Leeds Pageant – Day One 
Bramham Park, Leeds
Twenty fifth-Twenty seventh August 2023

Paul Clarke joins the annual coming of age ritual at Leeds Pageant as hoards of kids let their hair down after the GSCE/A degree slog. Trevor Eales took the pictures.

Bucket hats with the C phrase printed throughout them.

That appears to this 12 months’s act of rebel as hordes of dishevelled kids in seaside put on and shirtless lads roam between the levels taking in one other fastidiously curated invoice that matches their digital foot-print.

My 18 12 months outdated daughter is considered one of them, and as a father or mother it’s good to see the organisers have noticeably beefed up the help programs for individuals who may need overdone it, and the constructive messaging round consent taking part in on the large stageside screens.

It will be disingenuous to counsel that is some modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah because the ticket costs dictate this can be a primarily center class occasion, so regardless of any excesses this can be a good natured crowd. It additionally means the acts get a beneficiant response from followers who’re very acquainted with their work by their gadgets.  Anybody who thinks that digital is killing the dwell expertise is useless mistaken as this younger crowd clearly love the distinctive communal expertise supplied by bands, not information.

Possibly as a result of that is my second time at Leeds I discover much more older music lovers like me, and loads of households navigating their means across the lengthy strains of youthful followers snaking from stage to stage.

One of many joys of any competition is seeing an act you wouldn’t usually see who blows your thoughts and I get off to a flying begin with Rina Sawayama. If you happen to’re not acquainted with her, you could recall she joined Sir Elton at his Glastonbury farewell to do the Kiki Dee bit on Don’t Go Breaking My Coronary heart, and the grand dame of pop is a big fan.

And he’s proper, as Rina has star high quality written throughout her, and she or he’s put a number of thought into this dramatic present on the East Stage, full with costume modifications and props. Flanked by two splendidly excessive dancers, they carry out a routine to Maintain The Lady at 4 o’clock within the afternoon, even managing a barely surreal ring of roses at one level. It’s harking back to Kate Bush or Florence as Rina does numerous costume modifications, ending up in a pink latex outfit full with bullwhip for This Hell proclaiming she is a ‘proud queer lady’ and alluring the ‘sinners’ within the crowd to ‘experience everlasting damnation with me’. It’s that kind of heartfelt however bonkers present, and Rina can be taking part in arenas within the not so distant future.

One other new discover are Berlin’s Large Rooks who pull lots of people in for his or her set within the Pageant Republic tent. That is an indie pop band decided to profit from a giant break partaking with viewers, and frontman Frederik Rabe has one thing of Jim Kerr about him as they smash although Vivid Lies and Any person Like You.  A band to look at.

One of many nice issues about Leeds is there’s heaps away from the primary levels and the comedy tent is all the time someplace to relax and have fun.  Jack Skipper’s set is fairly pedestrian stuff, however Tiffany Stevenson presents some very humorous ideas on the perils of being a center aged stepparent, and an impressed musical routine primarily based on menstrual cups being known as Diva Cups within the US, together with one of the best ways to mimic Cher’s voice. I do pop again for Black Books legend Dylan Moran, however want I hadn’t as his rambling routine the place he randomly picks away at a keyboard may be very disappointing. There are flashes of his genius, like when a heckler invitations him to eff off and he jokes that ‘he lives in a celeb palace for individuals who had been on TV within the ’90s.’

I’m undecided what I used to be anticipating from Declan McKenna as I had assumed he was one other delicate indie singer/songwriter sort that appear to be ten a penny nowadays, however I’m means off.  As an alternative, we get Beck if he’d grown up in Enfield, with a traditional mullet and wearing a glittery go well with minus a shirt.  Except for the oddball look, his energetic set is each surreal and stuffed with intelligent pop tunes, with greater than contact of Zappa throughout a splendidly droll spoken intro. There may be even a uncommon little bit of politics as graphics specializing in our nation’s poisonous relationship with Saudi Arabia pop up throughout British Bombs.

It’s fairly a feat to show a giant subject into a celebration however that’s precisely what Becky Hill is doing on the West Stage, belting out her primary hit Gecko (Overdrive), and the large dance tracks preserve coming, like new single Disconnect with Chase and Standing as she ownes the stage in a florescence corset and big cargo pants.  Hill has an enormous voice and confidence to burn, backed by members of the Heritage Orchestra who she met when acting at Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics gigs.

