Leeds Festival 2010

Slightly belated post on my Saturday spent at Leeds Festival 2010, but I'm seriously burnt out at the moment with one thing and another. Sunglasses truly are fabulous at covering dark circles, though I wish I'd spotted this Cath Kidston pac-a-mac before the Festival to keep stylishly dry!

Conveniently for me, Bramham Park, where Leeds Festival is held, is a 20 minute drive from the 'rents house. It wasn't swampy, but I was ridiculously glad of my wellies as my feet were stamped upon quite a few times... Memo to self: Never be right at the front again for the headlining act!

Yes, we were at the front for Blink 182. Sounds marvellous in theory but in practice meant we were packed like sardines against the barrier whilst eejits pushed from the back to get... I have no idea where. Needless to say, after four or five songs fearing for our lives - wish that was an exaggeration - we pushed backwards and got some much needed space (and air) and were able to start enjoying Blink 182. Let me just say, Travis Barker is an INCREDIBLE drummer.

I'd been bashed about earlier in the day when Limp Bizkit played... Who knew that when the song Rollin' was played you were supposed to fling yourself sideways, backwards and use people as human trampolines to fling yourself upwards?! I certainly didn't as I was never a fan of them, but the crowd seemed to love Fred Durst and the gang.

As for the crowd surfers... I saw more of them splat on the floor than I did surf to the front. Memo to crowd surfers, who are usually men that are 6ft tall and 6ft wide: Crowd surfing during All Time Low, You Me At Six and Paramore is a bad idea as the front is packed with teenyboppers who will let you plummet because they cannot hold your weight! That also includes me by the way, which is why I ended up getting kicked in the head. Ouch.

Whereas I could just about cope with the idiots throwing liquid over the crowd - keeping all fingers crossed it wasn't something more sinister - the delightful people throwing still-lit cigarettes up in the crowd was quite possibly the most dangerous thing I saw. And, the thing is ten years ago - heck, five years ago - this sort of thing wouldn't have blipped on my radar... I must be getting old. (Or perhaps it just felt that way as the festival seemed to have a mean age of 16 years old.)

Now, I'm not saying I didn't have fun - I did - but there's no way I could survive a weekend of camping. I was wiped out from one day at Bramham Park, not to mention financially wiped out from the over-priced food vans, and I was glad to hop in my taxi to take me back to a comfy, dry bed!

I have to say though, I absolutely LOVED Weezer, who were definitely my favourite band of the day. They did some brilliant covers of Erasure's A Little Respect, MGMT's Kids Oracular and Lady Gaga's Poker Face (complete with blonde wig for Rivers Cuomo), but ended with (If You're Wondering If I Want You to) I Want You To and Buddy Holly, my two absolute favourite Weezer songs.

Whereas I am glad I went to see some pretty sweet bands play, I'm thinking the next time I go to a festival it would be really nice to be one of those special VIPs who get to watch from the side of the stage away from the crowds! How about you, what do you think to festivals? Which ones have you been to? x