Review // Party in the Park with Radio Aire and Leeds City Council
Arriving at Radio Aire’s poptastic day festival on Sunday, one thing became almost immediately clear– I was part of a minority. With acts like Little Mix, Connor Maynard and One Direction on the bill, the minority that I was a part of consisted of, as I predicted, the few of us who were over the age of 15.
I soon discovered that the mere mention of One Direction was enough to send the crowd into a frenzy of screaming on a level that I’m not sure anyone will have ever experienced – ever, in the history of the world! Bearing in mind this was before they’d even shown their faces, I was rather nervous and slightly excited to see what would happen when they did. After screaming their way through sets from the likes of Stooshe, Cover Drive and Marcus Collins, one got the feeling that this was only the calm before the storm – and I was right. When the boys finally came bounding onto the stage, kicking off with latest single ‘One Thing’, the whole place erupted. In the eyes of their fans these boys can do no wrong and, if I’m honest, I rather enjoyed them. In terms of musical talent and lyrical genius they don’t quite make the grade but they can sing, unlike others on the line up (ahem, Tulisa!), and they ARE entertaining (in a guilty pleasure kind of way). They’re clearly having the time of their lives and their energy rubs off. I didn’t walk away a dedicated ‘directioner’ but I’d definitely be lying if I said I didn’t join in with the mass sing-a-long to ‘What Makes You Beautiful’.
Perhaps slightly less of a guilty, and more of an actual pleasure came in the form of Labrinth later on in the afternoon. Whether they like him or not, there can’t be many people who haven’t found themselves with one of his songs stuck in their heads over the past couple of years and he was definitely the perfect remedy to other, less pleasing to the ear acts that day – the likes of Alexandra Burke, for example. Jumping onto the stage in a bright Hawaiian shirt and kicking off his set with most recent hit ‘Express Yourself’, the crowd was immediately on board. With the sun well and truly out, next up was ‘Let The Sun Shine’ which was, without doubt, the feel good moment of the day. After wrapping it up with ‘Earthquake’ and having the crowd sing Tinie Tempah’s part of the song (those who knew it), I didn’t want him to leave. Whether that was because Taio Cruz was up next is neither here nor there, but Labrinth can sure get a crowd going and definitely proved why he’s consistently at the top of the charts.
Words: Tania Burnham
