The Killers opened their headline set with My Own Souls Warning, a long intro which got the heart beating faster as The Killers burst onto the stage, declaring in the Intro, and changing the lyrics to, ‘‘Oh, I tried diving even tough the sky was storming, I just wanted to get back to West Yorkshire! “ As huge confetti cannons sprayed a mass of white paper over the thousands of fans at the Main Stage East.

The Las Vegas outfit gave the crowd a great trip down memory lane with tracks such as, Smile Like You Mean It, Somebody Told Me and Jenny Was A Fried Of Mine from there 2004 album Hot Fuss.

Sunday saw the largest crowds of the entrie Festival and it was clear to see and hear that throughout the day so many were there to see the American rockers close the festival and they did not disappoint. The Killers treat Leeds fans to a total of eighteen tracks and probably could have easily filled another eighteen tracks from there array of albums. The set also saw The Killers perform their latest track, Your Side Of Town which is now currently rising through the UK charts, a new track with a a heavily influenced 80s synth vibe, which was written by Brandon and co-members Stuart Price and Shawn Everett. Its lyrics start with, ‘‘ Im hanging on your side of town, i notice when your not around, cant keep my cool, I’m burning inside, a broken heart, barely alive. ‘‘ We can already predict this to be a hit, especially across radio stations.

The main focus of The Killers performance harked back to their seven times platinum album Hot Fuss from 2004, with tracks such as Reasons Unknown and All These Things That I've Done and Jenny Is A Friend Of Mine. The crowds reveled in tracks they could sing from the top of their lungs, both young and old. The Killers performance seemed big, thorough and felt like a great lesson to some of the younger members of the crowd who may not have witnessed a major rock band perform in front of their eyes, this was a little different to the heavily focused rap and dance genre which featured over the weekend.

Brandon delivered, he covered the full length of the stage engaging with the crowd throughout as he performed with the biggest smile we have seen over the festival weekend, he certainly looked happy to be back! Unlike some rock bands the Killers don’t do dull, they showcase the fact they are happy to be performing, no melancholy, moody faces here.

The one hour fifty minute set flashed by and the crowd were left wanting more.

BICEPLIVE performed a rousing and mesmeric set of their tonal electronic tracks which infused the large crowd which turned out as they performed on the Leeds West Stage. Their tracks such as glue, and festival favourite Apricot which could he heard in the campsites throughout the weekend gave festival goers goosebumps as there

Tom Odell was another fans favourite as his tent exceeded full capacity on the Festival Republic Tent. He finished his set with four great tracks, Best Day of My Life, Grow Old With Me,
Hold Me, Another Love. His energetic set saw him thrashing the keys of his piano as his blonde locks swayed in the afternoon heat. He finished his set on the top of his piano thanking his fans. This man is going to need a bigger stage if he performs at the Festival in the future.

His set also coincided with Becky Hill whos vibrant pop tracks were performed adjacent to Odell on the main stage West. Becky Hill who seemed to he taken back last year to the forray of fans moshing in the crowd seemed to be more accustomed this year as she herself was bouncing around the stage with a live camera on a rod as she filmed herself and the audience rocking out to her pop tunes.

Billie Eillish, by gum as people would say in Yorkshire, she has come along way in a few years and held great stage presence as she headlined Saturday nights Leeds East mainstage. She flipped in between mellow and upbeat tracks, taking the crowd on a great journey. She thanked the crowd many times and rejoiced a reminded the crowd of her debut set at Leeds three years ago. Performing alongside her guitarist brother her set contained touching moments as she connected with the crowd.

Now if you were to survey every festival goer on what football shirt they had seen the most of throughout the festival we think it would be a resounding answer of Newcastle united. Yes the Geordies travelled down in numbers, black and white shirts with the name fender on the back were practically and as Saturday progressed the amount of black and white striped shirts was eyewatering and it was clear to see why their Geordie counterpart in your eyesight everywhere you went. Sam Fender seemed to grow in stature as his composed and eclectic first headline set went down very well as he headlined the Saturday night on the main stage west.

Tion Wayne brought his London swagger up North with a high octane rap infused set as younger audiences ran in drovee throughout his main stage set. Did someone say mosh pits? Yes, that's right, we are in the new era of people moshing to rap artists, several circle pits were opened up during his set.

Now apart from The Killers our other stand out performance from the weekend has to go to American rock band Imagine Dragons who brought a touch of fiery rock and incredible vocals. As lead singer Dan Reynolds and his band headlined the Leeds Main Stage West... Their fourteen track set saw award winning hit, It's Time, Believer, Radioactive, Whatever it takes and Bones showcased Dan's on vocals and is muscle pumped body as he continued his tradition of performing topless to many a fans delight. A great set filled with energy and in your face hard hitting pop / rock tunes. Their final track walking the wire was accompanied by a dazzling array of fireworks. The stimulating and dazzling firework display was biggest we have ever seen at Festival Leeds.

Now we all know Leeds has been very light on rock and metal over the past few years, but there were big hitters to see…
Seasoned metal, pop band You Me At Six returned and graced the Leeds East stage as the Southerners brought some screamo to the festival. There appearnce a little cleaner and smarter than previous years, as they show their maturity, they ended with the fans favourite Underdog from 2006.

Mimi Webb brought her elusive vocals to the main stage West, ger almost angelic voice showcased her vocals perfectly in the afternoon sun, she also played a silent disco set on the Sunday evening on Main Stage West. A first for the festival which saw thousands dancing in the open air under the dark night adorned with headsets.

Scottish indie band The Snuts brought their drew in the crowds early with hits such as Gloria and **** they will sure to be back in future years. Their feel good indie vibe has a very mid 2000s feel.

Don Broco produced a lively set over on the Leeds Festivals Main Stage East, as the rock, metal band and Southerners praised Yorkshire for having the best farm shops in the country. Vocals were great but we weren’t sure about the sleeveless knitted green vest lead singer Rob Damiana was wearing, it was definitely on our fashion failures list for the weekend. The Bedfordshire outfit ended with, yes it was inevitable the T Shirt song, perfect for a performance in the Leeds sun, as the crowd swung their tshirts around their heads as Don Broco gave fans a moment to remember.

Matty Healy's The 1975 graved the Leeds Main Stage West prior to the Killers on Sunday evening. Hip flask in hand and several cigarettes later saw Matt and the English rockers play an eighteen track set, with hits such as Chocolate, sex and Give yourself a try. They drew in an ernmous crowd before the main finale of the weekend..

Central Cee …..

Now for many the real party would start after midnight, the LS23 Stage set in the campsite between a line of tall trees, saw tens of thousand of people bounce the night under a magnificent cleverly installed strip of lighting they hung high in the trees. The scenes here were mesmerising, imagine a light show, set in the woods, with top djs and festival goers having the nights of their lives. It almost had an outer world feeling to it and it could easily been a cool open air music festival set in the Mediterranean, but not it was the depths of the Bramham Park Campsite. We spoke to festival goers who stated they couldn't believe how could the experience was at the LS23 stage.

The infamous Picadilly Party also drew in the crowds with their open air eclectic and wide range of music from the Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

We look forward to seeing you in 2024. Stay tuned for the latest announcements…