11

Kids In Glass Houses at Leeds 2010

A Summer festival line up would suffer with the omission of Kids In Glass Houses. Okay, so the weather this year wasn't terrible but the warmth was most definitely sporadic; so a band that can pump sunshine out into the air through the amps are always most welcome indeed.

The die-hard crowd were sure to turn up promptly to secure a decent spot inside the NME/Radio 1 tent, and were later supplemented by those fancying a little sanctuary inside the happy and chipper bubble of power-pop so excellently crafted by the Welsh five-piece. Don't be fooled into thinking it's all fluff and sparkles though. It aint. They are a band that have a very confident and commanding stage presence and were welcomed on stage to rapturous applause. Vocalist Aled Phillips needed to do very little prompting to get the crowd involved from bouncing to dancing to singing along with every 'Hey!' of 'Youngblood' and every 'woah-oh' of 'For Better Or Hearse'. It was equally fantastic to see that the band were clearly enjoying themselves as much as the crowd - after all, what's the point of creating the musical equivalent of popping candy if you don't like the taste of it?

Understandably with the release of second album 'Dirt' earlier this year, much of the set was dominated by new material. Recent chart success 'Undercover Lover' sounded better and gutsier on the throbbing festival stage and 'Matters At All' made for an explosive finish to a blazing set. However, it would have been nice to have sneaked in another one from 'Smart Casual' to join 'Give Me What I Want' and 'Saturday' on the set list... looking at you there, 'Easy Tiger'. If that could have been slotted in cheekily it would have made for the perfect summer festival set. But, altogether, it was an overwhelming success of a set for Kids In Glass Houses that Friday afternoon in Leeds.