Preview: Live at Leeds

This weekend, Live at Leeds follows in a long line of walkabout city festivals, perfect for those who love seeing lots of bands, but don’t fancy facing camping and wading around in a sea of mud to do so. Also, there will hopefully be less people dressed as fairies/in morph suits. Though you never know. A day of venue-hopping is probably ahead of you, so make sure you wear sensible shoes, and maybe invest in some blister plasters…

With a host of fantastic venues hosting some brilliant bands, new and old, for a very impressive price, this is a festival with a lot to offer. It’s like The Great Escape, but with more ‘YORKSHIRE!’ chants (probably).The line-up boasts headliners The Walkmen, Everything Everything (they are from the wrong side of the pennies, surely?) and local lot Sky Larkin among many others. Here’s our pick of 6 artists, other than those fab three, to catch over the weekend:

Wet Nuns

Playing on the Friday, Wet Nuns are a Yorkshire band that sound a lot like they’ve come via the Deep South. They play heavy, blues influenced punk rock about whiskey and women with some loud guitar hooks and shattering drums. And they are awesome. Their set promises to be: LOUD.

Swiss Lips

Our Mancunian friends and sorcerers of dangerously infectious pop music that will get the indie-kids moving as much as those prone to the dancefloor fillers; Swiss Lips will be playing Live at Leeds for the second year running this weekend. Their new single U Got The Power is bound to go down a storm and we're sure the band will pick up a lot of new friends across the day. Their slot promises to be: sexy, northern, powerful and full of dancing.

Sóley

Composer, singer and songwriter Sóley Stefánsdottir is one member of the wonderful Seabear. Hailing from Iceland and bringing thoughtful, wonky indie-pop to our shores. She crafts beautiful, piano-led songs with offbeat clapping and strange percussion. Her set promises to be: captivating, maybe even a little tear-jerking

Mø

When introducing us to this act, a friend described Mø as ‘the Danish Grimes’. And that comparison, although widely made is pretty on point. Mø aka Karen Marie Ørsted uses a blend of samples, synths and her beautiful voice to create fantastically wonky pop songs. Her song ‘Glass’, with its ice cream van style riffs, is one of my personal favourites of the year so far. Her set promises to be: fun and full of catchy wonky pop songs.

Sweet Baboo

Sweet Baboo aka Stephen Black, known in certain (dare we say twee…?) indie-pop circles as one time collaborator/member of Slow Club. However his solo work really is worth investigating. His songs are full of wonderful idiosyncrasies, touching and funny lyrics, all carried along by his distinctive voice. His single ‘Let’s Go Swimming Wild’ may be familiar to Radio 6 listeners, as it was on Steve Lamaq’s ‘Rebel Playlist’ last year. It is full of brass, hence why we're hoping for plenty of brass during his set! Even without Brass, this promises to be fantastic.

Little Comets

Little Comets are a band who know how to craft a darn catchy tune. You may remember them from their debut single, ‘One Night In October’, which was pretty infectious when it was released back in 2009. Or maybe from ‘Dancing Song’, that one off that advert. (what was it for? Shampoo or something?) They are a fantastic live band, slightly infamous for percussion instruments dangling over the front of the stage, who deliver an energetic, danceable set with enthusiasm. Their show promises to: make you dance to sometimes sad but always catchy songs.

See the full lineup here and buy a last minute ticket from here or visit Crash or Jumbo Records in Leeds.

Holly Read-Challen