Leeds Festival: Aliens, Blink-182 and changes over the years.

Yorkshire Post

John Blow interviews Leeds Festival 2024 punters. Credit: Mike Jerrold/Lighhaus Media.

Transcript

00:00I'm 38 and he's 41 and we've been coming to Leeds and Reading Festival on and off for

00:2514 years maybe? 20 years? Maybe longer, yeah. I think, yeah. I think I first came to Reading

00:32when I was 18. That's our series question. Sorry! It's alright, no, keep going, I like

00:37it! So today we've come all the way from Nottingham. It was a bit of a spur of the moment sort

00:46of thing to do. Basically, we normally have to go to my nephew's birthday on a bank holiday,

00:53bank holiday weekend, but his birthday's being moved to next weekend so we're like,

00:57we have to do something! We know we're getting this opportunity! And we were scrapping around

01:01for things to do and I was like, I've never seen them before! But as it transpired, we did actually

01:08go and see them separately at Leeds Festival 14 years ago, but I have no recollection of it

01:14whatsoever! So it's like we're seeing them for the first time tonight. What are you expecting

01:19from them? Because obviously they've had this, it's gone back to the old line-up,

01:23the, you know, the definitive line-up and everyone's excited about that. I think you

01:26can see from all the t-shirts and Blink 182 fans today that people have come here to see

01:31something special and I think that's what they'll get. I mean, I'm not expecting it,

01:36but I'm hoping for maybe an appearance from a Kardashian! You think so? You never know!

01:42Just on the side of the stage? Yeah, 100%! I think also as well, Jerry Cinnamon as well,

01:46has brought a lot of people out as well. He doesn't tour as often as Blink 182, so I think

01:51there'll be a lot of people out there. Well, that's a funny story actually. We went to go

01:54to the Sausage and Cider Festival in Nottingham at the start of June and it's a tribute festival,

02:01apart from Scout for Girls, a bit random, and we saw Jerry Cinnamon, the tribute act,

02:06had no idea who it was. We were like, that's quite good! We saw the tribute act before we'd

02:11actually seen him in real life. Fantastic! We know some of the songs now though. We do,

02:15yeah. So you're going to sing along? Indeed, yeah, definitely! What do you think has changed

02:20about the festival from when you first started coming? I think the festival's turned a lot more

02:24indie and maybe pop compared to where it used to be. We used to get a lot of American bands here,

02:28so I think we've seen a massive change compared to 14 years ago when I last came.

02:33Do I like the line-up as much as when I first came? I think my nostalgia head goes, no,

02:38but at the same time, we've been here a couple of hours, the people are brilliant,

02:41the atmosphere's great, and they're still drawing really big names, so I think it's a

02:46big event for me. Yeah, I have to agree. I think when I first came, it was more

02:52rocky. There was a lot of quite alternative outfits going on and stuff, and the first thing I

02:58noticed when we first came through the gate was there was glamorous girls, there was maybe more

03:05townie boys going on. It's such a different mix of people and it is more mixed, which isn't

03:11necessarily a bad thing. Isn't it lovely that everyone feels like they're accepted and can go

03:14to a festival now? Fantastic. Thank you very much, guys, that'll do. Let's do anything else you want

03:20to say. No, no, no, that's fine. Let's go. Shout out to anyone. Shout out to John Pritchard!

03:41I come from Cork in Ireland. Do you live there? I live in Galway now. So you've come over to Leeds

03:50just specifically for the festival, have you? For the festival, yeah. How many times have you done

03:53it? This is the first time in Leeds, so it's the first time in Leeds. What do you make of it? Yeah,

03:57I love it, man. It's really good now. Really great weekends with this, yeah. What encouraged you to

04:03come out with the alien? Well, I'm a big fan of kneecap, you know, so I just said I'd wear

04:08something different, something green and Irish like, you know, so yeah, I'm a big fan of them,

04:15so I said I'd wear something different. Yeah, and so you say you've seen them before or something?

04:20I've seen them in Galway last year. That was the first time I'd seen them, so this is the second,

04:24and it probably won't be the last as well. Fantastic. Who else are you looking forward

04:28to seeing? Probably Tudor Cinema Club later on, Blink-182 and Jerry Cinnamon as well.

04:34Can't wait to see all of them. Well, Mainstage Hell, that's where I'm going to be for the rest

04:38of the night, you know. What was it like getting a shout out from the band? It was mind-blowing.

04:43I couldn't believe it. Your man, Makara, who's in kneecap, he just shouted me out and he said,

04:49that alien fellow there, he should make a mosh pit or whatever, you know. I could not believe

04:54it. It was quite surreal, but it was cool. I absolutely loved it. The only problem was that

05:00they were too short. They didn't go on for long enough, you know what I mean? And they pushed

05:04the times forward as well. But look, we made it anyway, and it was great. They were brilliant.

05:09Yeah, I know. I think a few people were probably caught out by the

05:12push forward times. I think so. We were almost late. Is there anything else you want to say at

05:16all? Anything in particular? Leeds Fest is great, crack man. You should definitely go,

05:22that's all I've got to say, you know. Yeah.

05:34So, how many times have you been to Leeds Festival before?

05:4914 times. 14 times. What keeps bringing you back?

05:52It's the vibe, the feeling, meeting the field, friends. You just don't want to let go.

05:57Yeah. What year did you first come then, do you think?

05:59I'm not trying to sever, but I can't remember the specific year, but yeah.

06:09We first came, I think, 2006 or something like that.

06:13I remember seeing Iron Maiden. We came that, that was the first year we came?

06:18Yeah. You remember Iron Maiden? Yeah.

06:20And so, who were you looking forward to seeing this time?

06:23Jerry Cinnamon, Blink 182. Have you always been a Blink fan?

06:27Yeah, more so than I've ever had, but more Jerry for me, yeah.

06:31Who is it you've come with? My best friend and her partner.

06:35Fantastic. And where are you from? Leeds.

06:37Leeds. Which part? East Leeds.

06:39East Leeds. So, it's nice to actually come to the festival that's your city as well.

06:43Yeah, yeah. Cool. Is there anything else you'd like to say? What are you going to do today?

06:47Just enjoy myself. That's it, yeah, just enjoy myself and my friends.

06:50Good stuff. Thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it.

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