Which is better: Reading or Leeds?

[wheres the mudfight]

No I'm really, really not interested tin emo bands. I'm not closed minded to them, and I do see their point, but I just don't like the music. My taste in music tends to be edging more towards the indie, 'High Fidelity', record store elitist spectrum. Bottom line is no band can ever be as cool as The Jesus and Mary Chain, no album will ever be as good as My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and no guitar combo will ever be as good as Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo... add two and two together and you get a fan of Noisy alternative music and everything that connects the dots in between.

[wheres the mudfight]

Well, yes but I don't tend to follow rumours.

On the contrary, if the rumours are true then I plain and simply will not be paying that amount for a ticket. If you enjoy masochism and torture, you can get it a lot cheaper than £400.

[ShockTK]

Right so, so far it seems Leeds outweighs Reading.

I might just wait and see what the line-up is like.

[Lithium05]

Reading's better because that's where I go.

Although if I'm not your cup of tea, Leeds may be the right choice for you

[Benj]

Right so, so far it seems Leeds outweighs Reading.

I might just wait and see what the line-up is like.

[danil08]

you're never going to get an accurate response to this question because its the equivalent as going into a pub and saying "whos the best football team in the country?", you'll get a lot of biased answers from people who have been to either reading or leeds, even if you ask people who have been to both, your only getting an opinion and one persons positive is another's negative....

however if we're going to talk about differences...

Readings in a town, this means that you can always go in the town to buy supplies and cheaper food than onsite, also the lineup tends to be ordered slightly better imo (e.g. radiohead on a sunday night to close it off last year) however you'll have to look at the lineup and decide which is best

Leeds isnt in a town, this means that there are less issues with noise control therefore you get the late night entertainment such as campsite djs etc....

and thats about it, although as ive only been to reading its obviously better

[ShockTK]

you're never going to get an accurate response to this question because its the equivalent as going into a pub and saying "whos the best football team in the country?", you'll get a lot of biased answers from people who have been to either reading or leeds, even if you ask people who have been to both, your only getting an opinion and one persons positive is another's negative...

[biglewhill]

When i read the thread title i was expecting a mass argument

I have only been to Leeds, but from what i know, it seems the better of the two.

Simply because someone told me things like the silent disco costs to get in and things are much more strict/snobby. I wouldn't know personally cause i havent been but many people have told me leeds is the better of the two

[ShockTK]

When i read the thread title i was expecting a mass argument

I have only been to Leeds, but from what i know, it seems the better of the two.

Simply because someone told me things like the silent disco costs to get in and things are much more strict/snobby. I wouldn't know personally cause i havent been but many people have told me leeds is the better of the two

[biglewhill]

Nah there's no point in arguing over something so trivial. I'm just asking for festival go-ers subjective opinions on which is better and so far Leeds is probably the one to go for.

I suppose it depends entirely on what you want to take from a festival.

With me the only reason I'd like to go is because the people behind Glastonbury are more or less turning their festival into a concentration camp. Oxegen is on a different island but that's my contingency plan if all goes wrong with Reading/Leeds tonight. V Festival I just don't like the sound of, and T in the Park is basically for children. Reading/Leeds seems to be the one my girlfriend is most enthusiastic about so I figured a birthday present is a good excuse to go for it.

Instincts are telling me to wait for the Glastonbury re-sale but in all honesty I just don't fancy going if the headliners are Muse and U2.

[ShockTK]

hah, yeah but you know what some people are like on this forum

I would personally say go to the one that is closer to your hometown! that way, you save money on travel. But if the atmoshpere is what you want to love, go for Leeds.

[ShockTK]

Any more thoughts?

[Bradders]

I'll tell you the differences that I've picked up on I couldn't say which is better because I've only been to Leeds.

1. Reading is next to the town, Leeds is in the middle of nowhere. So at Leeds you're in the countryside, everything's more spread out. This goes both ways because being in a town is convenient, as is having the stages slightly closer to each other, but then I would say you're more likely to get a better festival "vibe" from Leeds with it being away from civilisation.

2. Reading is the original. Leeds is the franchise tag-on. Alot of bands seem like they want to play Reading but have to play Leeds. Foo Fighters I've felt are a good indication of this. Doesn't apply to some bands though such as KOL, who prefer Leeds, or any northern band.

3. Reading is televised, if you want to rewatch what you saw this might be an advantage. Personally I like the "what happens at Leeds, stays at Leeds" kind of atmosphere. You know it's a once-only performance.

4. Leeds has free parking.

5. Leeds has more late night entertainment. DJ booths in the campsite etc.

6. I've got the slight impression that Reading attracts more twats, I have no basis for this whatsoever and it's probably just bias, lots of twats go to Leeds too.

7. I've only been to Glastonbury once (Leeds 7 times) and it's infinitely better.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Bradders

[Tom1889]

Well, like I've said, the glory (and irk) of living smack bang in the centre of the planet is that I'm almost equal distance from both. Reading is a tad closer but I think I might set my eyes on Leeds when the tickets go on sale tonight. I'm going to wait for the line-up though. If it's like:

Friday:

Arcade Fire

Blink 182

Saturday:

Paramore

Green Day

Sunday:

Biffy Clyro

My Chemical Romance

...then I'll take my money elsewhere, I think. I saw the fake poster a while back and it just reminded me of what it might be like to spend a weekend in Hell.

[olly!olly!olly!]

Been to both. preferred leeds fractionally, but both are fairly similar things and have good points/bad points. If you have only been to one I suggest going to the other

[ShockTK]

Hell probably has better bogs though.

[tjallen900]

Tbh I didnt bother reading most of the posts so sorry I repeat what somebody else might have said.

I have only been to Reading but my friend went to Leeds for 2 years and Reading for 2 years and he says Reading is better because you are closer to the city and you can walk into town and get cheap booze and food and use cleaner toilets where as in Leeds you are quite out of the way of town and have to get a bus or something.

He didnt seem to think there was too much difference between Reading and Leeds in terms of enjoyment. You make your own festival so venue isnt too much of a factor.

[ShockTK]

Tbh I didnt bother reading most of the posts so sorry I repeat what somebody else might have said.

I have only been to Reading but my friend went to Leeds for 2 years and Reading for 2 years and he says Reading is better because you are closer to the city and you can walk into town and get cheap booze and food and use cleaner toilets where as in Leeds you are quite out of the way of town and have to get a bus or something.

[XrtVra]

half of it comes down to do you prefer northerners or southerners

plus leeds has campsite djs etc

i go to leeds

although at reading you can walk to town and buy cheap booze, leeds you can get a bus to tesco (and other shops) and buy cheap booze.

Edited March 29, 2010 by rbranigan

[ShockTK]

half of it comes down to do you prefer northerners or southerners

[XrtVra]

still, they are often w*nkers for different reasons i find haha

ive never been reading, and didnt realise they didnt have campsite djs and all that.. not that i wouldnt go if it was just reading, but the after hours entertainment at leeds is very good

[ivan]

Well, I'll be driving to and from the place so if I ever want anything I can just get in my car and sod off somewhere for food if I need it. Getting in and out of a place for supplies isn't really that much of a problem and if I'm honest I'd rather be away from a town centre and locked inside my own festival bubble anyway.

The downside of being near a town centre is that when you need supplies the chances are about 25% of the 85000 other people attending the festival will need to go for a beer run too, so in effect you take the festival with you anyway wherever you go. What you'll get then is 21250 people scrambling into the nearest toilets all the while invading the town centre looking for the nearest Subway or KFC - it'll be like London.

[Benj]

But at Leeds you get free car parking so can leave loads of booze in the car and not have to

carry it far !