The Joy Formidable's Ritzy Fit

The Joy Formidable positively exploded into their set on the Radio 1/NME Stage at Leeds Festival. Opening with 'Whirring' -- the Welsh three-piece extended the song's outro while lead singer Ritzy Bryan made several attempts to smash her guitar, shaking it by the strings and smashing it repeatedly on the stage floor to huge cheers from the crowd. The axe proved too tough an opponent however, and when the blonde vocalist finally hoisted it in the air for the audience to inspect the damage there was little but for odd marks and chips.

Guitar now safely in the hands of the stage crew, the rest of the set passed by noteworthy only for the excellent quality of the music. Their set list could do with refreshing -- five of the six tracks played had been around since at least 2008 -- but with only time for six songs, the band obviously felt it best to play what the crowd had more chance of knowing, intertwining them together with walls of ferocious distortion.

Clearly enthused by a comparatively large turnout given the 12:45pm set time, the Joy Formidable were all smiles as they romped through their half-hour, delivering the likes of 'Austere' and 'Cradle' with visceral aplomb before finishing on 'A Balloon Called Moaning' opener 'The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade.'

Setlist:

'Whirring'
'Austere'
'The Last Drop'
'Cradle'
'Popinjay'
'The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade'