May is the season for city music festivals, and they’re mint because you get good music, under a roof with proper sound equipment, and you can sleep in a bed in the evening. SO if you’re not partial to camping (and I personally am not, not at music festivals, I generally would prefer to go back to nature for natures sake, somewhere pretty and not covered in piss) then here is a guide to some neat city festivals to get along to this May.

Live at Leeds…

Not a lot of people know this, but The Who once played a gig in Leeds, and recorded it and called it, imaginatively, Live at Leeds and then released it - their first live album. So thats a bit of history and heritage for you. The city generally has a good rep for local music, probably owed to the rather large student-like population, and being home to one the best art schools AND music schools in the country.

Over 100 bands play the fest, and at £17.50 for a ticket to all shows, this is as ‘bargain-ous’. Who can you see?

New Muso’s will like: Cloud Control // Anna Calvi //James Blake // Breton // Trophy Wife // Mazes // Dutch Uncles

Indie-pop-Skids will like: Frightened Rabbit // Times New Viking // Glasvegas // Pulled Apart By Horses // Slow Club

The local cuts: Aviaries // FILMS // Just Handshakes // Milk White White Teeth // Honour Before Glory

On the edge: Kong // Tall Ships // Castrovalva // Wot Gorilla? // Runaround Kids // Blacklisters

Friendly faces of Cloud Control

Camden Crawl…

I did a vague bit of research on Camden Crawl (search engine and gave up). Basically it’s been running forever and in the 90s ofcourse Camden was supreme of indie places to be and now all of those types still live there, but are 10 years older and still hanging out with guitars. It’s neat little blue-print of how to live well, although I suspect all those people made actual money from music in the 90s.

Anyway, the whole area is designed for a city fest, and the tickets for the weekend are about £70. “Ouch!” I hear you say. But check out the bands to see why the tax is so high.

New Music-kids will like: Visions of Trees // Dry the River // Cloud Control // Spectrals //D/R/U/G/S // Eagulls

Indie-Skids will like: Miles Kane // The Phantom Band // Villagers// S.C.U.M // St Etienne // Danananackyroyd

Popsicles will like: Toddla T // The View // Those DancingDays // Little Comets // Frankie & the Heartstrings

If you like chaos: Gallops // Holy State // Hawk Eyes // Kong // Cerebral Ballzy // Divorce // Bo Ningen

And now Villagers

The Great Escape…

Hurah! Who cares about background info, any excuse to go to Brighton is enough! But also, as well as being beachy and ‘colourful’, and having arcades (where this here writer made 28p on her last visit) of awesomeness, it is also close to the capital and sports a collection of musical spots where top-of-the-12-ring-range bands furnish their wares. And for this weekend, 12th - 14th May, they conveniently all appear to be parking up their booty in droves about the town. Tickets are £50 plus extra for the big ‘dome’ shows.

New Music-kids will like: Breton//Chad Valley//Dog Is Dead// Factory Floor // Mazes //Cults // Braids

Indie Skids will like: Sufan Stevens (Dome) // Little Dragon // Okervil River // Gang Gang Dance

Enjoy living on the edge: Hauschka // Gallops

Popsicles: Friendly Fires (Dome) // Katy B // Frank Turner // Guillemots

And finally Cults…