Lineup 2014

[Com Truise]

I think it's likely to bring in more money this year though... or I hope it does

[the wonderwhy]

Well they can't exactly sell many more tickets (I don't think they've increased capacity?) so I don't see how they can make much more money that normal off it...

I reckon Latitude got a bigger budget this year. I doubt FR actually have any problems.

[rawaudioinput]

Maybe it's just the case of booking the wrong acts; I can't see acts like Everything Everything, Django Django and The Enemy costing that much more than Crystal Fighters, British Sea Power and Spector.

[Com Truise]

Well they can't exactly sell many more tickets (I don't think they've increased capacity?) so I don't see how they can make much more money that normal off it...

I reckon Latitude got a bigger budget this year. I doubt FR actually have any problems.

Did Leeds sell out last year? I know Reading did but it was very close to the fest

I don't think they have problems either, but I'm guessing they spent a fair proportion of the budget on that top 6, no doubt.

[rawaudioinput]

The top 6 is strong but it isn't strong enough to warrant the undercard suffering so much; if two of the headliners were Daft Punk and Watch the Throne then fair enough, but seeing as one of the headliners is Biffy who I'm sure didn't demand a huge fee and Chase & Status who must be reasonably priced enough to play absolutely everywhere I don't understand why.

[Com Truise]

There are plenty of people who don't see the undercard as having 'suffered' though, it's all a matter of opinion. A lot of people are unhappy because they haven't brought back a lot of bands that have played before. The festival has to introduce new names like they have this year to move forward.

And I doubt FR has the budget to book both Daft Punk and WTT and then 200 other acts..

[rawaudioinput]

Sorry I was exaggerating slightly with Daft Punk and WTT; but what I mean is that if all of the headliners and subs were incredibly strong then I would get why the undercard is so weak, but with Biffy and C&S it does look balanced out.

I don't think the undercard is an argument about the subjectivity of taste; it's just that it is smaller. Personally I think the NME this year doesn't look as weak as people make it out to be aside from early Friday; it's full of bands that people like and want to see. Where the undercard really lacks is the lower half of main stage, the Festival Republic stage and Lock Up because it's oozing with irrelevance.

The Blackout and New Found Glory are both bands belonging to a dead music scene who are declining in popularity and Bury Tomorrow are just some metalcore also-rans who aren't popular enough to even headline shows.

The Festival Republic stage is being headlined by acts that I doubt have strong fanbases at all. If you can find one person who is going to see Crystal Fighters I'll buy you a cider, and it doesn't count if they thought they were going to see Crystal Castles. Also British Sea Power headlined FR in 2010 and attracted a notably dismal crowd and that was when they were bigger and weren't up against a band of a similar demographic like Alt-J.

Last year one of the bands who played 5th on Lock Up was Saves the Day; a very influential emo band whose album "Stay What You Are" sold 300,000 copies. This year it's The Computers; who my best mate is friends with. (That being said they are very good and please check them out; they are lovely guys) That isn't really a case of irrelevance, but it is indisputable that that is a smaller booking.

[Com Truise]

#fedsonpeds ‏@torrbarinov25 Apr

Hope Enter Shakari, Your Demise, Crystal Castles and Crystal Fighters are announced for Reading tonight !

Tarren Hartland ‏@tarren_hartland27 Apr

Looking at the Reading Festival lineup. It's pretty gash. But I'm glad nothing good clashes with Crystal Fighters

chester mckee ‏@chestermckee3h

looking forward to seeing Alunageorge, Ms Mr, and Crystal Fighters at reading

You owe me three ciders

I get what you're saying, but that's a few bands out of a whole lineup. The Dance stage is relevant, 1xtra is relevant, the NME is relevant, a lot of the FR is relevant, including Spector who do have a strong fanbase. Which I can admit even with a strong dislike for them. Albeit Lock-Up isn't particularly relevant and there's repetition in Alk Trio and "Shikari" but it's still got decent acts in spite of relevance or popularity.

You guys are being particularly pessimistic this year

[rawaudioinput]

It's because aside from a few exceptions I don't have anyone to see until about 5pm each day.

I queued for 5 hours to see Biffy Clyro at iTunes Festival, I queued an obscene amount of time for Nine Inch Nails at the O2, Brand New at Roundhouse was one of the greatest gigs of my life, I have tried to see Chase & Status about 3 times and failed and I have adored System of a Down since I was 8. Today I considered not getting a ticket and going to Y Not instead.

