Wasn't that fussed about the opening bands on the third day so I slept in and didn't get to Temple Newsam 'til 1.30pm. I met up with Mike and Sug at their tent so I could take them the contraband bread and beans I'd snuck in past the ever vigilant camp security before heading to the arena. During the night some muppets had torn up the fence between two of the fields to use for fire wood and pushed a water tank into the river, proving that the violence and idiocy that soon became synonymous with the Leeds Festival didn't start in 2002.
We caught Doves' last few, rather dull, songs, then went down the front for Asian Dub Foundation. As with Gorky's the day before, the majority of the crowd seemed indifferent to the band and it was surprisingly easy to get a spot a few rows back from the barrier. Their performance was full of energy though and they managed to win over large sections of the audience. Along with tracks from their newly released album, 'Community Music', they played plenty of songs from 'Rafi's Revenge', which was a Novacain staple at the time, soundtracking many a journey to and from shows. "Free Satpal Ram" was a real highlight of the set, and day, with the band getting a crowd of Oasis fans to sing along to a song about a man who was imprisoned for defending himself in the face of a racist attack.
We quickly made our escape from the main stage, lest we accidentally catch some of truly horrendous pop metallers, Limp Bizkit. Leeds has never really offered much to the festival goer beyond bands and places to buy very expensive crap lager and 2000 was no exception. Looking round the shops took all of five minutes.
We headed over to the Carling Premier stage to watch Ben & Jason, who were a favourite of Novacain drummer Winny, but we obviously misread the stage times and ended up watching Grand Western who were on before them. I was only vaguely aware of the band, but they played a pretty decent set of slightly above average guitar music.
Ben & Jason were good but their singer rather spoilt things. He was absolutely STACKED and his body builder looks seemed totally out of place next to his skinny indie band mates. He didn't help matters by coming across like a "yoof" TV presenter, telling us "you're all good kids" &c.
We went back to the main stage for The Bluetones, who were touring their third album, 'Science & Nature'. I wasn't a massive fan of the band in their Britpop pomp, but really fell for second record, 'Return To The Last Chance Saloon', with its heavier riffs and Tex-Mex influences. Unfortunately it didn't sell as well as the band hoped and 'Science & Nature' marked a musical retreat back to the Stone Roses lite indie-pop of their début album. The band seemed to be going through the motions during their set, which drew heavily on their latest record. At least they played "If..." and "Solomon Bites The Worm" though. One thing The Bluetones always had in their favour was a sense of humour, and they got a few extra marks from me for ending their performance with a version of "Up Where We Belong", during which singer Mark Morriss was carried off stage by a guy dressed as a sailor.
We watched a bit of Foo Fighters but festival fatigue was setting in and we soon headed back to the campsite to relax. Somehow we found the energy to return to the main stage before Primal Scream came on.
Even though we'd only seen them a few months before, we were still excited about Primal Scream, especially as the afternoon had been rather flat following ADF's set. It wasn't a vintage performance, with Bobby Gillespie berating the crowd for their lukewarm response and frequently singing out of tune. A fantastic lightshow helped maintain my interest though, as did a couple of new songs. One of these, "Bomb The Pentagon", sparked a rant from Gillespie about American imperialism. The song was later reworked and renamed "Rise" after the September 11 attacks. A decent version of "Loaded" towards the end of the set helped to win back the crowd, and last song, "Movin' On Up", was greeted with the biggest cheer of the day so far.
We'd watched Primal Scream from the top of the hill, and decided to stay there for Oasis. As we sipped our pints and surveyed the dimly lit swarm of people below us, a rather wasted figure shuffled into view. We chuckled as she struggled to make her legs go in the same direction. Then we realised it was actually Suggy's mate Cath. I'd say she chatted to us, but really she just unleashed a series of incoherent mumbles in our general direction before stumbling away. If the fact that it's a freakin' horse tranquilliser wasn't enough to put me off ketamine, then this encounter certainly was. Cor blimey.
