Roundhay Festival review: Pitbull brings the party at slick new northern event

Roundhay Festival review: Pitbull brings the party at slick new northern event In its inaugural year, Roundhay brought some of the biggest names in pop, R&B and rap to Leeds in a seamless production worthy of a well established festival It’s not just No10 that is levelling up in the North of England. Music festivals are too. Bringing the star power of BST Hyde Park to central Leeds, yesterday saw the inaugural run of new kid on the block, Roundhay Festival. A near copy and paste of next week’s BST line-up, it saw big hitters Los Tucanes De Tijuana, Lil Jon, Tinie Tempah and Jason Derulo take to the stage before headliner Pitbull. As I stepped off the train in Leeds, the bald caps began to multiply, with groups of friends dressed as Pitbull in shirts, ties, bald caps and drawn-on facial hair. Next weekend there’s a world record attempt for the most bald caps worn in one place. I’m sure if Guinness were at Roundhay yesterday, whatever the record was before, would have been broken early. As I arrived on site, I was struck by the festival’s efficiency considering it was its first day of operation. Queues were quick, security was swift and before we knew it, my sister and I were walking down Roundhay Park’s famous hill to the sound of Get Low by Lil Jon. And let’s talk about the hill. Where the stage is, the landscape looks a bit like a ball of ice cream has been scooped out of a tub. A bowl, with hills on all sides, it’s a genius spot to hold a show, allowing a brilliant view from everywhere. Professional hype man Lil Jon whipped up the crowd with Yeah and Turn Down For What, leading all 69,999 of them in a rousing chorus of UK national anthem Sweet Caroline. Meeting him backstage, he praised UK audiences. "They know how to party,” he told me. Next up was Tinie Tempah, who arrived in a gargantuan dark green Rolls Royce. While the very start of his set was marred with technical difficulties, Tinie soon brushed them off to treat Roundhay to his biggest hits. Just him, charismatic DJ Charlsey, and a backing track on stage, the energy the rapper was able to bring to the Park was incredible. Pass Out and Earthquake were my favourites, the soundtrack to my uni days. Backstage, I asked Tinie how it felt to be the man behind so many club bangers. "An honour and a privilege," he said. Then it was time to dash over to Jason Derulo, who took us back to 2009 with a high-octane set of hits spanning his whole career. Riding Solo was a lot of fun. Derulo danced and showed off his pitch-perfect voice, although at times I was distracted by the sheer amount of crotch on show. Surrounded by dancers dressed in a way that would make Ann Summers blush, it was part concert, part soft porn. The crowd didn’t seem to mind though, lapping up Wiggle, In My Head and Want To Want Me. With an hour to go before Pitbull, I had a wander around the site. I was impressed. Queues were still short, toilets were abundant. Everything was slick and working. The well-oiled spirit of BST was alive and well. Including the drinks prices. Then it was time for the main event. The man, the myth, the legend. Mr Worldwide himself. If you’ve never seen Pitbull live, you must. It’s bonkers. The Miami native has featured on so many songs it’s like listening to the Top 40. They came one by one, a veritable wrecking ball of pop anthems: Fireball, On The Floor, Hotel Room Service, Timber… There was a party in Roundhay Park and we were all invited. Ending on Give Me Everything and a speech about unity, Pitbull solved world peace and raised the collective global dopamine levels by a third. So what could they improve? Well, notably the only women on the bill were scantily clad dancers with cheese wire thongs on. It wasn’t a bastion of light for feminism. And the VIP area didn’t serve rosé. Apart from that, it was as slick as we know and love BST to be. And its location in Leeds opens up the experience to those living North of the Watford Gap. More next year please. *Pitbull will perform at American Express presents BST Hyde Park this Friday, July 10. For more information, see HERE; and for more information and updates on Roundhay Festival, see HERE