One of the many acts to join the archive of successful bands and artists that have played Live at Leeds are first timers Disraeli Gears. The Leeds/London based foursome juggle studying, summer internships and creating their distinctive alt rock sound. The band are made up of Teia Fregona (Lead vocals and guitar), Tom Kitson (guitar), Samuel Delves (Bass) and Alex Moorse (Drums). File next to bands such as Radiohead and St. Vincent; their soft rock guitars are rippled by a moody aura and have a slightly gothic undertone.

Disraeli Gears have previously played at venues from all ends of the Leeds music scene. Drummer Alex, speaking of the city venues at which they've played, says: “I feel like we have done most of the ones we wanted to do now which is really good, most of the ones we were able to do before we left Uni, we all graduated this year.” Newly added to the Live at Leeds bill, Belgrave Music Hall has already got a good name for itself and has seen an ample amount of musical talent through the doors. On this sunny early afternoon, the readily awaiting music lovers head down the industrial staircase to join the large crowd waiting for Disiraeli Gears which sound more glorious in and amongst the heat. Bass player Sam admits that he's been looking forward to this particular live date, when he says that “This is the last venue I really wanted to play at Leeds where we haven’t performed before, so it is quite cool now were not living in Leeds together so it’s nice to do it.”

Entering the stage at Belgrave Music Hall, the band's nervous smiles look over to the packed out crowd as the audience applaud them into playing. Disraeli Gears play through songs such as ‘Mother I’ and ‘Skeleton;, which are tracks taken from their previous EP. Sam candidly reveals that this is the largest crowd the band has faced so far, saying that “It is the biggest we have played to I think, it didn’t faze me to much but you notice more easily how audiences react to the music when there’s lots of them to look at. I find it strange”.  The spacious gig space at Belgrave is filled with bodies itching to move to the twang of the guitars, while some stand and stare at the performance before them. This is a common sight for the band, Sam admits to me, saying that “No one really knows how to dance to our music, they kind of just stand there it’s a bit disconcerting sometimes like especially when there’s a big crowd of people not doing anything, but you hope they are listening at least”.

On stage, Disraeli Gears grapple with their instruments and, immersed in their sound, they fall into the hip shaking groves they produce. Lead singer Teia Fregona leads the way. Alex is quick to applaud her stage presence: “She goes for it; maybe we should release a video on how to dance to our music”. The band's half hour set feeds through the airwaves plucking at their soulful, sounding hooks and rubbing grit into their textured guitar break downs. Reflecting on the band's distinctive sound, Sam identifies their diverse influences: “We [sound like] alt Rock I guess, these guys [Moorse] are quite jazz influenced, we all listen to different types of music. I have got an internship in London, I was working before in Leeds doing like the underground music scene here, listening to a lot of drum and bass and stuff and now I’m working with the Philharmonic Orchestra. It's quite a difference, but I wouldn’t say either of them really influence our sound.”

Balancing work life with band life Disraeli Gears strong work ethic pays off as the crowd finally go with the music and sway and stomp to ‘Skeleton’. Soon after, the band leave the stage and join the crowd to see the many other acts performing at this year’s Live at Leeds. Spanning over 24 venues across the city, Leeds is ablaze with the fresh talent the industry has to offer. Alex confesses that his musical involvement in the event is far from over, admitting “I actually have a gig tonight with my other group [Collective 92] so I will not be able to enjoy all the really good music, which is a shame. We saw Snarky Puppy yesterday - they'e sort of like a jazz pop fusion band - they are really good and they played at The Wardrobe.” For Sam, however, the festival is almost at an end: “I’m going to see a back seat of a train for 3 hours. I would have liked to catch Albert Hammond JR if I was sticking around as I am a massive Strokes fan. Basically when I was a teenager all I listen to was The Strokes. I was in this Strokes cover band, I think a Strokes song was our name as well; it was so bad, we all had really bad hair. We played one of our friend's parties, it was like a 13^th Birthday party, everyone loved it.”

The band pack away their instruments, feeling the aftermath of adrenalin that performing live brings with it. Disraeli Gears casually filter from the stage, checking their phones and returning to normality. Gentle gossip is muttered amongst the crowd as they blush in admiration for their favourite members of the band. Alex slyly tells me that someone has a secret admirer on Twitter, and Sam is quick to respond to his bandmate's suggestions, saying “I feel admired, I don’t know what I was doing in particular that enticed her so much. But I think I will let her down gently because my girlfriend's across the table!”

The popularity that the band enjoys can be seen in the huge following they have as they play from gig to gig. Disraeli Gears are not yet allowed to take a break as summer festival season is looming. No doubt, Piped Piper-like, they'll pick up many fans as they move from city to city. Of the band's plans for the summer, Sam tells me: “We have been invited to play one in the Lake District, it is called Fell Foot Sound and it is quite a low key festival. It will be quite a nice break for us, [we will] go probably for the whole weekend and make a bit of a holiday out of it”. There will be some down-time on the cards, as well though, with Alex adding that “We are all going to be in London as of July so we are all going to really get our heads down to writing I think and we will see what gigs come our way. We haven’t spent as much time as we probably should have in the last year to actually focus on the band, so hopefully once we have all kind of got over Uni that will be our main focus.”

