Our Line-Up
The LeeFest Line-Up is proudly and painstakingly put together to feature our favourite established artists, playing alongside new talent and the best of the local music scene. We hope you like it . . .
Your youngest performers this year at LeeFest have grown up alongside the festival in Bromley. Their debut EP Helleauxxx is well crafted, simple sun kissed pop, brilliantly matched for an August afternoon on Highams Hill Farm. Bordeauxxx have a busy summer ahead of them with radio sessions and gigs across the South East - its great to have some fantastic home grown Bromley talent on board for 2010.
Like a thin Pavarotti, less opera, more hip hop, funk and rock...without a beard and from Cape Town. Chris Cape's uplifting rap lyrics blended with good-time melodies, Earth Wind & Fire-esque onstage theatricality and personal eccentricity ignite audiences on a first impression and reveal more and more on each listen. Not for those who prefer rare Talking Heads b-sides and staring at their shoes, Cape is going to be a lot of fun.
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Awesome Song... Epic Last Song
Social Dinosaur... MySpace
Buy Some Music... iTunes
Journos Say... 7/10 NME
LeeFest has invited Does It Offend You, Yeah? to essentially trash all our stuff and not pay for it. They have taken the dance music blueprint laid down by Justice, The Neptunes, and DFA 1979 and have given it a complete seeing to. They sound dance. They act rock . 'We Are Rock Stars' and 'Being Bad Feels Pretty Good' deliver huge choruses that incite moshpits, screaming and stage smashing during their live show which has been described as "amazing" and "insanely dangerous". Looks like you might actually need that insurance cover this year Lee.
Fenech Soler
Awesome Song... Stop and Stare
Social Dinosaur... MySpace
Buy Some Music... iTunes
Journos Say... "The future of white dancefloor-scorching electro-funk" Time Out
There seems to be no stopping the rise of midlands dance quartet Fenech-Soler. After releasing their debut single 'Stop and Stare' through Jaymo & Andy Georges label Moda, the band have been showing no signs of letting up on their attack on all things dance and indie, playing a whole host of festivals this summer, we are sure that their performance at LeeFest will be a real 'hands in the air, hug the person next to' you moment!
The Futureheads
Awesome Song... Heartbeat Song
Social Dinosaur... MySpace
Buy Some Music... iTunes
Journos Say... "Return to the blistering form of their self-titled debut: 8/10" Drowned In Sound
The band LeeFest has always wanted at the top of the bill, its quite crazy to think its actually going to happen. The Futureheads are a band who recognise and salute the DIY ethic, while simultaneously detesting its implicit under-achievement. A band who can accurately cite Devo, Queen, Fugazi and Kate Bush as influences, but who have carved out their own instantly identifiable sonic niche . With the blistering credentials of new album 'The Chaos'; including the fantastic singles 'Heartbeat Song' and 'I Can Do That' - there has never been a better time to welcome The Futureheads to Highams Hill Farm.
Hot Club de Paris
Awesome Song... Shipwreck
Social Dinosaur... MySpace
Buy Some Music... iTunes
Journos Say... "Almost wilfully abstruse, but surprisingly charming live" The Guardian
The three scouse chaps that make up Hot Club De Paris are on the LeeFest line-up for one sole reason; they are a lot of fun! Their quirky, guitar driven form of pop music and their commitment to touring up and down this fair isle by the bucketload has earn't them a loyal fan-base nation wide and rightly so, their live shows never fail to be a frantic, raucous affair, whilst still retaining the 'cant help but smile' factor. We also hear that they are quite keen footy players, we wonder if they can beat The Holloways keepy-uppy record from last year?!
Having only just turned 21, James Jacob AKA 'Jakwob' has seen his nascent career take off in the last few months. First coming to acclaim via some major appreciation in the blog world for his bootleg of Ellie Goulding's 'Starry Eyed' and endorsing such support with his remix of 'Under The Sheets' he's since gone on to remix the likes of Kid Sister, and The Temper Trap. Hailing from the Midlands Jakwob has been involved in music from the age of 10 and is a multi-instrumentalist having been involved in many groups starting in jazz moving on to play death metal and folk (!) This goes a long way to explaining his style which transcends genres combining elements of dubstep, trance, ghetto-tech and breakbeat (to name a few)...
Johnny Foreigner
Awesome Song... Salt, Pepper and Spinderella
Social Dinosaur... MySpace
Buy Some Music... iTunes
Journos Say... "A band to beleive in: 8/10" NME
Leefest is very pleased to have pinned down Johnny Foreigner for a performance on August 14th. The Birmingham based band have already been through Europe, South Africa, Japan and America in the last two years, touring albums that have received exceptional acclaim in the indie music world (8/10 NME, 10/10 & 8/10 Drowned In Sound). The band are responsible for some of the most exciting indie-pop sounds committed to record by a British band in a long while.
Once upon a time, many, many years ago, in the little village of Keston there was a man who mended shoes...
