Veterans of early Leeds Festivals, and even older Reading Festivals, would be somewhat surprised to see the type of people attending the festival this weekend.
Despite the obvious commerce involved, Leeds and Reading were once countercultural events. They were festivals mainly attended by punks, indie kids, metalheads and general misfits.
I should know because I was a bit of all the above when I went to Reading Festival in 1997. The first Leeds Festival was two years away so it meant a long bus or train journey south.
