No Music on a Dead Planet, Leeds Festival 2022 Review

I am no stranger to Reading and Leeds festival, I’d attended many times in the past, so I was excited to go once again. The line-up consisted of huge names such as The 1975, Dave, Halsey, Bring Me the Horizon, AJ Tracey, Bastille, and the act which was on almost everyone’s tongues: Arctic Monkeys.

I attended for the Sunday, expecting a relaxed atmosphere. I felt as though the crowds would have been exhausted after a heavy few days, but upon arrival, the energy was still high. Crowds seemed excited for the night’s headliners, but it felt different from previous years. This year, their eco-friendly message of ‘No music on a dead planet’ was displayed almost everywhere you looked. However, the festival had minimal eco-friendly resources, there was rubbish almost everywhere and bins were overflowing. Though I appreciated the message that RANDL was trying to convey, the facilities should have reflected said message. Rather than plastic water bottles, there should have been paper cups handed out at food trucks so festivalgoers could use the free water taps at ease and then recycle their cups, rather than leaving plastic bottles on the ground. Those that camped witnessed hundreds of tents on fire and thousands of items left, ready for landfill. Buy Nowt (Library of Things) in Leeds stated, “over £4,300 was saved from landfill.” In my opinion, if a festival is spreading an eco-friendly message, it should be their responsibility to make sure this ambition is followed through.

Furthermore, from first impression it seemed like safety was less of a concern. Leeds festival did not offer drug testing, which is something that I believe should be standard practice in 2022. To have the impression that your festivalgoers will know what their drugs contain, or just won’t be doing drugs is ignorant and simply unsafe. Though you cannot guarantee that everyone will use drug testing facilities, this hugely minimises being held accountable for any deaths or issues caused by drugs at a festival. I felt like their message of ‘there is no safe way to do drugs’ was displayed on screens as a way to cover their mistake of not providing safe facilities.

As mentioned, the line-up had massive names, but it didn’t feel cohesive. In the past, RANDL festival have done an excellent job of curating artists into days which fit their genre, allowing the public to purchase day tickets to see a huge selection of artists that they love. This year it felt as though they made day tickets almost redundant by putting so many different types of artists on the same day. For example, hosting AJ Tracey before Bring Me The Horizon felt extremely mismatched, I felt that he could have played on the same day as Dave, swapping slots with someone like Little Simz or All Time Low. Festival organisers have a duty to consider a crowd and how an artist will perform depending on said crowds.

I was personally the most excited for Arctic Monkeys, though I feel it is now widely felt that their show was underwhelming and the energy from the crowd was low. In terms of their setlist, they played songs both old and new, giving us songs like Teddy-Picker, something I thought I would never hear live. They also introduced us to a new song, I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am, from their new record The Car, dropping on October 21. This didn’t get the best reception from the audience, but as aforementioned, I think this was solely due to the crowd. Thousands gathered for AJ Tracey, generating this high-energy, testosterone filled atmosphere which wasn’t matched for any other artist following this. To me, it felt like by the time of the Sunday headliners, the mood was flat, and the acts didn’t flow from one to another. It felt disjointed and disorganised, and I think this was reflected in the performances from some of the acts.

There were, however, moments of this day that felt like how I remembered this festival. Tai Verdes had such a wonderful set, interacting with fans, opened and closed with hit records. Bring me the Horizon played songs from their early discography, and their new record, sTraNgeRs. Their set had something for everybody, fans both old and new, and I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Wolf Alice always put on an incredible performance, and they did not disappoint at Leeds Festival. They had mesmerising screen displays and lead singer & guitarist Ellie Roswell sang each song to perfection.

Though the line-up could have been more refined, cohesive, and perhaps the days could have been more genre focused, I still had a fantastic time seeing acts who would have charged almost double the price of a standard day ticket for their tours. However, we must hold a festival accountable for the safety of their attendees and the choices they make when planning. To me, it felt like the acts came first; the budget went on big names, and the public were an afterthought. Though I enjoyed the day, I expect to see better next year from a festival as big as Reading and Leeds.