Oasis ended the day, and festival, with a decent set, packed with hits. It's remarkable to think they soldiered on for another nine years after this show, which was rumoured at the time to be their last. Even in 2000 the band seemed to know that their best days were behind them, with Noel remarking "that's the soundcheck over with", after opening with (the really rather good) "Go Let It Out" and "Who Feels Love?" from their latest record, 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants'. In fact, with the exception of (the also ace) "Gas Panic!" from '...Giants' and "Stand By Me" from the much maligned 'Be Here Now', the rest of their set was made of up of songs from 'Definitely Maybe' and 'Morning Glory' and their attendant b-sides. As was the case when I saw the band at the NIA in Birmingham in 1997, the hits sounded stodgy, with any hint of menace drowned out in a sea of unnecessary keyboards parts and stadium rock guitars. Still, few bands can equal these songs for their ability to spark terrace-style singalongs. It was great to hear "Step Out" live and "Hey Hey, My My" was an interesting choice of cover, even if it would have sounded better with Liam singing it.
After Oasis finished we went back to the campsite to pack everything up. Suggy had a flaming torch and things felt surrealy mediaeval, as we made our way to the bus through gangs of angry adolescents pushing porataloos over and smashing fences up.
Leeds 2000 is still on of the best festivals I've been to. The line-up was perfect for me at the time and it was great to see the likes of Super Furry Animals, Elliott Smith, Idlewild, Gorky's and ADF. I was gutted that I didn't feel well enough to camp, but glad I managed to go at all given that I'd been bedridden only weeks before.
Set list (Primal Scream)
[not sure if this is this is entirely the correct order]
We caught Doves' last few, rather dull, songs, then went down the front for Asian Dub Foundation. As with Gorky's the day before, the majority of the crowd seemed indifferent to the band and it was surprisingly easy to get a spot a few rows back from the barrier. Their performance was full of energy though and they managed to win over large sections of the audience. Along with tracks from their newly released album, 'Community Music', they played plenty of songs from 'Rafi's Revenge', which was a Novacain staple at the time, soundtracking many a journey to and from shows. "Free Satpal Ram" was a real highlight of the set, and day, with the band getting a crowd of Oasis fans to sing along to a song about a man who was imprisoned for defending himself in the face of a racist attack.
We quickly made our escape from the main stage, lest we accidentally catch some of truly horrendous pop metallers, Limp Bizkit. Leeds has never really offered much to the festival goer beyond bands and places to buy very expensive crap lager and 2000 was no exception. Looking round the shops took all of five minutes.
We headed over to the Carling Premier stage to watch Ben & Jason, who were a favourite of Novacain drummer Winny, but we obviously misread the stage times and ended up watching Grand Western who were on before them. I was only vaguely aware of the band, but they played a pretty decent set of slightly above average guitar music.
Ben & Jason were good but their singer rather spoilt things. He was absolutely STACKED and his body builder looks seemed totally out of place next to his skinny indie band mates. He didn't help matters by coming across like a "yoof" TV presenter, telling us "you're all good kids" &c.
We went back to the main stage for The Bluetones, who were touring their third album, 'Science & Nature'. I wasn't a massive fan of the band in their Britpop pomp, but really fell for second record, 'Return To The Last Chance Saloon', with its heavier riffs and Tex-Mex influences. Unfortunately it didn't sell as well as the band hoped and 'Science & Nature' marked a musical retreat back to the Stone Roses lite indie-pop of their début album. The band seemed to be going through the motions during their set, which drew heavily on their latest record. At least they played "If..." and "Solomon Bites The Worm" though. One thing The Bluetones always had in their favour was a sense of humour, and they got a few extra marks from me for ending their performance with a version of "Up Where We Belong", during which singer Mark Morriss was carried off stage by a guy dressed as a sailor.
We watched a bit of Foo Fighters but festival fatigue was setting in and we soon headed back to the campsite to relax. Somehow we found the energy to return to the main stage before Primal Scream came on.
