Saturday 28/08/04 The Distillers, The Donnas, The Departure, The Subways, Goldie Lookin' Chain @ Carling Leeds Festival, Leeds

Goldie Lookin' Chain start things off on the main stage, and there's a big crowd there to watch 'em.  It's probably out of curiousity, and you have to wonder where they'll be this time next year.  Probably still here, pissed and stoned, but whether it's flat on their back in the campsite, or flat on their back onstage is down to how long their novelty takes to wear off.  Still, 'Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do' is a decent tune in its own right, 'Half Man Half Machine' is passable and you can't help but be amused by 'Your Mother's Got a Penis': for which they're joined by those other ****ed up Welshmen, Dirty Sanchez.

We then hot foot it over to the Carling Stage to see Do Me Bad Things. Their cabaret rock act featuring an extra from Velvet Goldmine isn't good, so we leave.

Somewhere in the distance cartoon-comedy-ska 'punk' band are covering Metallica's 'Enter Sandman'.  Funnily enough, just as Gigwise enters the Radio 1 tent to witness International Noise Conspiracy's set, frontman Dennis Lexher is exclaiming "What the ****'s going on when 'Punk' means slightly overweight Americans in big shorts?".  Couldn't agree more, Sir.  What's even more agreeable is the full-frontal (real) punk rock assault then offered up by this Swedish lot. Mixing up Stooges, New York Dolls, MC5 and 'Give Up, Don't Give Out' era Primal Scream - along with wholesale pilfering of Blondie's 'Hanging on the Telephone' at one point - INC are a fine live act and should be caught in a club show very, very soon.

The Subways are great.  This we've been saying for some time.  They just got better.  Obviously growing in confidence with each rather large step Billy, Charlotte and Josh are just irrestistible right now... a fact cemented by the large cheer greeting closer 'At 1am': They're unsigned, this is their first Northern gig ever, the only way these people have fallen in love with the track is by downloading it from The Subways' website.  Fantastic.

So to current flavour of the month The Departure. I wanted to hate them, I really did - all jerky-jerk Franz-clones in their video for 'All Mapped Out'... But, from opener 'Be My Enemy' and 'Under the Stairs' onwards, they're undismissable! Sure there's hints of t'Ferdinand about 'em, yet these Northampton boys have altogether darker qualities.  Ethereal undertones are provided by singer David Jones who - dare I say it - has an Indie-r-than-thou voice, plucked from mid 90's schmindiedom.  This is somehow rather special.  Bastards.

Come in The Donnas, your time is up.  Sure, they're still one of the only 'real' girl Rock bands in existence but isn't it time they... delivered? They're getting better, painfully slowly, with newer AC/DC type tunes like 'Who Invited You' and 'Out of My Hands' far surpassing older girly-girly-rock-rock crap; but it all seems too little, too late.

Less girly-girly more ROCK-RAWK are Brody Dalle and her Distillers.  Having got shut of the rather bad barnet she's been sporting recently and gone back to a nice black feathercut, Josh Homme's bird is Medusa of the Banshees once more.  Contrary to reports, she wails like it too. 'The Hunger', 'Die ona Rope' and 'Drain the Blood' mercilessly batter Leeds (and the rest of her band) into submission as Brody is crowned Queen of (the) Rock (Day).

Photos by Dave Kent