Reading and Leeds 2017: Here are our top five Saturday moments

Publish date: 2024-04-24

It’s day two of Reading and Leeds festival and, somehow, the ground is still relatively dry.With our programmes in hand and a day of top notch music ahead of us, we slapped on suncream, pulled on our obligatory wellington boots and jumped in the car: Leeds festival, here we come.

With our programmes in hand and a day of top notch music ahead of us, we slapped on suncream, pulled on our obligatory wellington boots and jumped in the car: Leeds festival, here we come.

Here’s who made our top five on Saturday of the festival:

Mallory Knox

Over on the Main Stage Cambridge’s own Mallory Knox are gearing up to start their show. The band have been through a lot in the past year: releasing their third studio album Wired, and abruptly parting ways with their record label.

But this music industry drama doesn’t translate to the stage. Mallory Knox open with “Lighthouse”, a fan-favourite from their debut album Signals, and front man Mikey Chapman is grinning ear-to-ear.

They follow it up with “Wired”, “Get Away”, and “Lucky Me”, loading their midday set with a collection of their best loved tracks. It’s predictable but effective, and they finish things off with Wired single “Better Off Without You” before taking their bows and leaving the stage.

Counterfeit

Next up: we’re over at The Pit stage and punk-rock newcomers Counterfeit are about to make their Leeds Festival debut. The band, fronted by Harry Potter’s Jamie Campbell Bower, only released their debut Together We Are Stronger in March, and they are clearly eager to make an impression.

That they do. From the moment the five-piece step onto the stage the tent is a mess of noise, sweat, and intermittent pits. Brothers Jamie and Sam Bower are constantly in the crowd, their notes and vocals just as sharp from the depths of the tent.

The show would be enough to thoroughly educate a newcomer on their sound. They play “Come Get Some”, “Romeo”, and “You Can’t Rely” in quick succession, and leave the crowd covered in sweat and cheering in their wake.

Two Door Cinema Club

British indie-rockers Two Door Cinema Club are a band made for festivals. They’ve been making tracks touring the European festival circuit this summer, and from the moment their show starts, it is easy to understand why.

The band’s set is a well-constructed journey through their discography, beginning with “Cigarettes in the Theatre”, and working its way through “Undercover Martyn”, “Bad Decisions”, “Lavender”, and “What You Know.”

The show understated but effective, letting their music do the talking under the glow of the mid-afternoon sun–a glorious festival cliche.

Bastille

Reading and Leeds veterans Bastille always put on quite a show, and judging by the size of the screens and lights being wheeled on the stage, this year was going to be no different. The band open their show with “Send Them Off!”, moving quickly into “Laura Palmer”, “Warmth”, and radio classic “Flaws.”

The band, as ever, broadcast their political agenda loudly throughout their show, with front man Dan Smith even dedicating a song to “a big orange American baby”. Mid way through the set, a video of a woman dressed suspiciously like our glorious leader Theresa May throws around a copy of her “strong and stable” manifesto, mouthing the words to “Bad Blood” right alongside Smith.

Bastille close their show with “Pompeii”, leaving a chorus of “ey-ey-oh-ey-oh” in their wake.

You Me At Six

Then it’s over to the NME / Radio 1 stage for our headliners of choice: Surrey’s very own You Me At Six. It’s a pretty big step up from their not-so-secret set at The Pit stage last year, and the excess of pyro is there to prove it.

The band are clearly thrilled to be there. Their set is a welcome diversion from the typical singles-heavy festival set, You Me At Six bringing back some classics into the mix. “Save It For The Bedroom”, a track from their 2008 debut, gained an elated reaction from the front rows, front man Josh Franceschi running across the front of the barrier as he sings.

They follow through with “Take On The World”, “Night People”, and “Reckless”, before jumping into a somewhat half-assed rendition of their best-known track “Underdog.”

They finish their set with “Room To Breathe”, blasts of pyrotechnics and confetti covering the tent as they take their bows, and the lights go up.