After several days of nervously checking the MET office website for weather updates, Banana Jazz made their way to Live at Leeds in Temple Newsam armed only with cameras, a heavy haul from Lidl bakery and a banana with a face on it.

The day was mostly overcast but still dry which was a miracle, all that was left was for us to see a variety of amazing indie/pop bands. The vibe of Live at Leeds is much different from its sibling event, Slam Dunk which took place the following day, it’s much less manic and crowded which makes it a great place for families and more casual live music enjoyers. Even if the lineup isn’t your favourite, it’s a fun and flowing environment to explore and just generally have a lovely time in the park.

With all that out of the way, let’s get into the stuff we saw…

Luvcat

Luvcat was our first band of the day over on the Cockpit stage and it was a nice wakeup call. There was this serene dream like tone vaguely reminiscent to something like David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. The well dressed group was tight and made brilliant accompaniment to the understated yet mellifluous voice of vocalist Sophie Morgan. We bought a Thesaurus by the way, hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

The bass was arguably a little high but it was still a lovely chilled out start to the day.

Fickle Friends

Fickle Friends were a personal highlight of the day over on the main stage. There’s this lively and overly cheery tone to them despite them having some songs that deal with dark subjects like Happier. It may be the band’s first festival appearance in three years but they were like a duck to water once they got started.

There was a bright funky sound similar to After Laughter era Paramore and despite the whole band dressing like teachers on non uniform day, they all seemed like really sweet and down to earth people. Keep an eye out for new music from them soon…

Corella

Corella was our next destination and you could feel the energy from the crowd rising almost immediately. Corella are from Manchester and it was nice to hear that accent at such an iconic festival, it was even better to see them live up to the high standards left by the iconic Manc bands that came before them.

There’s a surprisingly intense tone throughout the set and they actually managed to get a bunch of indie people in a Moshpit which is a pretty sizable achievement. Bloom was a particular high point of the set and has made appearances on my playlists since the festival ended.

Sports Team

Sports Team are a band that I knew nothing about beforehand but became a new favourite after just one song. Sports Team has this lively Rockabilly sound driven by these brilliant infectious basslines.

Everyone has this denim cowboy look minus the yeehaw and it all works so well, you can barely even tell that they’re from London. It wouldn’t surprise me if Sports Team ended up becoming the next big thing in indie rock and seeing as their new album, Boys These Day, just dropped we’ll just have to wait and see.

We are Scientists

The arrival of We Are Scientists was signaled by the Top Gun theme which already raised my expectations and luckily the band delivered. The fuzz driven basslines carried the band and the intense reverb on the vocals made it all the more powerful.

Vocalist/guitarist Keith Murray gave a brilliant and lively performance and whenever he wasn’t singing or playing, he was flailing around with an inimitable energy that transferred over to an already antsy audience. Tracks like Less From You and the opening song, Buckle, were performed spectacularly and made for a standout performance on Main Stage South, a stage which had a laundry list of heavy hitters beforehand.

Fat Dog

Fat Dog are a band that I’d heard of through tour posters and suggested posts so I really wasn’t ready for them. Banana Jazz founder described them as “a band straight out of The Mighty Boosh” and that got me excited. The whole band came out dressed immaculately and ready to throw down armed with whatever insane instruments they could find with an intention of creating a brilliant cacophonous wall of psychotic noise.

After a long and intense intro, the band got into a set of wild psychedelic jazz inspired hardcore, hopefully that begins to describe their sound. There’s next level madness in the audience full of dancing, tutting and even a crazy moshpit that would rival some metal bands.

Natasha Bedingfield

Natasha Bedingfield was the big draw for the hundreds of millennials attending Live at Leeds and she didn’t disappoint. Her backing band was airtight and versatile and were given many moments to show off their individual talents which is a rarity for the backing bands of solo acts.

The set included favourites like Unwritten and Pocket Full of Sunshine in new borderline rock renditions which allowed Natasha to show off her vocal range in a way that some of her studio work didn’t allow for. Aside from her big hits, she made room to cover tracks from Coldplay, The Cranberries and even Portishead which was really unexpected. A great set from an artist that is somewhat under-appreciated in 2025.

The Amazons

The Amazons ran into a bit of a delay before their set but it was worth the wait and it ultimately didn’t affect the running order of the day. The Amazons took the concept of arriving fashionably late literally as the band entered the stage dressed in rather dapper suits, each one more dapper than the last.

The Amazons are a 70s rock inspired band with a bit of a dreampop tinge which makes their music a bit harder than most bands on the bill. The hard rock crunch is hugely welcomed. There’s a bit of noise bleed from other stages due to the mix being surprisingly quiet but there’s still plenty of fun to be had with tracks like Pitch Black and In My Mind.

Hard Life

Hard Life, from a cursory glance, is a bit like The Streets but a more serious tone. There’s a huge hip hop influence in the percussion and obviously with the inclusion of rapper Murray Matravers. The band is really tight and Matravers’ flow was so smooth it would be difficult to tell what was rehearsed and what was improvised.

According to the band, this was Hard Life’s first festival appearance and they knocked it out of the park. It’s a really laid back tone and will likely benefit from future relistens to fully catch all the little nuances in the lyrics.

