Todays announcemnt for the undecided

[pink_triangle]

Having been every year to the festival since 2001, I was disappointed with the original line up but waited for the nme tent to take shape as thats where I spend most of my time in general. Todays annoucement to me was a mixture of bands I have never heard of or bands I have no interest in. I have therefore decided to give the festival a miss this year. Have any other undecided people come to any decision after the announcemnt?

I am not criticising the line up or people who like it. I just feel at age 30 maybe the time is to accept that the festival isnt aimed at me anymore. I got into music in the late 90s listening to the likes of ash, super furry animals, supergrass, weezer, manics and placebo. When I first went I knew all the bands and could regularly see my favourite. I look at todays line up and havent got a clue who half the bands are. I have listented to a few unknown to me on youtube but nothing clicked. Have any others got to the stage where they feel they feel that reading/leeds is a young mans festival and time to look somewhere new?

[Dave The Hedgehog]

To be honest, mate, I'd say that there were about 4 or 5, maybe 6 bands I'd have any interest in going to see but after going to the Big Weekend festival last saturday (where I knew NONE of the bands) I've come to the conclusion that it's best not to over-analyse or complicate anything because - if you're open-minded and prepared to give an unknown band a chance, they could change your life and your whole outlook towards music.

Initially, I had my reseverations about Leeds this year - with every announcement I clung to hope that it would get better and, in reality, it hasn't, but I think the best thing to do is to go there with an open-mind and take what you want from it. I think - this year, it offers quite a lot of variety, and the fact they are shoving on bands people like us (old timer Britpop fans and original Kurt Cobain death mourners) have never heard of is great because it means they're giving smaller bands a chance to shine - which is great.

I don't intend to give my tickets back but if I did then I'd go to Latitude.

[micawber]

^ Good post. Wait for your second wind. I'm nearer 50 than 40 but I'm looking forward to seeing some new material and acts.

[pink_triangle]

I think I will give the festival scene a miss this year. Amazigly for the first time ever I have looked at the v line up and while there is a lot of rubbish, there are more bands I would look forward to there than at reading /leeds. I feared the day would come one day!!!

[Rancidpunk_76]

I too have become disenfranchised with Reading over recent years. The lineup has catered less and less to my liking (marginally) but the main reason for me would be all the fools causing chaos on the sunday and ruining what used to be a much loved end to the summer.

Sonisphere for me this year, believe it or not, much more chilled clientel!

[Role Model]

Reading hasn't really been perfectly to my taste for a while, but seeing as my mates aren't into the music I'm into, I still find myself going every year.

[jonwl89]

I honestly could not have expected much more from the festival this year. After last year being my first time at Leeds after a few years at V and generally deciding that I couldn't stomach the atmosphere anymore last years line-up at Leeds was pretty lacklustre compared with what I'd seen on previous years, exempting Radiohead from this, this year for me is a perfect mix of heavier acts, more indie acts and unknown artists for me.

To have the mix of the likes of Modest Mouse, Girls and Arcade Fire to Weezer, Alkaline Trio (although the clas with LCD is killing me) and Queens of The Stone Age over the course of the weekend for me couldn't have been a more balanced and ideal line-up!

Couldn't be more excited if I tried

[Benj]

Having been every year to the festival since 2001, I was disappointed with the original line up but waited for the nme tent to take shape as thats where I spend most of my time in general. Todays annoucement to me was a mixture of bands I have never heard of or bands I have no interest in. I have therefore decided to give the festival a miss this year. Have any other undecided people come to any decision after the announcemnt?

I am not criticising the line up or people who like it. I just feel at age 30 maybe the time is to accept that the festival isnt aimed at me anymore. I got into music in the late 90s listening to the likes of ash, super furry animals, supergrass, weezer, manics and placebo. When I first went I knew all the bands and could regularly see my favourite. I look at todays line up and havent got a clue who half the bands are. I have listented to a few unknown to me on youtube but nothing clicked. Have any others got to the stage where they feel they feel that reading/leeds is a young mans festival and time to look somewhere new?

[hombrederayo]

I'm about the OPs age, 32 to be exact, and I get what he is saying. I can't believe that blink 182 are considered "legends" enough to be headliners, I remember them as the shit versions of offspring/green day myself, and I've never heard of arcade fire.

however I'm slightly different as as I've got older I've got more into dancier stuff, dnb/hip-hop etc as opposed to rock/metal that I was into when I 1st went to Reading. Therefore the festival hasnt really catered to me for a few years now anyway, apart from a few token bands and a dance stage, which has never had the best of line ups.

I basically go and am going this year coz i live in Reading, and it would be rude not to go to a festival where I live!

Plus this year due to personal stuff going on, i cant go too far away from home this summer, so glasto is out.

I will still go and have a great time no doubt, as I love live music, and learning about new acts regardless of genre.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

Sonisphere for me this year, believe it or not, much more chilled clientel!

[mrtourette]

I'm in the same situation, there's one band I'm excited about and maybe six bands that I'm interested in seeing but I go because I live in Reading and I like the atmos. I wouldn't travel to see this line-up, but that's just my taste. I think the tent line-up is dreadful but I'm sure I'll wander over to the FR stage to check some stuff out.

[tom barnett]

I couldn't be much happier really; I like to think I have a fairly varied music taste and, sure, while there isn't exactly much jazz or world music - hey I didn't expect that from reading.

Getting a lineup with the likes of QOTSA at one end, Four Tet at another and then Weezer, LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix (gutted with the QOTSA clash though), Girls, Arcade Fire, Surfer Blood, Holy F***, Los Campesinos, Japanese Popstars and then stuff like Blink 182 and Cypress fahking Hill to appease the 15 year old side of me as well - it'll blooming well do.

And yeah there is some pretty average (but with moments of fleeting brilliance) stuff like The Big Pink, Delphic and Modest Mouse - but you can't expect everyone to be 100% happy. There's only so many bands you can see anyway; either way, anyone who is genuinely into their music would find something to enjoy on this lineup - whether or not it's worth £180+ is, to be fair, up for debate.

I've only recently moved away from Reading and odds are this will probably be my last one, but it's not a bad way to go!

[rexclark]

I'm pretty happy with this years line up but last year nothing interested me, so I spent alot of time at the Alternative stage and had an amazing time.

[Vieuphoria]

I was talking about this yesturday when we were semi planning our weekend. The lineup is so weak. There are 2 bands i will not miss, the few that will be really good and the rest i just do not care about. Think this year could be my last, Glasto is just better for me i think. People say last years was weak.... but this year is just do utterly dreadful it doesnt even compare to last year.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Vieuphoria

[rockinthecasbah]

Compared to last year, where the presence of Radiohead covered up what was a spectacularly average lineup, it's fantastic. There's a mix of big bands who I've been wanting to see for years (Arcade Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, Weezer,) and smaller bands I'm anticipating making for a good start to the day (Walkmen, Surfer Blood, Girls.) I've also got real choice when it comes to headliners, with at least 2 on every night I'd be happy to watch. With the FR and alternative stages bound to throw up at least a few acts I'm interested in, and the festival being a few days away with a big group of friends, I don't think I could realistically have asked for more from the lineup. I'd expect the next few years lineups to disappoint me in comparison.