The Carling Weekend: Leeds Overview

The most underrated band on the day's bill is undoubtedly Hope of the States. Underrated, commercially shunned, critically ignored, but sweet Jesus are they exceptional live. They absolutely tear through a predominantly 'Lost Riots' based set in an eerily sparse Radio 1 tent, opening with one of the greatest pieces of beautiful noise ever penned - 'The Black Amnesias'. Sam and his raggedy band of talentitians (including a breathtaking fiddle performance), not only deliver the goods musically but, with anthems the size and scale of 'The Red, The White, The Black, The Blue' and 'Blood Meridian', Hope of the States show how to get a crowd chanting along. Their failure to hit the mainstream never ceases to amaze.

Mumm-Ra have a lot going for them. Shocking Thundercat-inspired moniker aside, the band hits all the right notes for a Saturday morning. Every song is perfectly crafted for perfect pop rock relations and they will be perfect touring partners later this year when they accompany the Automatic. Mumm-Ra prove they have great songs coursing through their scamp-like veins.

The Pigeon Detectives' reputation as a superb live prospect seems to pick up speed by the day and generally, it’s a reputation very much deserved. Today though, they seem a bit off. Matt's confession that he has a sore throat goes some way towards an explanation, but not even the double header of ‘I’m Always Right’ and ‘I‘m Not Sorry’ hit home. Naturally, the pit goes as mental anyway though.

The Guillemots are a very talented assortment of musicians, that much is for sure, but their lack of songs really takes its toll mid-set. They pick it up with some more incendiary brass and fretwork before popping into their most accessable number to date with ’Trains To Brazil’, but time and time again overcomplicate matters when a simpler solution would prove more fruitful.

It turns out it’s BoySetsFires' last ever trek to the UK before their impending demise so it would be nice to say they went out with a bang. Unfortunately they don’t. Despite the nostalgia in the air it’s hard to stand up and argue most of BSF’s back catalogue isn’t your average hardcore chuggery fare. The fact they overlook virtually all of their finest record to date ’Tomorrow Come Today’ doesn’t help proceedings. The highlight proves to be frontman Nathan Grey's very eloquent and impassioned tirade against ‘fake’ punk, as ridiculously haired, mascara'd boys-slash-girls hang their heads in collective shame. Maybe BoySetsFire still have the heart, but the bodies and the music disappeared a long while ago.

“Give me a Kaisers!” “KAISERS!”… “Give me a Chiefs!” “CHIEFS!”... This pantomime goes on for what seems like 20 minutes. You can’t be sure at what point Ricky Wilson turned from a fire-eyed man of the people into the pompous ringmaster that he is today, but it seems the change is all but irreversible. The set is all you’d expect from a collection of songs at the end of their life cycle - a lot of Kaiser Chiefs karaoke. The exception is a fair dose of new songs, but they run the typical Kaisers template. The surprise highlight comes courtesy of ’Caroline, Yes’. Kaiser Chiefs still and will always have a lot going for them and you don’t get the kind of adoration they’ve acquired by writing anything other than insatiable indie-pop, but the early spark is long gone.

It’s left to Thursday (pictured) to put the spark into the evening as a sparse but dedicated crowd assembles to take in the post-hardcore supremos' rendition of their unmatched back catalogue. The set list is well designed, if a little ’Full Collapse’-lite but ’Understanding In A Car Crash’ and ’Jet Black New Year’ are as incredible as ever. A needless three minute monologue to set up the opening scream of “We were saved” on ‘At This Velocity’ is soon forgiven as the hardest song from their latest release expands into ‘On The Other Side Of The Crash’ and ‘Counting 5-4-3-2-1’ to supreme effect. It’s a short, sharp set and not as great a performance as if the event was their own but there’s still enough to prove that when Thursday do call it a day, they will go down with legendary status.