Pigeon Detectives

Pigeon Detectives were over on Main Stage south and their set was a high energy set full of Robert Plant style antics from frontman Matt Bowman as he roamed around the stage armed with several bottles of water and a snazzy leopard print jacket.

Opening with the high energy track, Emergency, Pigeon Detectives bring an amazing hard rock attitude that totally infects the audience and inspires a raucous landscape that matches the 70s rock shenanigans on stage.

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets

Outside of hardcore prog fans, everybody asked themselves “what the hell does a band called Psychedelic Porn Crumpets sound like?”. Turns out it’s a mix of early Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Hawkwind. There’s a surprising amount of energy on stage for a heavy prog band and they even managed to have an accessible sound during tracks like Hymn for a Droid and Bill’s Mandolin.

The psychedelia elements make the prog parts so much easier to get into provided you can allow yourself to let go of concepts like structure and just allow yourself to get lost in the fuzzy guitars and Hawkwind esque soundscapes. It’s not for everyone but it’s definitely worth giving it a go.

Sigrid

Over on the main stage was Swedish pop artist, Sigrid, most well known for the track Strangers. The majority of people may only know her for one song but she showcased a lot of range and versatility as she races around and stage doing her little dances on gigantic tracks like Don’t Feel Like Crying.

“There’s going to be lots of music soon” said Sigrid as she includes a multitude of brand new tracks and created a whole new wave of fans. Some of her songs remind me of Robyn with that bittersweet vibe and ability to create a danceable track despite being somewhat dark and melancholy. Check out Sigrid if you want to dance and cry or if you don’t feel like crying and want to dance.

Jamie Webster

Jamie Webster is a Liverpool icon now, his down to earth and light hearted approach to interacting with the audience as well as his brutally honest songwriting has made him a universally beloved figure in the singer songwriter scene. You can make the argument that it’s a bit too simplified but the stripped back approach fits the vibe perfectly.

Jamie doesn’t fear telling it like it as expresses love for the audience that supports him as well as stating bluntly that “the tories have fucked it” and while he’s completely right, he still expresses hope for the future of the UK, as do we all. “We make our own community” says Webster as he continues to strum away on his guitar accompanied by his backing band and a sea of smiles.

Yard Act

Yard Act was a strange band and I’d argue that I just didn’t quite get them but there are some interesting elements to them. The rhythm section is brilliant and there’s this infectious syncopation between the guitar and saxophone section which gives this weird dissonance that worked well in between the more funk driven passages of the set.

The vocalist goes on these extended diatribes during the song in a talk-sing style and that gives him this aggressive stage presence that really helped him stand out amongst other frontman of the festival. The killer mustache also helped him stand out, that thing was impressive.

Arthur Hill

Arthur Hill was an act that I didn’t fully understand, his songs were really catchy and Iced Coffee is an unkillable brain worm that I’ve enjoyed even before Live at Leeds. The biggest issue was his awkward stage presence that I couldn’t distinguish whether or not it was a bit or just on stage awkwardness.

If it was a bit then it’s on me for not picking up on that and on Arthur for not committing to it hard enough. Either way, despite the awkwardness, Arthur had some great tracks and once he got into a flow state, the set improved dramatically. Some people are just better at singing than talking and that’s totally okay.

James Marriot

James Marriott has played Live at Leeds before on a smaller stage so it feels like a full circle experience to see him back headlining the The Cockpit stage. Most of my experiences of Marriott have been watching him review Lidl Bakery items (the cheese twists and millionaire shortbread got us through some rough times) or watching him torture his friends with Garfield on YouTube.

It’s during this set that it dawned on me that Marriott is an incredibly well rounded performer and a perfect fit for a stage like this. His warmth as a performer shines through and his songwriting and showmanship elevate an already stellar set and even if he didn’t have all these elements, the crowd adore him.

His set is high energy and it even managed to inspire a mosh pit which is impressive for a dreamy twangy indie set. Tracks like Something’s Wrong bring a 2000s Indie vibe which is always appreciated at Live at Leeds. Hopefully there’s a UK headline tour sometime soon.

Bloc Party

After a long day of incredible and diverse music, Bloc Party made it to the main stage with the intention of burning it all to the ground. Even though Bloc Party’s set was largely made up of The Silent Alarm, they still included a wealth of tracks from the rest of their career as well gigantic passages of pedal board shenanigans and wild noise.

You can really feel the power emanating from tracks like Hunting for Witches, She’s Hearing Voices and the classic iconic rager Helicopter. Drummer Louise Bartle spends almost the entire set on the warpath and just devastating the drum kit all while being accompanied by a brilliant and blinding light show.

Frontman Kele Okereke said a fond farewell to the photographers as they made their way out of the photo pit and got ready to put their cameras away, accompanied by hectic rock music. Everyone got to experience a beautiful day that wasn’t overly hot and full of incredible bands.

Temple Newsam always has an intense weekend of music with Slam Dunk happening the day after Live at Leeds. There’s always something going on in May and you can always find something that matches up with your music tastes and for the more casual festival goer, you’ll find nothing better than Live at Leeds. It’s a relaxed atmosphere that never gets too crazy and always shows its clientele the respect they deserve all presented as a lovely day out in the park.

Get ready for announcements for Live at Leeds 2026, they’ll likely be announced before the year is over and with any luck, Banana Jazz will be there too.

Photo gallery by Christopher James Ryan Photography