ML - My Leeds Fest wish list

With the announcement coming today of acts appearing across the Leeds Fest weekend, it got me thinking who i'd like to see there in 2013. This years line up seems to be introducing a different variety of acts with hip-hop acts already being introduced, and Black Sabbath being strongly rumoured to headline one of the days, if efestivals is to believed.

I'm suppose what you categorize as a typical 'indie boy', but I hate being type cast so i'll just say that my preference music is quite varied. I do sometimes lean more towards bluesy rock, but generally my music library consists of the indie anthems.

Since I experienced quite an extraordinary leeds fest experience last year (read the write up of my weekend here), this year was always going to be difficult to top. Last year had The Courteeners, Kasabian, The Black Keys and The Vaccines, which are 4 out of my 5 favourite bands. All it would have took was a headline slot for the Arctic Monkeys to make it my perfect festival. With more announcements expected in the following months, and with pay day tomorrow, i'm already tempted to buy my weekend ticket. I'm just going to hang tight for a second though, just to make sure the line-up isn't a complete catastrophe, even though i'd still enjoy the festival regardless of what music played. Here's my wish list of who i'd like to see at leeds festival this year.

Probably worth noting that this isn't just a list of my favourite bands, but bands i'd like to see and who I believe have a very good chance in playing.

1. Franz Ferdinand

I don't really remember how I got into Franz Ferdinand, but i'm glad that I did. I listened to them a lot when I was a lot younger, and only got back into them around this time last year when I heard one of their songs being played in HMV. Thus, I was slightly disappointed that they weren't at Leeds 2012, after they had been rumoured. So, hopefully they'll be there this year on the back of being absent last year.

2. Mumford & Sons
The folksy band have been bandied about to headline the iconic Reading and Leeds festival. Despite already seeing them once, and will be seeing them again in a couple of weeks, I don't think they're quite ready for a headline slot. They're on a similar par to Florence & The Machine, so I reckon subbing a pretty big band could be a real possibility. Seeing them at a festival would be pretty special, they're the perfect festival band and a band I would very much like to see on the line-up.

3. The Fratellis

I've been a massive fan of The Fratellis ever since they released their first album, Costello Music. They failed to live up to the hype of this album with their follow up of Here Me Now. Their music is incredibly catchy and I was devastated to hear that they had broke up and that I could have possibly missed a chance to see them live. Luckily enough, after a couple of hoax's, Jon Fratelli revealed that the band were getting back together. I was unable to convince any of my friends to part money to go see the show, so to see them at Leeds would be pretty epic. I also think that they are a pretty big shout to play, considering that they fit the festivals 'demographic'.

4. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Would be a very unpopular announcement, considering that most people think that he is living off his past success in Oasis. It's hard to disagree when he plays all of our favourite Oasis songs in his set lists. I don't think many people could argue that Oasis' songs are brilliant to have a sing along to, and have defined anthems of our generations. It's impossible not to love one Oasis song, and you'd be hard pushed to find somebody who didn't know the words to Wonderwall. We haven't got Oasis, so Noel is the next best thing. Would love to see in a subbing slot, but I don't think it would go down too well.

5. Blur

I cannot describe how happy I would be if Blur were there. They're a band i've grown up listening to, and I honestly believe that they would smash the headline slot. I'd have loved to have seen them at Hyde Park, but the tickets were ridiculously expensive and just not worth the money, despite being a pretty big fan. Leeds would be perfect for me to see them, although deep down I have a feeling that they won't be playing.

6. Biffy Clyro
I'm not that big of a fan of Biffy, but their latest album did steal my heart. A quick listen to their earlier work though, put me off paying money to see them in their own show. By now I imagine you're getting a good feel of what my music taste is about. Biffy would be a brilliant addition to the line-up and from what i've read they put on a brilliant show. A band that I definitely need to see live, even if i'm not a big fan of the majority of their music.

7. Frank Turner

All my friends absolutely adore Frank, but I never give him a chance. I don't really know why but i've never sat down and listened to him, and I know that I did I would probably enjoy his music. I think he could very well be another Gaslight Anthem, and that it'd take a live performance to win me over. Seeing as i'm not the sort to just buy a concert ticket to someone on the chance of liking them, a festival is a great place to discover new music as well as listening to the music you already know and love. He gave leeds a break last year, so I very much expect him to be there this year. I also missed him in my first leeds festival, due to watching Cage The Elephant, so come on Frank, get back to Leeds.

8. Radiohead
I admit, this one is a shot in the dark. I keep having Radiohead phases where I just listen to them non-stop and I would be over the moon were they chose to headline. Sadly, I can't see it happening, and reading up on a few reviews of their live performances, they've disappointed in their recent years. Plus, their announcement brings about little kids going 'who der fuq r radiohead?', so it'd probably be best if they didn't play. Still a pipe dream of mine though.

9. Arctic Monkeys
They were the only thing missing from a perfect Leeds 2012. With a new album on the cards, it does seem likely that they will play after seemingly playing every other festival in the last couple of years. It does seem like it's Reading and Leeds turn to grace the Sheffield born band.  What does make them unlikely is that their last performance at the festival they claimed to not 'enjoy it', so that being said, could possibly mean that they'll never play the festival again. That seems doubtful though.

10. Dog is Dead
A little band that I got into last year due to working out i'd have a gap at that point in my day, and I needed to see someone. For one reason or another, I ended up not seeing them. I think I saw Enter Shikari instead, but i'm not entirely sure. Anyway, I'm not hung up on not seeing them last year, but it would be nice to see them and now they have an album out, I anticipate that they'll put on a good show.


We'll have to refer back to this blog post when the line-up is completed, to see how happy I am. I think i'll be happy with 4/10 of the list being at the festival.