventeenth year running. Be on the prowl for next years' talks - you don't want to miss this opportunity.
Words by Alex Curle
Photography by James Kirkland
