Festival In Focus: Constellations

A lot of 'new music' festivals only happen in the capital, and perhaps rightly so. After all, that is where you are most likely to find the committed of fans.

Now in its seconds year, Constellations one day event in Leeds has again produced a hugely exciting line up involving some of the finest emerging bands from the UK and beyond.

Last year saw the likes of Local Natives, Sleigh Bells, Four Tet & The Vaccines take to the stage, with the poster above illustrating just how good this years event will no doubt be. There is also a pre-party on Friday, with the likes of Theme Park, Jeff The Brotherhood, Alt-J & Trophy Wife propping up the bill.

To be quite honest you could wonder around Saturday timetable-less and still end up seeing a lot of great bands on the day. For the record, though, here are our five picks must.


1. Gardens & Villa
The only non UK band in our list, but an exciting one at that. All the way from Santa Barbra the five piece are in Europe for a small run of dates, and ones you wont want to miss. One listen to "Black Hills" will turn non believer into 'fav new band' immediately.




2. Wild Beasts 
If you didn't manage to catch them playing in a town hall near you recently then this is your chance to put that right. As headliners, back in their home from home, so to speak, the performance will almost certainly be a memorable one.





3. Zulu Winter
Hype causes a lot of backlash, but critics have a hard time to poke fun at bands when they sound this good. "Lets Move Back To Front" set the bar for the bands future work at an unprecedented high, only for the London newcomers to release the single worthy "Never Leave" this week. Expect a big sound, and big things to follow, naturally.





4. Bos Angeles
It's going to be a difficult one if you want to see the South Coast youngsters this weekend, as their stage time clashes with Yuck (who will obviously draw quite a crowd). For those that do attend though, you will no doubt of heard "Beach Slalom", which alone is a solid enough reason to be there.




5. Outfit
The Liverpudlian five piece have been causing quite a stir since their debut single "Two Islands" was released by Double Denim. Their music is dark, alluring, progressive and strangely beautiful. "Two Islands", much like the aforementioned Zulu Winter track, will surely feature heavily on the 'Best of' lists that are forthcoming.



We're obviously favourable to the musically side of things, but lets not forget the art element of Constellations too. There are pop up cinemas, visual displays & exhibitions (that are available to buy) throughout the day from many talented local artists. More info can be found here.

A full downloadable pdf is available here. Tickets are available form Crash Records, Jumbo Records & See tickets. See you there.