The Cobblers' business was struggling, but with the pennies he had inherited from his late father, he bought himself an old fiddle and would cheer himself up by playing till the early hours of the morning in the rickety old public house on the corner. Before the warm fires and under the cavernous ceilings, village folk would gather, fill their jugs with beer and dance with each other to the jolly haphazardness of his music.
Such was the hearsay of the evening's merrymaking that the following week villagers flocked from as far as Hayes, bringing instruments, tools and kitchen utensils, and one by one, joined in the music-making. Soon the Keston Cobblers' Club was born.
The toe tapping and dancing of hundreds of feet had destroyed the soles of their shoes within hours...and from that day onwards, business was always busy for the Cobbler.
The King Blues
Awesome Song... Headbutt
Social Dinosaur... MySpace
Buy Some Music... iTunes
Journos Say... "The most exciting live band in Britain." Kerrang
Mixing a punk-rock ethos with a loveable pop sensibility, The King Blues are arguably one of the hardest working bands in the UK today. A band with a passion, a band with a message but most importantly a band that wants everyone to have a good time at one of their shows. armed with two past albums worth of material as well as recent single ‘headbutt’ which received a healthy amount of airplay on radio 1, this London mob of sometimes acoustic, sometimes electric but always raucous punk-rockers promises to be one of the most high octane performances of LeeFest 2010!
King Charles
Awesome Song... Love Lust
Social Dinosaur... MySpace
Buy Some Music... iTunes
Journos Say... "Eccentric? Yes, but brilliant 5/5" The Fly
So we happened to stumble across this chap one day, and thought 'thats a pretty nice folky sound he's got going' as we listened to the first few bars of Love Lust. But then it exploded into an eccentric and eclectic mix of rock, roll and everything else you'd probably never think of, of absolutely astronomical proportions! The sound from this monarch is going to be unlike anything ever heard at LeeFest before.
The Loose Cannons
Awesome Song... Gypsy's Kiss
Social Dinosaur... MySpace
Buy Some Music... beatport
Renowned for their eclectic shows, the 'Cannons regularly rock parties all over London with their electro/house based party vibes. They've played everywhere from the sweatiest clubs, to the brisk outdoors in the snowy mountains of Austria. be sure to catch them playing the Dance Arena this year and prepare yourself to be blown away. They recently released 'Gypsy's Kiss' on Potty Mouth Records, a track co-produced by Anti Chris of the Trashcan DJs (also on the Dance Tent lineup!).
Marcel Legane
Awesome Song... Heart Receding
Social Dinosaur... MySpace
Get Some Marcel... Free EP! (Its Wonderful)
Marcel has performed at a few LeeFests, with various bands and under various guises... but when he rocked up onto that mainstage last year for the opening slot and introduced the world to his brand new sound we crumbled inside at its sheer beauty. There wasnt one person on that midsummers day, on that little green field, that didnt feel their heart do something it had never done before as they fell a little bit in love with Mr Legane. We're glad he's coming back :)
Mean Poppa Lean
Awesome Song... Sheryl Crow
Social Dinosaur... MySpace
Journos Say... Eccentric Brighton funk lunatics, these boys are all genius and are heading for greatness" You Got Papped
Mean Poppa Lean are a force of nature. The raw elements of funk, the whole funk and nothing but the funk. When Mean Poppa Lean arrive on stage at LeeFest 2010 you will know. First, forget what you think you know about how a young rock band puts on a live show. Secondly, put on a lime green tuxedo and a brown paisley waistcoat. Thirdly, ignore that you are too cool to dance, once all of these boxes are ticked you will be ready to experience Mean Poppa Lean at this years LeeFest.
Its exciting to hear Jonny Abraham's new album coming together. Performing as Professor Penguin is beginning to deliver all the song writing promise he gave to former outfit Dot By Miro. Along with a 7 piece band, Professor Penguin's set at LeeFest could well be the gem of the day.
Richards songs are reflections of his life experiences and insights and those of his friends and family, it is these ingredients which makes his work so youthful, infectious and honest. Returning to LeeFest with a full band and a whole load of industry interest, Richard will probably nail his set and then spend the rest of the day on the sherbert like everyone else!
After a storming live show in the Dance Tent of LeeFest 2009. Local dance wizz-kid Starsmith has been locked in his studio being very busy indeed. The producer behind Ellie Goulding’s number 1 album Lights, remixer for artists such as Lady GaGa, Marina & The Diamonds and The Temper Trap, Starsmith has also managed to fit in writing and recording his first solo material, due for release later in the year. We are thrilled to be able to welcome Starsmith back to the dance tent for what promises to be a pretty special DJ set.
Mixing the edgy riffs and sheer epic-ness of Biffy Clyro, the light and shade of Deftones and the British balls of Gallows, They Came From Japan are a local band who make intelligent, well thought out rock music, which challenges your pre-conceptions whilst at the same time making you want to jump up and down like a no-one is watching... this six piece are sure to give LeeFest an early afternoon wake-up call!
