Leeds 'festival'
- Thread starter wiskey
- Start date
Dillinger4
Es gibt Zeit
grogwilton said:
Wow. You are cool.
wiskey
Albatross Admirer
Leeds is horribly corporate - carling do the beer, Jack daniels do spirits, relentless do the soft drinks (we couldnt even give cans of that stuff away), but then theres also a massive duracell tent, and a trident gum tent, and a nokia tent . . . and the list goes on.
I have never been a totally mean fiddler event before, and on some levels it worked very well - everyone there is a professional who is paid reasonably for their skills, so theres no real problems (unlike most other festivals which are a labour of love at least to some extent). but my god it was soulless.
I found it very odd that considering its history of riots and disturbances there is NOTHING to do after the arena finishes at about midnight (there was a silent disco, the oxfam campaigns tent and the relentless tent which ran till 3 but thats a fairly recent thing). And there was no decor anywhere, people tell me this is because everything nice gets burned but i'm not so sure. a little effort would have been good. there was a bit of comedy but no theater or circus or anything - a total music festival, how dull.
the punters were alright, a lot of 16yo's but there was a happy mood and it never felt edgy to me. the closest i got to being in danger was when a group of blokes ambushed me as i walked through the camping on sunday morning armed with bows and foam arrows.
I saw a bit of NIN, CSS (or was it CCS) soundsystem, kings of leon and a bit of arcade fire, and then most of the chilli's. most of the music wasnt my taste at all though.
Everyone was very well behaved, there was a large fire in the arena on the sunday night (over 15 wheelie bins, 3 of those huge red biffa bins and whatever else could be found) which had a couple of fire extinguishers thrown on it and went boom but the crowd were mischievous rather than hostile. I know the public camping suffered a bit with tents burning and gas cannisters exploding but it was nowhere near the riot i was predicted. mind you a lot of regulars were surprised as it seemed calmer than most years. I didn't see a single person upset, no domestics, no aggression, nothing. lots of happy people.
AND IT DIDN'T RAIN ONCE!
i would go back but it wasnt as challenging as i was led to believe. I had a nice time though and found all of the northern people totally lovely (i had 9 people help me putr my tent up).
photo's here and i'll upload the vid of the bonfire later
wiskers
I have never been a totally mean fiddler event before, and on some levels it worked very well - everyone there is a professional who is paid reasonably for their skills, so theres no real problems (unlike most other festivals which are a labour of love at least to some extent). but my god it was soulless.
I found it very odd that considering its history of riots and disturbances there is NOTHING to do after the arena finishes at about midnight (there was a silent disco, the oxfam campaigns tent and the relentless tent which ran till 3 but thats a fairly recent thing). And there was no decor anywhere, people tell me this is because everything nice gets burned but i'm not so sure. a little effort would have been good. there was a bit of comedy but no theater or circus or anything - a total music festival, how dull.
the punters were alright, a lot of 16yo's but there was a happy mood and it never felt edgy to me. the closest i got to being in danger was when a group of blokes ambushed me as i walked through the camping on sunday morning armed with bows and foam arrows.
I saw a bit of NIN, CSS (or was it CCS) soundsystem, kings of leon and a bit of arcade fire, and then most of the chilli's. most of the music wasnt my taste at all though.
Everyone was very well behaved, there was a large fire in the arena on the sunday night (over 15 wheelie bins, 3 of those huge red biffa bins and whatever else could be found) which had a couple of fire extinguishers thrown on it and went boom but the crowd were mischievous rather than hostile. I know the public camping suffered a bit with tents burning and gas cannisters exploding but it was nowhere near the riot i was predicted. mind you a lot of regulars were surprised as it seemed calmer than most years. I didn't see a single person upset, no domestics, no aggression, nothing. lots of happy people.
AND IT DIDN'T RAIN ONCE!
i would go back but it wasnt as challenging as i was led to believe. I had a nice time though and found all of the northern people totally lovely (i had 9 people help me putr my tent up).
photo's here and i'll upload the vid of the bonfire later
wiskers
psycherelic
I'm not an old hippy!
