Away from the jubilee street parties Temple Newsam really was the place to be in Leeds over the long bank holiday weekend.
In our fan galleries, we did see some patriotic spirit here and there but Slam Dunk, The Music’s headline show and new festival Live at Leeds: In the Park were the perfect events to switch off from the pomp and ceremony. With such beautiful surroundings, Temple Newsam has proved once again it is a great place to enjoy live music.
Obviously, way back when, Temple Newsam was the home of Leeds Festival before it moved to Bramham Park and it has been such a welcome boost to the big event offering (coronavirus cancellations aside) in Leeds to see the venue’s stature continue to grow in recent years. Pop-punk alternative rock festival Slam Dunk moved from Leeds city centre to Temple Newsam back in 2019.
Read more: Leeds Festival 2022 line up, tickets, how to get there, banned items and more
This summer, we saw the Live at Leeds team launch their In The Park offshoot at the venue. As an expansion of their offering, which champions up-and-coming new music, we saw a really varied debut festival line up.
Similar to their city centre event, which has previously provided platforms to now household names like Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and Royal Blood, there were lots of new acts to be found at Live at Leeds: In The Park. During our visit, undoubted highlights included Porij and Confidence Man.
The latter, which consists of Aussie duo Janet Planet and Sugar Bones, was heaps of fun and their electric pop indie, which has earned praise from Oasis legend Noel Gallagher, really got the DIY Big Top tent bouncing.
While, of course, In The Park had that Live at Leeds ethos, particularly in reference to opening peoples’ eyes to new music, it was important the fledgling event made inroads forging its own identity. And, it genuinely did feel like that quintessential big music party in a field.
Some sat at the top of a hill taking in the main stage and the wonderful landscape, relaxing and supping beers. While others, were a little wilder, with many in some kind of fancy dress, bouncing up and down front and centre. We saw hen parties, a fair few Leeds United fans showing their colours and even the odd person commemorating the jubilee in possibly a slightly alternative way.
The new festival felt particularly Leeds and it was all the better for it. Probably no artist on the day embodied that better than The Pigeon Detectives. Those seasoned indie campaigners proved they could still party with some of the young pretenders as they thrashed through songs including Take Her Back and I’m Not Sorry. Frontman Matt Bowman had a penchant for calling the crowd ‘motherf**kers’ which seemed to be received in the manner it was intended.
One of the key things about any new festival is ensuring the logistics and its mechanism of operating is effective. And, pleasingly, from our trip the traffic and travel seemed to run smoothly, there were enough bars to cope with the demand (some might turn their nose up at £7 a pint for Neck Oil but what other festivals would have that on tap, in fairness?) and a good choice of food outlets. It appeared all the fundamentals, from the line up to on-the-day running, were well planned out.
The MTV Main Stage bookings felt as if they reflected the increased scale of In The Park while also sticking true to the roots of Live at Leeds. The Vaccines, who have previously headlined the city centre incarnation, never disappoint as a festival booking, while Sports Team, who were full of praise for the Leeds music scene, continue to grow in profile and Bombay Bicycle Club brought the curtain down on proceedings.
At that point of the day, the main stage had welcomed those who’d enjoyed music elsewhere on the site with the setting well and truly becoming In The Park’s focal point as the crowd danced and sang away to songs including Always Like This, Luna and Eat, Sleep, Wake.
Live at Leeds: In The Park 2022 felt like a solidly successful first effort to branch out with and there’s so much potential for it to grow in scale in the coming years. Previewing this weekend’s event we were told, that if it was deemed to be a success, then we’d see it return next year. Something as good as the weekend's first showing deserves to be on the Leeds music festival calendar for years to come.
Now, for the Live at Leeds team, their attention turns to In The City which will be happening on Saturday, October 15 at venues across Leeds. Pale Waves, Thomas Headon, Palace, Working Men’s Club, Baby Queen and Sea Power are some of the acts scheduled to perform.
To find out the latest big gig and event news in our city you can visit our Best in Leeds homepage. There you will also find a guide to great things to do in Leeds.
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