Leeds Festival 2003
Friday 22nd to
Sunday 24th August 2003
Bramham Park, Leeds, West Yorkshire,
LS23 6ND,
England
MAP
£95 for weekend (camping included), £40 any day
Daily capacity: 55,000
Beards! You know that current vogue for Truckers Caps and Beard's that seems to be sweeping bands at the moment? Well I think there is a fair chance that the whole thing started with Grandaddy half their crew as well as the majority of the band are displaying vigorous facial hirsuteness that they have been wearing for years. Perhaps it makes more sense when you try and define 'what' Grandaddy sound like. The closest I can get to is Flaming Lips crossed with ZZ Top and a healthy dose of Xanadu Soundtrack thrown in for sugar. And there was a healthy beardage going on in all three of those [ok, so there wasn't in Xanadu, but the theory almost worked!] Or maybe it should be called 'Billy-Rock', I don't know, they confused me as much as Jason Lytle and the boys seemed to be playing at a "punk rock festival".
Whatever, their blend of chugging, fuzzy guitars; sparkly synths; and tinny drum machines is pleasant enough, conjuring up gentler days but the new material off 'Sumday' doesn't have the spark of previous LP 'The Software Slump' although 'Lost on yer Merry Way' and 'El Camino's in the West' probably show flashes of what was, but it's still 'Crystal Lake' that the crowd want to hear, whilst the band seem to want to go and mix up some fisticuffs with some of the louder bands decrying them as punk rockers who aren't as "punk rock as we are".
review by: Tim Fellows aka 'salt'
