Perfect Recovery
With major hits under their belt and their second album due out the following day, it was something of a surprise that The Automatic were so low down on the Main Stage. Taking the stage before 1 PM on the third day of Leeds they could have expected a crowd struggling to lift themselves for another day of jumping around in a field but it turned out to be a decent response from a large gathering, including plenty devoties with Robin Hawkins noting Welsh flags in the crowd.
The new material on show today was well received and had a heavier feel, it seems the Automatic are expanding into serious rock to go alongside their bouncy punk inspired indie.
‘Recover’ was the first of the crowd pleasers to appear, with the biggest cheer predictably coming mid way through the set as that familiar guitar hook of ‘Monster’ kicked in.
For me ‘Raoul’ has always been their best track and it too duly made it’s appearance towards the end of their half hour performance. The band closed with current single ‘Steve McQueen’, another certain classic in their arsenal.
This was a fast, frenetic set with half an hour passing before you had time to stop and think. Just what was required as festival fatigue threatened to take it’s hold. Hopefully in 2009 The Automatic will be back with a higher billing and longer to play as this was an impressive taster of what they’re about.