West Yorkshire’s premier, something-for-everybody, summer music festival, Live at Leeds: In the Park, returned to Temple Newsam on Saturday 27th May, and it was a scorcher. The thriving, bubbly mix of rising talent and throwback acts from my sixth form years, amid 20-something-degree heat, created the most ideal environment for enjoying a whole heap of feel-good tunes.

For us, the first big gulp of fresh, new sounds came from Lime Cordiale. It was the Aussie outfit’s first ever Leeds show and their instantly fun, engaging set was peppered with synths, trombones and co-mic segments, alongside a suited-and-booted look and some token play-fighting. Why not? It couldn’t have been a more energising start to the day. And ‘Inappropriate Behaviour’ was flawlessly fab live. 

While Skinny Living, The Lottery Winners, The Lathums, Tom Walker and DMA’S all garnered respectfully sizeable crowds, the mop of bright red hair fronting Black Honey drew people down the hill and into the rays. Through meaty riffs, rumbling bass and angelic vocal tones, ‘Heavy’, ‘Cut the Cord’ and the fierce ‘I Like the Way You Die’ were all utter rock bops you could stomp your Dr. Martens to.

Performing on the stage right in the same spot that The Snuts graced last year was Enola Gay. All the way from Belfast, they generated an extended moment of euphoria that washed over me as the sun began to fade. They were even better than they were at Truck Festival back in July, where I’d first had the opportunity to witness their noise-punk majesty. The four of them are ferocious as anything when together, exhibiting a fearless, bass-first blueprint, hard-hitting spoken vocals and some of the tightest drumming imaginable. And that’s all embellished with an effect-laden guitar that gifts the cherry on top.

The festival landed just the day after Enola Gay’s release of ‘Leeches’, which was already a crowd-pleaser, but more and more bodies were summoned across to their carnage as they unleashed their volatile bangers — including the pivotal ‘Scrappers’. They were deliciously heavy and full of beans, and when you combined that kind of showcase with such slick, alternative material, you had your most exciting band of the event right there.

But if we’re talking faultless energy, it’s about time we dug into the household names… The Hives couldn’t have been more explosive. Like watching a bath bomb dissolve in a sink, they fizzed into the most buoyant dynamic, all donned in their trademark black suits with those glow-in-the-dark patterns. 

Their unwavering swagger — especially from their frontman — was insane, as call-and-response conversations with the “ladies and gentlemen” of the tent kept everyone truly immersed. Riff-wise, what you got from the Swedish band was very much the sort of thing AC/DC might’ve produced if they’d been indie boys. But this blend of indie-rock from The Hives was even more rock-and-roll in nature in a gig setting. They could whip up a frenzy, and the room was especially bouncing during ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’, but they could even dial down the tempo in order to bring it back up, through playful freeze-frames. Clever, clever stuff.

Kate Nash was on top form, too. She got down in the crowd, played some bass and even parted some wisdom about always trusting your gut. Although she had some die-hard fans out there, it should’ve surprised nobody that ‘Foundations’ (smartly left as the finale) was the song people had come for. My actual standout, though? The unexpectedly scuzzy guitar solos. Sensational. 

There was a humble, comfortable vibe to Maxïmo Park’s delivery when their turn arrived. The band behind ‘Girls Who Play Guitar’ — a total belter that I rinsed in my youth — were conversational throughout, signposting and explaining each song before they played it. Leg-splitting jumps and hip shakes? Most definitely. But was there even an ounce of ego? Not at all. It was all about serving the best of their back catalogue to an eager audience. 

Back in 2010, Everything Everything were, well, just that: everything. A group that people couldn’t get enough of in the indie circles. Their funky, avant-garde style has been a captivating quirkiness largely unrivalled, and the sheer volume of squeezed-in festival-goers evidenced just how revered they still were in Leeds.

Ahead of and during my A-levels, they furnished my playlists with so much joy. And although the more recent ‘Pizza Boy’ had that familiar wow factor, groovy numbers such as ‘Distant Past’ and ‘Night of the Long Knives’ somehow induced goosebumps in the sweatiest of places. 

The crew who’d curated the Live at Leeds: In the Park line-up for 2023 had not only exceeded aural expectations in harnessing newly fostered and well-worn talent in one grassy arena, but they’d brought a whole host of fantastic food and drink vendors, too. Certainly something I hugely look forward to when heading to a festival. From gyros to churros, vegan bratwursts to classic wood-fired pizzas, there was the lot. And don’t forget the craft beer (shout-out to the Vocation van). But it all came together for its crescendo during Two Door Cinema Club, the long-awaited headliner.

I was elated to finally catch Two Door, but 17-year-old me would’ve been bursting with giddiness. A lot of people were sitting, making the most of the still-warm weather, but there was a sea of standers as well. In true form at a festival, they were a band who’d sprinkled their set with flurries of newer offerings, alongside the hits. You know the ones. There was no substitute for ‘What You Know’ and ‘Undercover Martyn’, and Live at Leeds had provided that bucket-list listening experience in one fell swoop. 

With huge thanks to Zeitgeist Agency (particularly Shannon and Jamie) for the press access