Sell out crowd for Kaiser Chiefs at Llanfest - in pictures

Llangollen’s Llanfest, the finale full-day festival for the annual International Eisteddfod drew to a triumphant finish last night with an epic set from the English rockers.

The band’s first ever Llangollen appearance raised the roof of the Royal International Pavilion as they stormed through crowd favourites, including Oh My God, I Predict a Riot and Ruby. The show was the band’s first Welsh gig in almost two years and one of the first opportunities in 2018 for fans in the region to see the band live.

The afternoon kicked off at 2pm with performances from a range of new, contemporary bands on the outside stages of the Eisteddfod field, including Liverpool’s iconic Cavern Club bringing Mersey beats over the water to Wales for the club’s first ever pop-up.

Nineties icons, Toploader, kicked off the evening, performing a raft of the band’s hits including Dancing in the Moonlight and songs from their 2017 comeback album Seeing Stars. A storming rendition of Just Hold On rounded off their set.

Renowned pop rock band, Hoosiers, followed onstage bringing the crowd to a crescendo with their well-known hits including Worried About Ray, followed by an electric cover of Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire and closing with crowd favourite, Goodbye Mr A.

The Kaisers burst onto stage opening with Everyday, the atmosphere was electric with the crowds jumping to their feet and rocking the Royal Pavilion for the next 80 minutes.

Working through the band’s impressive catalogue of hits, the entire set kept the crowds transfixed and dancing to all their favourite tunes, standout songs that proved favourites on the night included Ruby, Never Miss a Beat and I Predict a Riot.

Towards the back end of the blistering set, the band changed the tempo slightly with their version of The Who’s Pinball Wizard, which they first performed in 2012 at the Olympics closing concert and then at Reading Festival. They then ramped the pace back up to a riotous crescendo by way of fan favourite Na Na Na Na Na.

Llanfest has grown into a full day festival since it’s launch in 2011.

Aimed at a younger audience the festival aims to introduce new audiences the Llangollen and attract festival goers from across the country.

Chairman of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, Dr Rhys Davies, said: “Llanfest was introduced to spread our message to a wider audience, by bringing new and more contemporary music genres to the festival, while still remaining true to its traditional values.

“We are so proud to welcome the thousands of people from all over the world, it has been a feast for all the sense this week; the different cultures and backgrounds all coming together to share and enjoy music. Llanfest has yet again been a high energy finale that helps introduce a new audience to the amazing talents showcased throughout the week.”