The weather was good and the music was great. Although there was the odd rumble about The 1975 replacing Rage.
There are two main stages now and Wolf Alice were still the best on either of them. It is now more than a decade since Wolf Alice began; first as a duo made up of Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie, then later expanding to a four-piece, with drummer Joel Amey and bassist Theo Ellis. Their music was magnetic: masters of the fiery chorus, the grunge riff, the whisper and the rebel-yell. Meanwhile Rowsell’s lyrics told of youth and young womanhood,of nights out, best friends, bus rides home; of desire, and rage, freedom, and joy. Arctic Monkeys were a close second not surprising as with global album sales of over 25 million and a digital fanbase of over 30 million followers, the band’s music has been streamed more than 9 billion times to date, accruing on average 6.5 million streams every day. Their legendary single ‘Do I Wanna Know’ has been streamed 1 billion times alone and inevitably was the highlight of their set.
Special mention too for a band we have followed since their inception who made their debut on the festivals main stage. Black Honey followed the immense Franck Carter and the Rattlesnakes and the highest compliment is that they did not seem out of place. Ever since Black Honey stomped onto the scene in a head-rush of grit and glitter, the Brighton quartet have set about building their own incendiary, inclusive universe from the inside out. It’s one that’s seen the band – formed of singer and chief ringleader Izzy B. Phillips, guitarist Chris Ostler, bassist Tommy Taylor and recent addition drummer Alex Woodward – swell from intriguingly anomalous newcomers, infusing every early release with bold, theatrical videos and increasingly iconic artwork, to one of UK indie’s most singular outfits. They’ve travelled the world and released a Top 40 album; graced the cover of the NME and become the faces and soundtrack of Roberto Cavalli’s Milan Fashion Week show; smashed Glastonbury and supported Queens of the Stone Age, all without compromising a shred of the wild, wicked vision they first set out with.
See you next year Leeds Festival for more of the same please – tickets now on sale!
No doubt The Big Moon will adorn one of the stages in 2023 The last time you heard The Big Moon was welcoming the release of their dazzling second album, Walking Like We Do, back in January 2020, when life was very different. That was a coming of age record, with bold songs for Saturday nights and sad songs for Sunday mornings. So much has changed and continues to change. And in this world of constant change, we yearn for something familiar. Thankfully, we can continue to rely on the unique, jubilant, unassailable bond that sews this brilliant London band together. Another such constant is their collective ear for melody and knack for writing smart, sharp, and infectious alt pop knockouts.
New album Here is Everything documents the arrival of a baby in real time, and the simultaneous arrival of a new mother, full of excitement and fear. Meanwhile, the rest of the band doubled-down in the studio, taking Jules’ embryonic song frameworks and stepping forward as one, revelling in an innate, giddy togetherness and with a clutch of genuinely fantastic tunes. The record is introduced with Wide Eyes, a pure, uplifting song of collective jubilance. It sounds like a band in top form having the time of their lives against all the odds. It sounds instantly like The Big Moon whilst sounding unlike any of the music that’s gone before it. The album is released on 14th October 2022 via Fiction Records.
