Hot on the back of Live At Leeds: In The City, the bi-annual festival has just announced its summertime headliners.
Returning for 2023, Live At Leeds: In The Park, will see indie favourites Two Door Cinema Cub bringing Temple Newsam to life on Saturday 27 May 2022.
The Northern Irish musicians will be sure to bring the best of their latest album and true to the name, Keep On Smiling, and fuse their set with classics from their earlier days like Undercover Martyn, What You Know and Bad Decisions.
Speaking about their headline show at Live At Leeds: In The Park, Two Door Cinema Club said: "Excited to say we’ll be coming to Live At Leeds in the park next year for the first time! Yoooooooooooorkshire!"
Joining the headline act are plenty of bands from near and far that need no introduction. The Lathums, Wigan's finest, will be performing alongside Tom Walker, Everything Everything, The Big Moon, Black Honey and more besides.
There's plenty more names to be announced in the festival lead-up, but here's all the names announced and set to perform at Live At Leeds: In The Park 2023:
Two Door Cinema Club
The Lathums
Tom Walker
Everything Everything
The Big Moon
Black Honey
The Beths
Lime Cordiale
CMAT
Brooke Combe
Lapsley
Prima Queen
Dolores Forever
Low Hummer
Panic Shack
Enola Gay
Psymon Spine
Tickets go on sale this Friday 28 October 2022 for the 2023 festival, with general admission prices starting at £60, or £85 for VIP tickets.
The first poster for 2023. / Image: Supplied
Speaking about Live At Leeds: In The Park 2023, Festival Promoter Joe Hubbard said:“After such an incredible first year in 2022, we’re delighted to be returning to Temple Newsam for Live At Leeds: In The Park 2023!"
"Bringing together bonafide festival headliners such as Two Door Cinema Club alongside some of the best in modern indie/alternative music - it’s going to be an unforgettable day and the perfect summer party not only full of singalongs left, right and centre but also loads of opportunities to discover your next favourite artist."
"It’s what we do best at Live At Leeds and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back for an even bigger and even better Live At Leeds: In The Park in May. Catch ya down the front!”
I had a feeling that Aussie duo Royel Otis would bring the sunshine to Halifax. But I thought it would be a little more metaphorical than this…
As West Yorkshire melts in a record-breaking heatwave, and the sun sets over the magnificent Piece Hall, this feels like the perfect artist to be on this stage.
Their new wave, upbeat indie makes you feel like you've been plucked out of the UK and dunked straight into Byron Bay.
Royel Maddell cannonballs onto the stage with the energy of a man much more acclimatised to hot weather than us Brits, moving so fast we actually glimpse his face before it's lost again behind that signature mop of hair.
Then follows Otis Pavlovic, a languid, relaxed, but tightly note-perfect front man.
They're here to perform tracks from their two studio albums, including last year's Hickey, alongside the covers that rocketed them to fame.
Forget the commercial charts - the fan-voted Triple J Hottest 100 is the holy grail of music in Australia, and these guys have absolutely dominated it in recent years, for good reason.
Their cover of Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Murder On The Dancefloor topped the alternative charts and reached number two on the Hottest 100, while their beautiful version of Linger by the Cranberries made it onto the soundtrack of the hit show The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Royel Otis at The Piece Hall in Halifax
For their show at The Piece Hall, Royel Otis whizz through an upbeat setlist of smooth indie hits. I Wanna Dance With You comes with a set of instructions displayed on the screen behind them.
"Dance with the person next to you. "Stop dancing. "Put your hands in the air."
And we do, because we're obedient, eager-to-please, slightly drunk idiots, and the instructions are fun.
Their live version of Murder On The Dancefloor is one of the most joyful sights I've ever seen at a gig. Everyone is dancing, and not your usual bobbing about in place - spinning, shimmying, holding hands, laughing in each others' faces.
Of course, their own music still hits hardest here. Sofa King, Who's Your Boyfriend, and Kool Aid are all crowd favourites, while Oysters In Your Pocket cements itself again as a timeless indie banger as it closes the show.
This was one of those shows where everything went just right - a happy crowd, stunning weather, and one of the most talented duos on the circuit right now.
Audio North’s Artist of the Month – Aaron Dinning | June 2026
Thomas Melia
Aaron Dinning is an indie-pop act whose songs span the highs and lows of relationships, and now he’s Audio North’s latest Artist of the Month.
Born in County Durham, studied in Leeds, and now the curator of a live music events organisation based in Manchester, Dinning sure knows a thing about northern music.
With hits to his name already like ’24’, ‘Look Who’s Holding The Gun Now!’, this queer musician is gearing up to release a deluxe edition of his sophomore EP Boys Become Men.
If his name feels familiar to you, that’s because it probably is, as Aaron Dinning has performed at a multitude of venues across the north – including Feel Good Club, Popup Bikes, and The Proud Place.