Damn I wish I'd done some oxfam stewarding this year, I miss it!
wiskey
Albatross Admirer
blinkyspoogle
New Member
im not even going to read any of these comments but im sure i can safely say im not the only one who thinks LEEDS HAS GONE TO SHIT
grogwilton
Well-Known Member
boing! said:
This has crossed my mind, but they've jacked up the prices everyyear regardless of the rioting the year before, last year there was almost no rioting as it pissed it down on the sunday night. I think the greatest driver up of prices is the fact that it sells out a lot quicker then it used to. 1999, there was weeks in which you could get your ticket, now its days. I reckon this has do with the fact that rock music is more popular then it was 9 years ago thanks to the indie boom.
But not as cool as someone who takes the piss out of a posters first comment on a forum. Sorry I spoke, prick.
Dillinger4
Es gibt Zeit
grogwilton said:
wiskey
Albatross Admirer
the thing is, this fire was in the main arena, it wasnt in the campsites. it was probably about as safe as you can get, medical were on hand, security were on hand, there was enough space for everyone to get out of the way when it went bang, the people were mischievous rather than murderous.
it was safe anarchy for bored 16 yo's, and once they'd done a bit of blowing stuff up they went back to their tents and didnt riot (much).
it was safe anarchy for bored 16 yo's, and once they'd done a bit of blowing stuff up they went back to their tents and didnt riot (much).
alexisonfire
Active Member
2002 was the only year it was really bad enough to deserve the reputation. everyone on here seems to have neglected the fact that by replacing a few police with hired goons known as "security" completely inflamed the whole riot scenario as these "guards" were going round smacking the shit out of people who were merely stood watching the "safe anarchy". this obviously then caused the situation to escalate massively.
Sunray said:
that was the last one i went to. those loo's do make a great whoosh when they go up. but the riot squad were just out of control. worst sight was everyone laughing at the lad who nearly died when they tipped the loo he was in over, with the door to the floor.
wiskey
Albatross Admirer
alexisonfire said:
stuart security have been banned from doing leeds - this year it was AP, SES and Gainsborough (who had the response units)
most people i saw being carted off were for disobeying the rules like no cans in the arena or other such stupid corporate stuff. not for violence. although my dads friends girlfriend left early after having all her stuff strewn around the campsite and then being assaulted and nearly raped.
which isnt nice.
joustmaster
offcumdun
i was there.
I was in the guest bit though so i didn't have to put up with tents on fire and twats being twats.
All i had to put up with was twats on strong drugs.
I didn't really manage to see any bands, but i did manage to tell that woman from gossip to get the fuck off a table.
I think isaid some think to interpol that made them sad, but i can't remeber what.
here are my only 2 pictures from the weekend. No idea what they are of.
I am also responsible for several of the members of bands in leeds loosing there marbles.
fun weekend
I was in the guest bit though so i didn't have to put up with tents on fire and twats being twats.
All i had to put up with was twats on strong drugs.
I didn't really manage to see any bands, but i did manage to tell that woman from gossip to get the fuck off a table.
I think isaid some think to interpol that made them sad, but i can't remeber what.
here are my only 2 pictures from the weekend. No idea what they are of.
I am also responsible for several of the members of bands in leeds loosing there marbles.
fun weekend
joustmaster
offcumdun
futha said:that was probably me
i met a lot of people.
did you see a really fucked tall man stumbling around talking nonsense?
joustmaster
offcumdun
wiskey said:you know what - leeds was full of incredibly tall men, i saw one bloke with a tshirt saying ''Tallest man at leeds 07" and then turned a corner to meet a man who dwarfed him
and men in thongs . . . not so good that one.
there where some horrifc men in thong sightings.
one had to padd his out with tissue. If you are a man in a ladies pants, and you have to pad it out, then you should just stay at home.
