OK so I bagged two tickets, just we've agreed
not to camp in Piccadilly this year (ref:
http://www.dirty.org/forums/showthread.php?t=952) which is a shame as every single year Leeds has been at Bramham Park I've pitched my tent in the very, very same spot.
The lineup is a big let down so far (
http://www.leedsfestival.com) but I'm gonna refresh my memory about Pearl Jam and maybe go see them. Primal Scream excite me but I'll maybe catch them at T In The Park (plus I'm wearing down a mate who has tickets for their QMU gig in Glasgow). Last time I saw Placebo they were tremendous, as were Feeder - again though both acts are at T In The Park.
The biggest sin however is the indication that the Lockup Stage (noisy thrash metal with what appears to be the same lineup every year) is going two days which means that unless the Comedy Tent goes from three days to one day, the Dance Tent will go to one day. It's a shame as the Carling Weekend was just shaking off its
metal-only image and now it's taking a step backwards - and to what? Download has stolen the crown and won't be giving it up as the UK's big metal-fest. That tosser at Mean Fiddler said last year he wanted the Carling Weekend to be more like Glastonbury - unless the proposed expansion they're reporting includes another stage (for dance and hip-hop) he's talking his usual pish.
Also, while I'm slagging Mean Fiddler.. I've had to keep an eye on that over-moderated, sniping, pleb-fest that is the forums at
http://www.efestivals.co.uk for news and couldn't help but notice how pissed off they all get at touts on eBay. Short of registering on there (nah..) to chuck this notion into the conversation (which I haven't seen suggested anywhere else) I'll put it here - I wonder if Mean Fiddler runs a nice sideline in double price festival tickets on eBay.. I mean some touts have got a history of hundreds of festival tickets sold and when they're on sale the touts have hundreds available at a time per user. It'd be a clever wee way to raise extra cash, no?