VANT are behaving in the run up to their Leeds Festival set

Returning to Reading and Leeds festival for a second year running, Saturday afternoon finds VANT being very well-behaved. The squeaky clean picture of responsibility, Mattie Vant and Henry Eastham are less focused on raiding their booze rider today, and far more interested staying hydrated and finding a shady spot to sit down and chat. They’re well aware of the fact that this weekend the band play their biggest shows yet, and today, they head for leg two of the weekend, at Leeds. Following their gig there, the band plan on making up for lost time. As Lapsley might put it, they’ve got a “mad sesh” planned.

“It feels like we’ve just been at a wedding or something, and we’ve woken up half cut,” observes Mattie the day before, looking down at the remnants of Foals’ confetti gun explosion littering the ground. “Fortunately we’re not half cut,” he laughs, “important shows. We try to be good boys, but I’m sure at Leeds, the aftermath will be…”
“The drive home will please our tour manager,” Henry adds, wryly.

Leeds particularly is a festival that means a lot to VANT – both Henry and Mattie came here as teenagers, and spent the whole weekend running between wall-to-wall bands and rammed tents. “It was the first festival I ever went to, and had two very hedonistic years there. It pretty much changed my life, to be honest,” Mattie says. Just seeing so many great bands in such a condensed period of time and kissing girls and trying things that you’re not really meant to try. It was amazing,” he adds, laughing, “to a point where I knew I couldn’t handle a hat trick.”

“You look at all the line-ups from years before, and it’s incredible,” Mattie remarks. “You see like, Coldplay, in tiny text. “First on at The Lock Up,” jokes Henry.
Mattie cackles: “when they were a metal band.”

And as for Reading and Leeds nowadays, VANT are still convinced its the best festival going, and Mattie’s pleased to see the bookers taking more risks this year by bringing in co-headliners. “I think they’ve done a really good job this year in terms of the five headliner thing,” he starts. “Switching it up a little bit, and giving a massive British dance act like Disclosure an opportunity to be on such a big scale. It’s almost as brave as when Glastonbury did Jay-Z. We just need a female headliner now. That’s the only thing they’re missing, really.”