I had a fun weekend in Leeds, thanks to my friend Matt for putting me up!

A brief summary of the bands I saw and what I thought.

Skipped the que by walking straight in, was too big for my liking.

First band I saw was We The Kings on the main stage – very generic, American pop punk, literally nothing different about them. Then again, didn’t really expect a lot this early on.

Grabbed a beer and headed to the Atticus stage to see We Are The Ocean – these guys are getting quite big round the UK by all accounts. I’m not entirely sure why, it’s a total alexisonfire rip off without any riffs, worse singing, worse screaming… basically they sound just like alexisonfire but sub par in every respect. The only thing they’ve got going for them is that they’re British, so I imagine they’ll hit their popularity ceiling soon enough.

Next I caught some of JB Conspiracy – I don’t really like ska but I guess I had soak up a bit whilst I was there. Tiny stage with lots of people on it – seemed to be doing the ska thing alright and I enjoyed them a bit more than We Are The Ocean. If you like ska, might be worth checking these guys out.

Next I went to watch Valencia – I failed and played in a lift I found so grabbed a beer and headed back to watch Flood Of Red – now these guys were good. Really interested to hear their new record when it comes out, this was a big sound that really worked. I liked a lot. The keyboard player had a sample of a big subby kick drum too, always a winner in my books.

Next caught the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – I know they’re generic but they do it quite well – unfortunately less so live. The frontman let the crowd sing most of the lyrics and the guitars were far too low on the mix. Couple that with a misplaced ballad number, a Foo Fighters cover and a ten minute ‘epic’ closing song and the set was definitely a let down.

Next up I caught Twin Atlantic – I’ve been singing ‘Can Ye Kick It’ to most of my friends lately and was eager to see these guys live. My pre-gig adoration may have had something to do with the overly Scottish accents in their songs and being half Scottish myself but they put on a good show and elicited a greater response from their little audience than the Red Jumpsuits decidedly larger one.

I saw a bit of YouMeAtSix – I don’t like them on record and just to affirm that belief their generic brand of lameness on stage cemented my opinion of them. Dull, dull, dull.

Next I caught the Blackout – really good show actually despite not knowing much of their set, they definitely got the crowd rocking. I do question the need for two vocalists, it could be utilised to a much greater effect, but maybe that’s for their future stuff..

Next up I caught some Kids In Glass Houses – they’re good enough, it’s just a bit too ‘nice’ for me and didn’t get me going. Decent enough band though.

Next we saw some Fightstar - average set I would say – clearly all talented musicians I’m not sure that their songs really have any depth to them and their live performance didn’t exactly blow me away.

Story Of The Year – great show, great performance, great band. Perhaps a bit too samey but it’s good fun. I was probably getting a bit drunk around this point anyway and had to take a massive piss in the penultimate song. What can you do eh?

Went to go and catch some Cute Is What We Aim For – but apparently their singer forgot his passport, although I could have sworn I saw him taking a crap earlier.. anyway caught some boyslikegirls – never listened to these guys before and I doubt I will again. Boring.

The club afterwards was fun – strippers playing with fire and pouring milk on themselves is always a winner. Leeds union is nice too, nicer than mine!

Love Rob

x