Leeds Festival 2006 - Smiffy's Review

Just a brief (!) review of wot I (and daughter mostly) saw.....ratings go from 1 to 5 (with 5 being excellent)

FRIDAY

MASTODON - Muddy sound which improved after 10 minutes - very fast - very heavy. RATING - 3.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE - A bit "new-fangled heavy" for me (growly vocals etc). RATING - 2.5
HUMANZI - Dublin band with a hint of U2 in the guitar. RATING - 3
Caught end of ADAM HILLS on Comedy Stage - good routine on misuse of English language. RATING - 3
LESS THAN JAKE - Always a good festival band who get the crowd going with their infectious ska-punk. RATING - 4
JIM JEFFRIES (Comedy Stage) - Thank God neither my wife (or daughter) was there ! 30 minutes of swearing, knob jokes and porn RATING - XXX
SLAYER - Excelent set - and bloomin' loud !! RATING - 4
THE KOOKS - Not really my cuppa tea but a jolly set anyway. RATING - 3
PEARL JAM - Absolutely awesome - 2 hours of tight, professional rock played with genuine feeling - Eddie Vedder has finally got that monkey off his back - in style. Finished with a cracking version of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" - marvellous. RATING - 6

SATURDAY

TOWERS OF LONDON - Very very good punk metal - cross between The Ramones and Sham 69 - Finished with Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" - with the end solo almost note-perfect ! RATING - 4.5
ZOX - American three piece, one of which was an electric violin. Very good indeed - one to watch out for. RATING - 4.5
CENSORED - on the unsigned stage.I was told (via Ilson Town people) that they were from Ilson, but they announced themselves as "From Nottingham". Good all-round performance with excellent vocals and lyrics. RATING 4
PANIC! AT THE DICSO - Well you've got to look ! They did have a real cello and weren't bad either. RATING - 3
(followed by small siesta)
HUNDRED REASONS - First saw them supporting Muse a few years ago - and the set hasn't changed much ! Still good though. RATING - 3.5
THE VINES - Pleasantly surprised here - a very good set indeed. RATING - 4
EAGLES OF DEATH METAL - Love it Love it ! Good sleazy ol' rock'n'roll. As featured on my mp3 player. RATING - 5
TWLIGHT SINGERS with MARK LANEGAN - never heard of them - pleasantly impressed. RATING - 3.5
FRANZ FERDINAND - There was more to them than I expected. Another pleasant surprise. RATING 3.5

SUNDAY

WOLFMOTHER - Never heard of them - but will be hearing more. Shades of Rush in there music (even a three piece). RATING - 4.5
THE CRIBS - Has to be my one "bad pick" of the festival. Did nothing to me at all. RATING - 1
THE FALL - Mark E Smith looks as rough as f*** - but still does the business ! RATING - 4
FEEDER - Another great set from them, sadly too short - new album stuff sounds good as well (going back to "Echo Park" sound). RATING - 4.5
JET - Tremendous set of rock from the Aussie band - just the way I like it. RATING - 5
COHEED & CAMBRIA - Seen them at last ! Not disappointed as they continued where Jet left off - the last track when he used the violin bow on the guitar - brilliant. RATING - 5
MUSE - My reason for going this year. A thoroughly enjoyable set marred only by the rain which finally arrived. Played lots from "Origin of Symmetry" as well as the new album. RATING 5.5

BAND OF THE FESTIVAL - Close call between MUSE and PEARL JAM, but I have to give it to PEARL JAM - the word "awesome" keeps coming back to haunt me.....

No riots - no burning - reckon the West Yorshire Police and Fire Brigade had the rain bussed in at just the right time for them (wrong time for Muse fans though !) Home this morning by 10 a.m. Back to football now with Mossley this afternoon - my guess is that I'll be too knackered for Curzon tonight - after all it's back to work on Tuesday !