Carling weekend 2003 - Leeds Review Friday

United Kingdom | by Sara Bowrey, Sara Wright, Wayne Hoyle | 22 August 2003

Leeds 2003 Friday (1)

FRIDAY 22nd AUGUST:-

The Leeds leg of the Carling Weekend has been with us for five years now, but with the relatively late site change there was a distinct air of novelty and freshness around Bramham Park.

Whilst much of the site plan was based on the old tried and tested Temple Newsham layout, mahem prevailed during the early hours of Friday, with parts of the site still very much under construction. Speakers bereft of their banners and the arena openening just a little later than scheduled...no doubt in part due to the sheer vastness of Metallica equipment that needed to be soundchecked before their headline slot that night.

A bustling Radio 1 tent eagerly anticipated the arrival of 'great new hopes' Kinesis . They did not disappoint. Ripping through their now familiar set, they were the first band of the day to truly ignite the crowd, inciting crowdsurfers galore. Connor and co are proving themselves to be more than middle of the day fodder - headline slots await.

Early daytime slots seem to be what Biffy Clyro are resigned to. Whilst they performed like a band well versed in playing to less than capacity crowds, they just don't seem to have found that spark which will take push them up the bill and into the public eye. If they can dig deep and find themselves a catchy number that excites the charts, they may finally get some recognition for their years of hard work.

"The Raveonettes" (radio 1 stage) are a strange mix, with sultry singer/ bassist Sharin, pouting at the crowd from 4-inch heels, whilst guitarist Sune thrashes his instrument to the limit. The frantic guitars echo 'The Jesus & Mary Chain' with surprisingly melodic vocals over the top. Single 'Beat City' is a triumph, the crowd are dancing and the set is over way too soon.

"Good Charlotte" promised much with their brace of beautifully packaged and promoted frenetic skate-punk singles and laugh-a-minute lyrics. Sadly though their set failed to deliver. Maybe it was too early in the day, but the crowd seemed unenthused with the set, and more concerned with bottling the photographers - one catching a full (hate to think with what) Lilt bottle between the legs. Being short and female can have its advantages, even if a stepladder does become an essential piece of photographic kit... The general performance was lacklustre, without the energy of their videos - another piece of evodence for the prosecution in the case of 'Bands who become famous because they can perform' vs 'Bands who make it and then have to perform'. The singles came across well enough, with 'Lifestyles of the Rich and famous' an obvious highlight, but you can't help but feel that it's all been done before.

In contrast, the next band up have done it all before - many times - with almost two decades on the music scene under their belts. "Primal Scream" have all the rock credentials they need, and an impressive back catalogue which manages to effortlessly encompass indie, rave and rock. Their 1991 'Screamadelica' is still recognised as a truly seminal album - influential still - whilst the band have that rock star knack of looking like they have done enough drugs to kill any normal human...probably of course because they have! However, they are the sort of band that works best at night or in some dingy venue, a sunny field at five in the afternoon just isn't right. Obviously somebody has to play out in the sunshine, but Primal Scream's oomph seems to have been taken out of them by the brightness of the day.