With festival season finally starting to rev its engine, four days off at the start of June feel like a real gift after two disrupted years of pandemic sponsored chaos – and if there’s one place you can bet we’re eager to get back to, it’s Live at Leeds.
But this year, there’s a difference. The knock to the calendar caused by a worldwide shutdown has allowed the traditional inner-city new music extravaganza to make some changes. That long-established multi-venue blowout – usually held over the May bank holiday – has moved to October after last year’s successful return in a later slot. That earlier slot in the calendar hasn’t been abandoned though. With a little shift back into a traditionally sunnier month, 2022 will see the first edition of Live at Leeds: In The Park, taking place at Temple Newsam. The original home of Leeds Festival, and current location for the northern leg of Slam Dunk, it’ll welcome some exciting names this Saturday, 4th June.
From Bombay Bicycle Club and The Vaccines to Sports Team, Holly Humberstone, Easy Life, Arlo Parks, Alfie Templeman and Lauran Hibberd, it’s a bit of an indie pilgrimage. But that’s not all. We’ve got our own stage featuring some exciting new talent, and a brilliant little twist.
Dork’s tent will feature not one, but two stages. Running back-to-back, there’ll always be something happening – no long gaps or waiting around for us. With The Mysterines, Kid Kapichi, ADMT, Coach Party, Courting, Finn Askew, Kynsy, Lime Garden, L’objectif, Molly Payton, Porij, Sfven and Zuzu, it’s gonna be brilliant.
In the build-up, we grabbed hold a few of the acts playing to judge their mood ahead of the big day. One of our two headliners, Kid Kapichi, are raring to go.
Hello Jack! Are we interrupting anything fun?
We’ve just come back from a month-long European tour with Nothing But Thieves only yesterday, so it’s a day of sleeping and washing clothes.
It’s been a while since your album came out now, are you guys on with new material? You’ve not long released a song with Bob Vylan, right?
Yeah, we’ve actually got tonnes and tonnes of new material that is waiting to go. So much has been going on behind the scenes, but it’s all been quite top secret. All I can say is there is a lot more to come, and if you enjoyed the Bob Vylan track, then you’ll be certain to enjoy what’s ’round the corner.
You’re playing Dork’s stage at Live At Leeds: In The Park – are you going to be around all day? Are there any other acts you’re looking forward to seeing, or catching up with?
Yeah, absolutely. After years of missing festivals, we make sure to embrace every minute of them now. Looking forward to seeing Sea Girls, Sports Team, Dream Wife, and it’ll be good to catch up with The Blinders and many, many more.
What are the key ingredients for a good festival, do you think?
Good music, good beer, good weather and good friends. What more can ya ask for?
How do you prepare for spending so long on the road and in muddy fields? Does it get any easier with experience?
As we’ve gotten older, we’ve definitely needed to prepare physically as well as mentally before we go on long stints.
I think spending a few solid months in the gym always makes you feel better for the amount of beer and bread that get consumed on tour or during festival season.
It gets easier in some ways. Experience brings knowledge of how things are going to go down, but also, you miss home comforts a bit more. Sleeping in a van or a field didn’t seem too bad when we were younger. Now it’s less desirable. But sometimes, it’s nice for nostalgia.
What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you at a festival?
Someone was sick in my tent but forgot to tell me. Found out when I tried to go to bed in the pitch dark later that night.
If you were to book your own all-dayer, who would you want on the bill?
We’d love to see Nova Twins, Bob Vylan and Black Honey on the same day. Some of our top van bands at the moment.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your Yorkshire pudding making skills?
Production 2-10
Consumption 11-10
What else have you got coming up over the summer?
We’re playing a bunch of festivals, including Reading & Leeds, The Great Escape and 2000trees. We’ll also be releasing brand new music, which we can’t wait to get out into the world.
Live At Leeds In The Park takes place this Saturday, 4th June at Temple Newsham, Leeds. You can grab tickets here.
