Puddle Of Mudd/Hundred Reasons/Amen/Dillinger Escape Plan : Leeds Carling Weekend Main Stage

Puddle Of Mudd
Their mentors Limp Bizkit aren’t even here, but Puddle Of Mudd still look they’ll always be bridesmaids. They play lumberjack metal with stadium sized holes where their souls should be, ‘Control’ rocks like a bastard, with Wes Scantlin leading a singalong of ‘she fucking hates me’. Sounds a bit distasteful after the real life accusations of wife-beating.

Hundred Reasons
Only on a rock day could Hundred Reasons feel like the pure pop interlude. They could even be U2 considering the everyman anthems they shovel out. ‘Silver’ is flowering into a proper classic, and these are the most life-affirming three-part harmonies you’ll hear all weekend.

Amen
Amen gamely remind us of the days when they looked like holders of the future rock baton. Cast adrift low down the bill, Casey Chaos shows us his smiling demon freakshow is still in working order. He bitches about Axl Rose, dives off speaker stacks and debuts killer new songs like ‘Please Kill Me’. ‘The Price Of Reality’ shows that pure evil will always find a way through

Dillinger Esc Plan
Later on Hundred Reasons dedicate ‘Silver’ to the DEP, claiming they’ll be they’ll be ‘the best band you see all weekend’. Hardly, but they are the first band worth seeing all weekend. Collaborator Mike Patton isn’t here, but their singer makes up by diving topless into the crowd to a soundtrack of fabulous jab-infused metal.