The Leeds Festival Diary - 25th to 28th August 05 (6/8) By Andy Knudsen Photographs Em Alexander, Steve Clappison and Sam Saunders

(1/8), (2/8), (3/8), (4/8), (5/8), (6/8), (7/8), (8/8).

So I dive towards the Lee Sounds Unsigned Stage to catch 59 Violets. They've just begun and have a good crowd watching them. They're all beaming sunshine smiles and they're obviously having a good time. Their set is as flawless as ever and it's good to see, as I look around, that representatives from every Hull band are in the crowd lending their support. Even Baz and Ashley from The Dirty Dreamers and Lozza from The Landaus are there. It's a testament to the strength and camaraderie of the scene.

The triumphant set over, we make a dash for the Main Stage. Queens Of The Stoneage are on. These guys are one of my favourite bands of all times and it's years since I last saw them so I'm really keen to catch them again. And they don't disappoint. Every song in their set is an absolute hit and the crowd feels it too. I'm totally blown away.

Next, The Killers blast their way through their set of glamorous indie rock 'n' roll anthems. I'm really impressed and a keen eye may have seen me having a little dance. Then, it's time for The Pixies. Surprisingly, the crowd seems to hollow out a little as these legends take to the stage, but I don't think they really notice.

It's strange to think that before they disbanded fifteen or so years ago, they weren't really playing to crowds of this enormity, a fact that isn't lost on bassist Kim Deal who laughs throughout the set, perhaps out of disbelief, or maybe just sheer elation. Either way, it's nice to see.

They open with an acoustic rendition of Wave Of Mutilation before sweeping into the ecstasy of Where Is My Mind? and the knees up of Here Comes Your Man. Gliding through the cold night air, the has an incredible and uplifting value to it. There's an intimacy about this performance that betrays its gargantuan setting. Maybe it's Kim Deal's perpetual smile, maybe it's Frank Black's glasses and granddad appearance, maybe it's that drummer David Lovering fucks up Gigantic in the encore. They all stop and laugh about it and try again. It's an awesome set and one I'm so pleased to have seen.

Through a torrent of people we return to the backstage bar where we catch up with all sorts of people. Martin bounces up to me, an ear to ear smile stretched across his face. He's babbling almost incoherently, but I gather that he's been chatting to Edith Bowman and by the looks of things he's absolutely smitten. He told her about our gig and she said she'd try and come but wasn't sure that she'd be able to.

Unfortunately, Martin couldn't give Edith a CD of us because we only brought one with us and he gave that to Sarah Cox yesterday. Understand that Martin mixes in celebrity circles better than most celebrities do. So I grab a bottle of wine from the tent and Marv Paddington gives me the butt of his jazz cigarette and by the time I'm done with both, I allow sleep to wrap me up and send me off.

Continued... next page

Check the thisisUll.com Gallery

Photographs courtesy and Copyright © Em Alexander 2005 Em's Gallery 1, Em's Gallery 2.

Photographs courtesy and Copyright © Steve Clappison 2005 at (www.tallorders.org)

Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Adventures of Loki,	65 Days of Static,	Bam Bam Franks,
Cardboard Radio,	Ali Whitton,	Harrisons,
Circlesound,	Cardboard Cowboy ,	Lyca Sleep,
Deserves to Die.	Censored.	Sunday People.
Future Ex Wife,	Chicken Legs Weaver,	Mr Mojo.
Last Days of Vengeance.	Fifty-Nine Violets.	Mr Shiraz.
Friday People.	I Like Trains.	New Minds Eye.
Oh Farcas.	Saturday People.	Sunshine Underground.
Paris Man.	The Kiks.	The Favours.
Pilla.	Western Suburbs.	The Last People On Earth.
This Et Al.	Your Vegas.	Turismo.
Xenith Sound.		Voltage Union.

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