The Leeds festival was a lot of fun. For the last couple of songs, the venue's system couldn't handle our drums channel and blew a fuse, but by then we'd played most of our set, so it didn't really matter too much. People seemed to enjoy us, and we enjoyed them enjoying us.
We were memorably introduced thus:
"Possibly the greatest band ever named after a Tracy Chapman song…. Please welcome: FASTCAR!"
Of the other bands I saw on the day, I enjoyed The Boy Cartographer (Scottish, Pastels-ish, ponytailed bassist notwithstanding), Big Eyes (slow, sit-down instrumentals, beautifully played, perfect for a Sunday afternoon), and The Starlets (More Scots, very clean, very young, very Bluebells-ish). Had to go for a lie down when The Hotwires came on (very Blues Explosion garage rock, ie very fashionable right now), and was sorry that I couldn't stay for Tender Trap and the other groups due to catching the last train back to London. Next time I'll search out for a floor to stay on: I do love festivals. As long as I'm performing at them. Otherwise, I just get envious.
Much of the DJ-ing in the bar area was sublime, too. Orange Juice's "Breakfast Time" (Postcard version) next to Alexander O'Neil's "Criticize". Pure class.
