Leeds Festival 2024 — Saturday preview

Notoriously muddy, loud and a mainstay on every music fan’s calendar, Leeds Festival is quite possibly the long weekend event of the summer season. And the same goes beyond the Yorkshire border for Reading Festival. This year, for the first time ever, Record Weekly will be attending Leeds Fest as press*. Could we be any more excited? Nope, probably not.

We’ll be at Bramham Park for reviewing duties just on the Saturday. So, in order to share what we’re particularly looking forward to, plus what you can etch onto your agenda, here’s a little preview of what to expect…

The headliners

If you’ve ever donned a pair of Vans and a chain on your belt loops before a session on your skateboard, you know who blink-182 are. The American punk-rockers brought us behemoth-like bangers, such as ‘All The Small Things’, ‘What’s My Age Again?’ and ‘I Miss You’ — and that’s just scratching the surface of their long, ultra-successful career. So it feels somewhat surreal and unbelievable that they’ll be headlining the Saturday at Leeds Fest! We’ll be wading through a sea of bopping bodies to get as close as possible to the front for that one. Pray for our bruise-free ankles, please.

One of the hardest things we’ll have to grapple with on the day, though, is the large clash between them and The Prodigy. Those twisted fire-starters don’t do things by halves, so there’s an anticipation of a party atmosphere for sure. Although it’s somewhat of a niche choice among their back catalogue, there would be so much elation at RW HQ if ‘Warrior’s Dance’ got played.

If soulful, angelic tones and R&B grooves are more your flavour, then the scheduling gods have done you proud; the fabulous Jorja Smith is also a headline act. Again, juggling sets is made even trickier here still, as more than 12 million Spotify listeners can’t be wrong — we’ll be ready to belt our lungs out as the songstress works her magic.

The names to know

Thankfully playing twice, to ease the set clashing, Neck Deep are a biggie on the list. They’ve got that punk-rock prowess in spades as well, though just not on quite as vast a scale as Tom DeLonge and co. And you’re bound to recognise indie heavyweights Two Door Cinema Club, who we caught at Live at Leeds: In the Park in 2023. Very much the kings of throwback sixth form vibes, they’ll be a band we’d enjoy beholding twice.

Bring on the popular household indie joy that Gerry Cinnamon will deliver, just after Miami’s mighty Denzel Curry no doubt serves up some rap royalty. And when we spoke of parties earlier, you can really get the buzz started with the high-octane, energy-pumping Confidence Man.

The rising stars

We’re real champions of new, emerging music here at Record Weekly, which is why we jumped at the opportunity to review BIG SPECIAL’s debut album (via Chuff Media). IDLES-esque with some undertones of The Streets, their blend of British punk is hauntingly accurate as they mud-sling at politics, depict the mood of the nation and generally treat things very tongue in cheek.

Then you’ve got Bad Nerves and Lambrini Girls both separately flying the alt rock flags, with their own feisty, unique twists. Two outfits that are certainly shaping the modern rock scene, that’s for sure.

It’s all about indie if you’re going to be present and correct for The K’s, and, whatever else you do, be sure to swing by Ellur’s set. We had the pleasure of interviewing the Halifax-hailing songwriter just after the Leeds Fest line-up news dropped.

So many more immense artists are on the billing for the Saturday. You can find out all the details about Leeds Fest 2024 online now, but otherwise, we’ll catch you in the field!