Surrounded by six gender fluid dancers, Hills launches right into a storming model of the all the time anthemic You Bought The Love, which she describes as her ‘ode to the large black queer group in Chicago’ . As she sings, a gang of teenage boys swaggers by singing the refrain as a younger mum dances together with her little lady. Music does deliver generations collectively and all of it goes off throughout a banging model of Want You Properly. Hill appears amazed she pulls such a giant up for it crowd, ending by declaring ‘my identify is Becky fucking’ Hill. Yep, and also you’re a star.

Wandering previous a packed Pageant Republic tent, it’s good to see the affable and laborious working Tom Odell has drawn a giant crowd for his clever, piano-driven tunes.

And talking of clever pop, Steve Lacy, who made his identify as a part of the Web, is benefiting from his spot on the East Stage with a set stuffed with clean and uplifting soul and RnB underpinned by a few of his sterling work on the fretboard.  He appears impressed by the early night slot, telling the gang how a lot he appreciates ‘you being with me because the solar does down’, and he ends along with his US primary, Unhealthy Behavior, which has over 400,000 views on TikTok. It’s straightforward to see why Time journal named him as one of many 100 most influential folks on the planet.

Again over to the West Stage for one thing fully totally different with earnest rockers Think about Dragons and ripped frontman Dan Reynolds nearly derailes their set when he says it’s nice to again at Studying. Oops.

They’re from Vegas in order that they placed on a little bit of a present with common explosions of paper streamers and a few large balloons which have the little children scurrying spherical the sector attempting to catch them, as a shirtless Reynolds holds court docket on the runway on the entrance of the stage.  Think about Dragons are a type of bands who’re so a lot better dwell than their usually quite weedy information, and the opposite three band members are prime class musicians as Reynolds intones the phrases between some usually tacky movies.

Amazingly the pounding Believer is the ninth most streamed music on Spotify, and Thunder is strictly that, as Reynolds picked out a seven 12 months lady on her father or mother’s shoulders and tells her she might be something she desires. It’s that kind of present, but additionally unusually touching because the bewildered lady pops up on the large screens.

Given the age profile of the gang it’s good to listen to Reynolds open up earlier than Demons about his struggles with psychological well being saying ‘I’ve been in remedy’ and saying it’s truly an indication of power to hunt assist. Given the excessive suicide charges amongst younger males, it’s a robust message, and addsto the impression that Think about Dragons may need delivered the set of the weekend.

That lasts till Billie Eilish takes to the East Stage because the competition’s youngest ever headliner at 21, beating final 12 months’s prime of the invoice UK rapper Dave by three years. She could also be younger however Eilish has undoubted star high quality backed up with a powerhouse voice, plus delicate songs about points just like the setting that actually resonate with Gen X, and to be trustworthy us Gen Xers too.

Bounding onto the straightforward set with an extended downward runway, Eilish is wearing her trademark saggy sportswear, and a star spangled beanie belting out Bury A Buddy because the younger and primarily feminine crowd goes nuts from the get go.  She talks a language that they only establish with and the moody swing of NDA retains the power up.

The actually stunning factor is simply how a lot Eilish is engaged with the large crowd, giving them ‘permission proper now to lose your minds’ earlier than Ought to You See Me In A Crown and continuously checking in with them.  It’s a masterclass in tips on how to work a crowd from one so younger however who has grown into being a world star.

The brand new Barbie film is meta is so some ways, and getting Eilish to file the attractive What Was I Made For? was one other one, as her devotees sing alongside to a music their heroine acknowledges broke a inventive fallow interval. Issues decelerate when she brings her brother and co-creator Finneas down from his perch behind the keyboards the highest of the stage for an acoustic interlude. She unselfconsciously says he’s her ‘greatest buddy in the entire world’, hoping their inventive relationship will final without end, earlier than taking part in Your Energy.

There are seas of digicam telephones up all through the set and Eilish asks the trustworthy to activate their lights throughout Bellyache; and when the TV cameras minimize to the viewers, it’s shifting to see a sea of sunshine throughout this huge subject.  Unhealthy Man and the punchy slow-and-then-fast Happier Than Ever show the proper option to log out what might solely be described as a triumphant headlining slot. On this efficiency, lord is aware of what Billie Eilish can obtain earlier than she hits thirty.

There’s rightly been a number of discuss gender stability at festivals, and whereas there’s work to be accomplished Leeds are doing a reasonably good job of creating it fairer. What’s undisputed is Leeds Pageant presents a variety of acts that go well with the tastes of youngsters decided to place examination hell properly and actually behind them.

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Picture Gallery

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Phrases by Paul Clarke, you’ll be able to see his creator profile right here.

Photographs by Trev Eales. Extra work by Trev on Louder Than Struggle may be discovered at his creator’s profile. His pictures portfolio is right here