One Day, 5 Stages and dozens of new and accomplished artists worthy of your captivation. This years Live at Leeds Festival gets underway this Bank Holiday weekend at the city’s Temple Newsham Park on Saturday May 25th.
Filling the Leeds park space ahead of this years alternative festival favourite Slam Dunk happening on Sunday; Live at Leeds showcases the more mainstream indie and pop soundscape. Headlined by England’s own The Kooks, festival goers can look forward to hearing noughties indie hits such as ‘Naïve‘ and ‘She Moves In Her Own Way‘ closing The Cockpit Main Stage. But that’s just the tip of the festival iceberg, with the likes of Declan Mckenna, Sea Girls, Baby Queen, Vistas and Dylan John Thomas also set for the festivals main stage.
With so much choice on offer, we compile our ‘must see‘ amongst the alternative talent on show this year across the festivals ‘other’ stages.
THE CLAUSE
1PM – THE TEMPLE STAGE
By far one of the most exhilarating new bands across the UK indie scene right now, you’d be push to avoid this Birmingham based group. Bursting with energy, The Clause capture the riffs of peak Kasabian whilst remaining humble along the ride. Get down early and expect to hear tracks from their latest EP Pop Culture amongst some of their brand new material.
ANTONY SZMIEREK
1.20PM – CLASH BIG TOP
The Manchester own spoken work laureate Antony Szmierek makes getting down early an easy choice. Having gone from performing to tens of fans on the local Manc grassroots music circuit, Szmierek has managed to affirm his popularity across the region including a live TV set with the legendary Jools Holland and sell out performance at the city’s New Century Hall. A must see.
LUCIA & THE BEST BOYS
2:30PM – DORK HYPE STAGE
This alternative Scottish four piece are all over the new music hype scene. Headed by the enchanting Lucia Fairfull and backed by her very best boys Ally, Chris and Adam, the Glasgow band released their debut album Burning Castles last September to rave reviews. Set to join The Last Dinner Party on their autumn tour dates, Lucia & The Best Boys promise an unmissable performance.
ANDREW CUSHIN
3PM – THE TEMPLE
If you’re in anyway following the new UK indie scene, you’ll have been pushed to have not came across Andrew Cushion yet. Signed to Peter Docherty’s Strap Originals label, Andrew released his debut Waiting For The Rain last year and played to sell out crowds across the country. Having just wrapped up a tour in North America, Andrew is back in the UK and ready to take the Summer Festival Season by storm.
THE MYSTERINES
4PM – THE TEMPLE
A firm favourite amongst the Northern Exposure team, The Mysterines are ready to rocket this year when they release their highly anticipated follow up to 2022’s debut, Afraid Of Tomorrows on 21st June. Not only will The Mysterines be performing on Saturday, they will also be making an appearance at Crash Records Signing tent at 5.15pm. For priority entry to the signing session, fans can preorder the new album from Crash Records NOW
TOM A SMITH
4:30PM – DORK HYPE STAGE
Sunderland based singer and songwriter Tom A Smith comes highly recommend this weekend. Performing since a very young age, Tom has quite an impressive CV for an artist who has barely hit his twenties. He became the youngest performer at Kendall Calling when he was cherry picked by Tim Burgees (The Charlatans) to play his stage at the festival and he even played Glastonbury before he was even in high school. Live at Leeds is the first of many festivals for Tom this year, including support slots with legends such as James and Richard Ashcroft.
SEB LOWE
6:45PM – DORK HYPE STAGE
Another new favourite for Northern Exposure is Manchesters Seb Lowe. Picking up fans everywhere they go, Seb and his band are a sure one to watch. Combining a passion for tackling socially challenging topics within his lyrics alongside an energetic soundscape, Seb is truly a dynamic performer. Having released their first album Half-decent in 2021, fans can continue to expect new music this year alongside an October headline tour.
ORLA GARTLAND
7:30PM – DIY STAGE
If you haven’t caught Ireland’s incredible Orla Gartland yet, then this is the perfect time to jump on the wagon. Having just released her first taste of new music of the year, Orla is working towards album 2 following the success of 2021’s Woman On The Internet. Having being launched to fame after her 2019 single ‘Why Am I Like This‘ became an Internet sound bite, Orla continues to showcase her resounding voice and talent across the wide indie pop scene.
HOT WAX
8PM – DORK HYPE STAGE
Closing out the Dork Hype Stage this Saturday is the very hot Hot Wax. The Hastings punk rock a live force to be reckoned with so if you want to blow off some steam and get all sticky and sweaty, then Hot Wax will deliver. Releasing not one, but two EP’s last year – the band bagged themselves a support tour of dreams with Royal Blood across the UK and North America. Having recently wrapped up another incredible support slot with Deap Valley across Europe, Live at Leeds is just the beginning of what will be a packed festival season.
Don’t forget to check out all the essential information for the day including travel, what you can – and can’t – bring with you and of course the full line up over on Live at Leeds official website.
Remaining tickets can be found HERE
About the Author
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