It is that exciting time of year where festivals are beginning to announce their line-ups for next summer and the announcement which is always the most exciting to me is Live At Leeds.
I’ve been to the festival for the past two years and thoroughly enjoyed myself. In my opinion, they are the best festival at showcasing new acts and I for one have discovered artists who I have supported since. In the past they’ve hosted IDLES, Sam Fender, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Stormzy and 1975 who have all gone onto big things.
The festival is held in Leeds on Saturday 2nd May 2020 in over ten venues across the city – one of my favourite places to see live music. They announced their first fifty-five acts on Monday evening and they have not disappointed!
Leading the line-up are Australian rockers DMA’S who have just spent the past few weeks supporting Liam Gallagher on his sold out tour. They have released two successful albums – due to release a third before the festival – building up a decent rapport with UK fans. They have previously sold out the O2 Academy Leeds in their own right.
Following a successful debut album, four-piece PALE WAVES are returning to the festival as headliners! They’ve played Glastonbury, supported the likes of Muse and are selling out shows all over Europe.
Arguably one of the biggest breakthrough artists of 2019 is Leicester band EASY LIFE. Mixing up jazz and punk with funk vibes they definitely are going to add some variety to the headline sound. Next year they are due to release their debut EP “Junk Food”.
Completing the main headliners is American indie rocker EZRA FURMAN. The cult artists gained a mainstream following after composing the soundtrack to Netflix series “Sex Education” which was released earlier on this year. He has quite the catalogue as he has released four studio albums.
Other leading names on the line-up:
AMBER RUN – indie rock band from Nottingham with two albums and four EPs.
BAD SOUNDS – alternative quintet from Bath who released their debut album, “Get Better” last year.
MARIKA HACKMAN – singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who performs alternative folk music.
SELF ESTEEM – experimental pop outfit consisting solely of musician Rebecca Lucy Taylor. Released debut album “Compliments Please” this year.
TEMPLES – psych-rock band from Kettering, Northamptonshire who have been rocking the scene since 2012.
TIM BURGESS – indie legend and frontman of Charlatans. All round total dude.
WORKING MEN’S CLUB – reviving new wave with killer riffs an always growing band tipped to be huge.
Joining the already very attractive headliners are indie-pop bands FEET and KAWALA along with rockers THE PALE WHITE and STEREO HONEY, alt-synth act W. H. LUNG and the soulful touch that is JORDAN MACKAMPA. From overseas the festival is bringing some Australian fuzz-pop in the form of HOCKEY DAD and some Norwegian punk rockers, POM POKO.
Other acts announced:
ABBIE OZARD | ALEX GOUGH | ALFIE NEALE | AMBER VAN DAY | ANGELICA GARCIA | ARTIO | BEACHTAPE | BIRTHH | THE C33S | CHEAP TEETH | DAVID KEENAN | DEVON | DO NOTHING | DYLAN | EMMA STEINBAKKEN | FEVER | GRACEY | THE GOA EXPRESS | JAMES SMITH | JOHN | JOSH VINE | KEIR GIBSON | LEO COSMOS
I am personally wowed by the list of talent on show at next year’s festival and I cannot wait for the rest of the line-up to be announced!
My plan is to write a detailed preview of the event closer to the time like I did this year which I have been told many benefitted from. I am just personally excited about the prospect of discovering a bunch of new acts yet again for this frankly fantastic festival.
You can get your tickets here.
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