Leeds Festival 2022 Review

Leeds Festival is over for another year, despite a rough few weeks leading up to the event, with three big names pulling out with less than 2 weeks before the start. Luckily, The 1975 stepped up to fill the Friday headline slot, with popstar Charli XCX and rapper AJ Tracey filling the gaps left by Maneskin and Jack Harlow respectively.

When The 1975 were originally announced as the replacement for Rage Against The Machine, like many, I was sceptical, there is a very clear discrepancy between the bands and the crowds they’d attract. Many Rage fans were unable to get refunds or sell their tickets and many 1975 fans were unable to get tickets.

The 1975 absolutely would have proved the doubters wrong should they have gone to see them, delivering a ‘greatest hits’-esque set full of energy and good tunes. Now I can’t claim to be a 1975 fan, but I enjoyed their set from the back with an overpriced pint in hand. I sang along to the songs I know and danced to the songs I didn’t. ‘If You’re Too Shy’, ‘Somebody Else’ and ‘The Sound’ being notable highlights of the set.

While somewhat of a dark horse on the original line-up announcement, Halsey delivered a set full of powerful vocals, catchy pop tunes and trying not to run-off stage due to food poisoning. While her set was by no means bad, I can’t help but feel there was something missing, possibly due to playing it safe and having to cut off ‘Honey’ or missing out her most recent single ‘So Good’. The crowd also seemed disengaged at parts of her set, trying to mosh to songs such as ‘You Should Be Sad’ but not the more rock-flavored songs on the setlist. A crowd favorite however was her singing a cover of the newly popular ‘Running Up That Hill’.

For me, the Saturday was full of highlights with all the sets I saw being entertaining, and from acts I was either fans of or familiar with. Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes opened the day with a rowdy set full of female-only mosh-pits, crowd surfing and crowd engagement. Fun sets from pop singer Griff and indie band Circa Waves were both full of crowd pleasers such as ‘Black Hole’ and ‘Movies’ respectively.

One of my favorite non-headline sets followed by future headliner Little Simz. Live bands during rap sets needs to be used more, especially when they can be used as well as this. Simz delivered each word with passion and the crowd lapped up as she rhymed. Her most recent album ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ received rave reviews upon release and at the rate Simz is growing, it’s difficult not to see her as headliner by the end of the decade.

Polo G might have been the only somewhat lackluster set from this day, however this may have been down to the sound issues that seem to follow him everywhere this year. Thankfully he kept his set full of hits rather than deep cuts and the crowd kept the energy high as they waited for Dave.

Dave’s set was immaculately produced, a backdrop of a heart formed from light tubes is definitely muted compared to the bold staging from the Stormzy set last year, but helped to draw focus on Dave's performance. Opening with ‘We’re All Alone’ instead of ‘Verdansk’ was a smart choice as the song is a natural opener. A medley of some of his bangers followed, ‘Streatham’, ‘Professor X’ and ‘Funky Friday’. Dave’s slower, deeper songs were also given a lot of time during the set; ‘Heart Attack’ was played in full and ‘Both Sides Of A Smile’ gets better when played with live instrumentation. Dave’s most recent number one ‘Starlight’ closed the show and felt like a victory lap for R&L’s youngest headliner.

Now for me personally, Sunday was the best day, until the end. Tiktok star Tai Verdes opened the day for us in the Dance Stage with a high energy set that even the fans who were waiting for Madison Beer enjoyed. Poppy’s set was full of the weird energy that fans have come to expect and a somewhat decent sized circle pit formed in her unfortunately small crowd.

“Very Special Guest” AJ Tracey had some sound issues and as much as I hate to say it, delivered an average set compared to last year's sub-headline slot. While he played the hits such as ‘West Ten’, ‘Ladbroke Grove’ and ‘Lo(v)/(S)er’, there was a lack of energy from the crowd and himself performing.

Irish post-punk band Fontaines DC’s set was absolutely wild and while the Arctic Monkeys fans who were waiting all day may not have appreciated their set, the fans towards the back of the crowd sang along to the tunes of ‘I Love You’, ‘Boys In The Better Land’ and ‘Jackie Down The Line’ with the same passion as frontman Grian.

Now the best headline set of the weekend goes to Sheffield's own Bring Me The Horizon. Mosh-pits had opened before they even took the stage, opening with the modern metal classic ‘Can You Feel My Heart’. Their set never had a dull moment, with Oli Sykes riling up the crowd for each song and some of the biggest pits I’ve ever been caught in. A surprise appearance from Yungblud for ‘Obey’ went down surprisingly well with the section of the crowd I was in. ‘Follow You’ was the second to last song and was played acoustically, with fans sat on shoulders and a sea of phone lights creating a beautiful moment.

Arctic Monkeys were inarguably the biggest name announced for Leeds 2022, creating an overwhelming sense of anticipation that I can’t help but feel hindered their set for a lot of people. I was sceptical especially as videos from their tour started circulating, showing a more methodical slowed down performance compared to the original garage feel we all came to know and love from the boys.

It’s sad to say that their live show at Leeds was as bad as it was. Alex has lost much of the charm that made him so likable all those years ago and while the setlist was a good mix of the fan favorites, ‘505’, ‘R U Mine’ and ‘Brainstorm’, there was also a good mix of the deep cuts to keep more hardcore fans happy i.e., ‘Do Me A Favor’ and ‘Crying Lightning’ especially. Much of the material was slowed down, and instead of feeling like a bold statement from of the most iconic British bands this side of the millennium, came across like a drunken karaoke at the end of a holiday.

While AM may have closed the show on a somewhat sour note, the weekend had many highlights with something for everyone.

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