To listen to tracks by Disraeli Gears, head on over to their Bandcamp page. To keep up to date with upcoming live dates, check the band out on Facebook. 

Live At Leeds is a multi-venue festival that takes over the streets of the northern city as music fans from all over the country bury themselves into the vast amount of music on offer. The festival for me starts in the Belgrave Music Hall, the popular venue that today will play host to artists such as Leeds' OtherPeoplesLives, Pet Moon and Manchester's Bipolar Sunshine.

With the sun out shining and with people in high spirits, the only place on my (and many other's) minds is Belgrave Music Hall. The roof terrace is crowded with Ray-Bans, dip-dyed hair and beards as they fill the deckchairs and school hall seats to look out onto the city’s skyline. The anticipation builds, as the wait to filter down and join the packed crowd for Disraeli Gears. Playing popular tunes such as ‘Mother I’ and ‘Skeleton’,  their set is tapered with moody atmospheric tendencies. Their alt-rock sound twist the knees of the audience into grooving with their temping blues and delicate wails. After a promising start, the idea of taking a gentle stroll down to Oporto isn’t too taxing. York locals Glass Caves take to the stage and quickly have people queuing out of the door to show their support. Like turning up to a party without an invite, the queue outside peer through the glass window to listen in on the muffled noise created by Glass Caves.

After Lunch and around the corner, tucked away in the Wardrobe, the Tea Street Band fuse a tempting sound into a mix of influences such as New Order and The Happy Mondays vibes. Bringing with them a true Manchester party, they get the crowd dancing with ease as the Tea Street Band treat the audience to tracks such as ‘Summer Dreaming’ and ‘Fiesta’. London’s Shy Nature are up next to perform to a slightly weary audience. Ballroom dancing begins to couple off some audience members in some weird act of pleasure to track ‘Sinking Ship.’  The intimate setting acts as the perfect space to dance along to their indie-pop grooves.

Basking in the sunshine, the walk down from the Wardrobe to Holy Trinity Church sets the mood for New York folk singer, Gambles. Leaving the microphone and stage behind him Gambles steps away from the front and moves into the crowd. He works his way round the pews, playing heartfelt blues to the audience. His mesmerising vocals echo through the church as he stomps his black worn Chelsea boots on the floor. Astounded the audience are speechless. His tales of lost love personalised with his attentive, sentimental performance make it a true sight to see and a memorable act at this year’s festival.

Around the festival, Leeds becomes a hotspot for familiar faces; from spotting Palma Violets having a few drinks outside Wire, to King Charles enjoying watching Josh Record’s courageous vocals in the Refectory and The Midnight Beast chewing on some ribs in Red Barbecue, musician spotting becomes the perfect game for beating the long queue blues.

A bit of light entertainment is sure needed as the popularity of Royal Blood causes one of the day's bottlenecks. Hundreds of wishful thinking fans cue outside the Leeds Metropolitan SU hoping to get through the one-in-one-out system to catch a glimpse of Royal Blood’s menacing guitar sound and jump around to ‘Little Monster’ and ‘Out Of The Black’.

As the sun begins to set, Leeds University is buzzing with musical delicacies to feast your ears upon. Down in The Mine, The Wytches crawl their fingers along the guitar neck and thrash their way through an energetic set. Their bone-rattling heavy display of darkness takes a devious turn as they play through tracks like ‘Crying Clown’ and ‘Digsaw’. Their anticipated large crowd mosh and jump their way along to ominous guitar riffs and bass sounds that are clouded with dirt. Ending on a stage dive makes this performance (and the awaiting expectation of their debut album) all that more exciting.

Packing out the Brudenell Social Club, Pulled Apart By Horses close the festival. They turn the social club upside down as the crowd vigorously jump into each other, thrashing around to ‘V.E.N.O.M’ and popular ‘I Punched A Lion In The Throat’. ‘High Five Swan Dive Nose Dive’ turns the whole venue into a massive mosh-pit, flailing bodies and bruised limbs scatter about like loose change. Acting as if they haven’t witnessed 12 hours of music previously, the exhilarated audience, still sweating, plead with Pulled Apart By Horses for just one more song. Ending on ‘Den Horn’ Pulled Apart By Horses stick around for a few drinks afterwards to celebrate the closing of the 2014 festivities.

The mammoth event saw the doors to the Leeds music scene flung wide open for all to see. Playing host to the UK’s raw talent, today is bound to have afforded many people a few memories, a few bruises and a few hangovers along the way; a duvet filled, silent Sunday is all that is now left of Live At Leeds 2014.