Now, Dinning chats to Audio North about his upbringing and music journey, as he accepts the title of Artist of the Month for June.
An interview with Aaron Dinning – Audio North’s Artist of the Month | June 2026
Aaron Dinning is making his mark in the Manchester music scene with his indie-pop tracks / Credit: Press Shots via Emily Atherton (Supplied)
You were born in County Durham and now live in Manchester. How have those two places shaped you as an artist?
I think there’s such a contrast in the environment of those two places. Durham was so formative for me growing up, back then I didn’t have the autonomy to vocalise it but now I see Chester-Le-Street specifically as such a ‘small town mindset’ kind of place.
If I stayed at home, I would never be the artist I am today. That’s not to say that growing up somewhere like that isn’t just as important as the place which makes you feel accepted. You can’t have such a strong desire for one without a disdain for the other.
What does being a northern musician mean to you?
I think being northern, to me, just means breaking the mould and showing that if I can do it, anybody can. It means building my career on my own terms, it’s taught me to unapologetically be myself, on and off stage.
I always say that I want to write the songs I needed when I grew up because there was nobody like me from the North. Sometimes it still feels like I’m the only one too.
To me, if I can write a song, or put on a performance that resonates with a 15-year-old kid who’s still figuring out who they are or who they love, that’s the most fulfilling thing that can come from sharing my art.
This Northern talent is from Country Durham, studied in Leeds and is now based in Manchester / Credit: Press Shots via Jack Garrod (Supplied)
The music industry can feel very London-centric at times. Have you found being based in the North to be an advantage or a challenge?
It’s a bit of both really. Yes, London is where the majority of the big names in music are, but in my mind, I always compare it to that scene in Baby Reindeer when the guy says ‘You find yourself a background artist in a cast of millions’ (niche).
I like that the industry isn’t as saturated as London up here, but I can see that changing in years to come. The North has always been where it’s at and truly where all these major labels should be looking for who’s up next because you might just find a gem like me waiting to be found.
Is there a northern artist who made you think, “If they can do it, so can I”?
Definitely Sam Fender. I know it’s a bit of a cliche nowadays, but I absolutely love him and he’s what I think of when it comes to a classic northern success story.
I’ve seen him six times and the last time at St James’ Park was a completely different calibre of show to when I saw him at Boiler Room in 2019 and paid fifteen quid for the ticket.
Me and him are completely different, but I imagine we had a similar sort of upbringing in the terms of characters we knew growing up in rougher areas. I feel like he cracked the mainstream so well with his first album and he’s only gotten better since. I’d want my first album to have the same kind of critical acclaim as his.
Dinning fuses his sexuality throughout his music, being an openly queer pop musician / Credit: Press Shots via Tom Hargreaves (Supplied)
What made Manchester feel like the right place for the next chapter of your career?
I recorded my entire EP here whilst I was still living in Leeds with Toby Ollis Brownstone from the beginning of 2024. That year and a half which I spent travelling back and forth in Manchester made me love the city and loathe commuting.
I knew I wanted to move to Manchester when I got invited to play the Queer as F*ck open mic on Valentine’s Day in 2025. That was the first show I played accompanying myself on the guitar, I agreed to play three hours before doors and completely fumbled my way through the set.
The feeling of the room was like nothing I’d experienced before, to come to a show in another city I had never played in and feel so welcomed, at home and accepted by a room full of likeminded people, felt like a feeling I could only replicate in Manchester.
Has living in Manchester changed your songwriting at all?
Generally speaking, I’ve been playing guitar a lot more since moving here. I feel like there’s a naive fresh start that comes along with moving to new places and feeling like your life’s going to drastically change.
Becoming the Producer of SoFar Manchester helped me feel integrated and I’ve met so many cool people doing that job while spotlight my friends who are artists and bring them to the city that I fell in love with – It’s all very full circle.
I’ve brought Romy Taylor, Caitlin Doran, Sophie Green, and GRACEY over to play SoFar events and they’re all equally amazing creatives who are based in Leeds, like I once was.
The ’24’ singer has played gigs in unusual Manchester city centre locations like Popup Bikes in Ancoats / Credit: Credit: Press Shots via Emily Atherton (Supplied)
What do you think Manchester does better than anywhere else when it comes to music?
I think Manchester is such a hot pot of different styles and genres. I think the thing it does best is spotlight LGBTQ+ artists. Not just in music, but drag is somewhere I look to when I think of performance, and the queens in the village are truly a sign of resilience and individuality.
I’ve had more shows just for being queer in Manchester than anywhere else I’ve lived, there’s so many freelance creatives, charities and gig promoters who are looking out for LGBTQ+ artists to celebrate, even making entire lineups out of us.
Sophie Smith -
26th October 2022 
