Featured image and gallery: Gracie Hall
Alaska-based Medium Build, aka Nick Carpenter, opens up the evening with a soulful and rugged set. Carpenter, sporting a blue boiler suit, fills the former church with a growly tone and personal lyrics. ‘Crying Over U’, a song about missing someone deeply, is a standout moment.
Holly Humberstone starts the second leg of her UK tour in Manchester tonight. Having only been releasing music since 2020, Humberstone has seen a speedy rise to fame, appealing to fans of the likes of Maisie Peters and Taylor Swift. Despite the grandeur of the venue, she exudes a down-to-earth charm that makes her instantly relatable.
Backed by a talented band of Seth Tackaberry on bass, Jack Rennie on guitar and Carpark’s Lauren O’Donnell Anderson on drums, Holly delivers a setlist that showcases her impressive range as a songwriter and a performer. Opening with ‘Paint my Bedroom Black’, the title track of last year’s debut album, she flits from introspective ballads to anthemic indie-pop tracks, each song delivered with an authenticity and raw emotion that resonates.
Medium Build comes back on stage to duet with Holly during ‘Cocoon’, Humberstone’s whispery vocals blending seamlessly with Carpenter’s rougher cadence. ‘Flatlining’ is a highlight; it’s more beat driven then most of Holly’s output, more akin to the likes of Girl in Red or Olivia Rodrigo, telling a story of a relationship gone bad.
‘Falling Asleep at The Wheel’ and ‘London is Lonely’ are firm crowd pleasers as the entire hall sings like a church choir back to her. With an encore of ‘Friendly Fire’ and crowd activator ‘Scarlett’, the night closes as the audience screams the words she wrote right back at her.
Featured image: Georgina Hurdsfield After the considerably grey weather of the weekend, Sunday morning started with a spell of glorious sunshine to wake the people of Leeds Festival, a spot of cheer going into the dreaded final day of the weekend. But, of course, it wouldn’t be a proper festival weekend without the flash downpours,…
Featured image: Henry Redcliffe Not to be outshined by the artists performing today, the rain makes its inevitable return to the skies of Yorkshire over Leeds Festival. With the downpours hardly taking a break, Saturday is the day for the indie-heads and brats, as two of the most anticipated acts of the weekend take the…
Featured image: Georgina Hurdsfield Despite the dreary weather forecast, it seems the explosive noise of the night before has blown away the expected torrential rain, as the sun fights through the clouds to shine over Leeds Festival on Friday. With the opening of the ‘other’ stages, the first double headliner, and a very special birthday,…
Featured image: Ruby Boland As the gates of Bramham Park finally opened for the 2026 edition, so too did the heavens, with heavy rain and thunderstorms forecast for the whole weekend, you’d be forgiven for thinking this year’s instalment of Leeds Festival was a write-off. Neither the punters nor the artists would let this dreary…
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