Even though we'd only seen them a few months before, we were still excited about Primal Scream, especially as the afternoon had been rather flat following ADF's set. It wasn't a vintage performance, with Bobby Gillespie berating the crowd for their lukewarm response and frequently singing out of tune. A fantastic lightshow helped maintain my interest though, as did a couple of new songs. One of these, "Bomb The Pentagon", sparked a rant from Gillespie about American imperialism. The song was later reworked and renamed "Rise" after the September 11 attacks. A decent version of "Loaded" towards the end of the set helped to win back the crowd, and last song, "Movin' On Up", was greeted with the biggest cheer of the day so far.
We'd watched Primal Scream from the top of the hill, and decided to stay there for Oasis. As we sipped our pints and surveyed the dimly lit swarm of people below us, a rather wasted figure shuffled into view. We chuckled as she struggled to make her legs go in the same direction. Then we realised it was actually Suggy's mate Cath. I'd say she chatted to us, but really she just unleashed a series of incoherent mumbles in our general direction before stumbling away. If the fact that it's a freakin' horse tranquilliser wasn't enough to put me off ketamine, then this encounter certainly was. Cor blimey.
Oasis ended the day, and festival, with a decent set, packed with hits. It's remarkable to think they soldiered on for another nine years after this show, which was rumoured at the time to be their last. Even in 2000 the band seemed to know that their best days were behind them, with Noel remarking "that's the soundcheck over with", after opening with (the really rather good) "Go Let It Out" and "Who Feels Love?" from their latest record, 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants'. In fact, with the exception of (the also ace) "Gas Panic!" from '...Giants' and "Stand By Me" from the much maligned 'Be Here Now', the rest of their set was made of up of songs from 'Definitely Maybe' and 'Morning Glory' and their attendant b-sides. As was the case when I saw the band at the NIA in Birmingham in 1997, the hits sounded stodgy, with any hint of menace drowned out in a sea of unnecessary keyboards parts and stadium rock guitars. Still, few bands can equal these songs for their ability to spark terrace-style singalongs. It was great to hear "Step Out" live and "Hey Hey, My My" was an interesting choice of cover, even if it would have sounded better with Liam singing it.
Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger
Complete with backing vocals from the crowd in full "you're my behst mate" mode.
Complete with backing vocals from the crowd in full "you're my behst mate" mode.
Oasis - Rock N' Roll Star
"Oi make sure you all buy t-shirts... and posters... and badges, and mugs, and scarves, the fucking lot!"
"Oi make sure you all buy t-shirts... and posters... and badges, and mugs, and scarves, the fucking lot!"
After Oasis finished we went back to the campsite to pack everything up. Suggy had a flaming torch and things felt surrealy mediaeval, as we made our way to the bus through gangs of angry adolescents pushing porataloos over and smashing fences up.
Leeds 2000 is still on of the best festivals I've been to. The line-up was perfect for me at the time and it was great to see the likes of Super Furry Animals, Elliott Smith, Idlewild, Gorky's and ADF. I was gutted that I didn't feel well enough to camp, but glad I managed to go at all given that I'd been bedridden only weeks before.
Set list (Primal Scream)
[not sure if this is this is entirely the correct order]
- Swastika Eyes
- Shoot Speed/Kill Light
- Insect Royalty
- Kill All Hippies
- Bomb The Pentagon
- Pills
- Insect Royalty
- Exterminator
- Kowalski
- Blood Money
- Accelerator
- Higher Than The Sun
- Loaded
- City
- Movin' On Up
-
[Fuckin' In The Bushes]
- Go Let It Out
- Who Feels Love?
- Supersonic
- Shakermaker
- Acquiesce
- Step Out
- Gas Panic!
- Roll With It
- Stand By Me
- Wonderwall
- Cigarettes & Alcohol
- Don't Look Back In Anger
- Live Forever Encore
- Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
- Champagne Supernova
- Rock N' Roll Star
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