After attending one day of the 2001 festival, we decided to go and complete the full Monty of all three days of the 2002 event. As stated previously we have never actually camped at a festival and this time stayed at the Hilton in the city centre. This allowed us to swerve the unrest involving burning down the toilet blocks that occurred at the end of the festival, because of this incident it was the last event to take place at Temple Newsam before moving to its current home of Bramham Park.
Uncle George, Gill and I undertook the three days while John Dewhurst and his then partner attended Day 1 and Day 3 while Tony Dewhurst was at Day 2 and Day 3. After a couple of drinks, we headed out to the site on the Friday and despite it being a large site it was chaotically busy. We encountered School of Rock and his pals who were in residence at the Bacardi Tent.
The first band we focused on was Slipknot who were fourth on the bill on the main stage. We obtained a decent vantage point and as it was the first time I had witnessed them their full circus glory was abundantly fresh and their potty mouthed antics and the ascending rotating drum kit a sight to behold and they created a decent racket to boot. Following them we caught the Prodigy and the Snuff band wannabees the Offspring and their hit ’Pretty Fly for a White Guy’. On other stages we witnessed, And They Shall Know us by the Trail of Dead and Spiritualized.
The overall headliners that day were Guns N Roses who were playing the Leeds site only. In their inimitable style they were over an hour late hitting the stage, no doubt inflicting migraines on the organisers in relation to time curfews. By this point we were heading for the bus but could hear their bombastic sound in the distance.
On day 2, we arrived deliberately early for a 4.00pm main stage slot by my band of the weekend the White Stripes. I had missed an opportunity to see them at the tiny Manchester Roadhouse venue the previous year which was a regret so made doubly sure I was there this time and it turned out to be the only time I managed to witness them.
We spent 20 minutes wending our way through the huge crowd right from the top of the hill to about Row 10 in front of the stage. They did not disappoint and were a compelling spectacle and created such an almighty racket for a two-piece. Jack White’s voice was nothing less than astonishing and was reminiscent of a young Frank Black when I initially saw the Pixies at Manchester International 1 in 1988. As we headed away from the stage we heard Sports Report on a radio playing at a burger van which informed us that PNE had won, so all was well in the world, and it was time for another overpriced cool beer!
We also caught The Vines, Electric Soft Parade, Feeder, Weezer, Pulp, Jane’s Addiction and the first track of the Strokes set with Julian Casablancas hobbling on in a cast after an accident at a recent gig. I wanted to catch the Reindeer Section, a super group consisting of members of Snow Patrol, Mogwai and Arab Strap. However, when we reached the tent, it was evident that their set was cancelled, and we saw a screechy much inferior band called Vendetta Red instead. The numerous white robed members of Polyphonic Spree squeezing onto a very small stage were also an interesting spectacle.
The following morning in the lounge area of the hotel we encountered Grant Nicholas, so it was a ‘breakfast with Feeder moment’ prior to them setting off to the Reading slot. Other bands I witnessed over the weekend were Dandy Warhols, Ash, Sum 41, Hives, Haven, Jimmy Eat World, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Cooper Temple Clause, Rival Schools, Easyworld, Bobby Conn, Princess Superstar, Span, International Noise Conspiracy, Ben Kweller, The Streets, Spunge, No Use For A Name, Face To Face, Lo-Fidelity Allstars and Sick Of It All.
I saw about 20 minutes of Muse’s grandiose set whilst standing on the hill queuing up for some tea. I made one major discovery when I witnessed the sublime British Sea Power for the first time in one of the side tents. They were in their first World War garb and foliage stage of their career, and they were terrific live, and I have seen them many times since.
The weekend ended with us walking to the transport pick up point and the musical accompaniment en route was the headliners Foo Fighters playing their finest track ‘Monkey Wrench’.