That's how much of a disappointment the undercard is for me.

[Com Truise]

Personally I would have gone just for the top 6 (bar Green Day) + Foals, Bring Me, Frank and Brand New. I know I'll have an awesome week/weekend with my mates anyway.

Last year I only saw about 8 bands and it was brilliant. There's just always a brighter side eh

[rawaudioinput]

I was saying this to a friend earlier that I wouldn't be as annoyed about it if I already had a ticket, but as I don't I'm able to make a decision on whether to go or not which is difficult.

To be honest I think the reason why not having any bands I really want to see until 5pm really irritates me is because I really hated my campsite last year. 2011 was great but last year a load of tag-along girls came along who felt entitled to have their tent pitched for them and thought Reading was the perfect setting to break up with their boyfriends.

Also I've just looked at where Crystal Fighters are playing and their tickets for KOKO are selling for £50 on Seatwave and they're playing Brixton. I stand firmly corrected.

Edited April 29, 2013 by rawaudioinput

[Spud001]

I was saying this to a friend earlier that I wouldn't be as annoyed about it if I already had a ticket, but as I don't I'm able to make a decision on whether to go or not which is difficult.

To be honest I think the reason why not having any bands I really want to see until 5pm really irritates me is because I really hated my campsite last year. 2011 was great but last year a load of tag-along girls came along who felt entitled to have their tent pitched for them and thought Reading was the perfect setting to break up with their boyfriends.

Also I've just looked at where Crystal Fighters are playing and their tickets for KOKO are selling for £50 on Seatwave and they're playing Brixton. I stand firmly corrected.

This number gets later for you every day

[Hart Attack]

It's because aside from a few exceptions I don't have anyone to see until about 5pm each day.

I queued for 5 hours to see Biffy Clyro at iTunes Festival, I queued an obscene amount of time for Nine Inch Nails at the O2, Brand New at Roundhouse was one of the greatest gigs of my life, I have tried to see Chase & Status about 3 times and failed and I have adored System of a Down since I was 8. Today I considered not getting a ticket and going to Y Not instead.

That's how much of a disappointment the undercard is for me.

Is that because you actually dislike all the undercard bands, or just because you don't really know them? If it's the latter, it may be worth checking some out and trying to get into them - we've still got four months until the festival, so there's plenty of time. I went to Download in 2009 and was only into about four or five of the bands beforehand, but after doing some research and giving a chance to all the bands that sounded like they might be my sort of thing I ended up with plenty to see by the time of the festival.

[mrtourette]

After the last announcement does anyone think that FR are in some form of financial trouble? Because it's such a step down from the usual that I don't think they'd put that out unless they had to.

Looking at the strength of the Latitude line-up I doubt that FR in general are in finanical trouble, although on the flip side there are financial problems with Electric Picnic in Ireland. Hard to say whether they are or not and if they were to what extent it would affect R&L as it doesn't appear to have affected Latitude. Clearly there is room for improvement regarding R&L ticket sales (especially Leeds) and major festival sales are generally down across the board so they've decided that significant changes to the site and music are required. I sort of respect that, and the fact that they're trying something other than the TITP route of just booking more commercial pop/TV talent show acts (although V cornering the market on that may have meant that it wasnit even an option). Teenagers have always been the cornerstone of the market for R&L so that's obviously where they're hedging their bets, and also with spreading themselves (and their budget?) out across more stages rather than having four really good ones. I think the 'inexperience' of the majority of the NME line-up isn't necessarily to keep it cheap but to make it fresher and 'newer'. That approach and the musical direction/policy they've chosen certainly doesn't appeal to me but then again it's a long time since I've been a teenager so I doubt it's supposed to. It would be interesting to know if this change would have been made if Neil Pengelly was still booking or whether they've decided that with a new head booker this is the perfect time to try something different.

[alex28]

The strength of the undercard is mostly down to opinion. I personally think its very strong with a few exceptions. The main stage is very heavy compared to previous years and thats going to put off a lot of people but for me its brilliant, there are so many bands i would loike to see this year. Also, I counted 18 bands on the main which could play Download which proves it is heavier this year. From an outsider point of view I understand that the undercard could put off a lot of people. Most people won't know who bands like Bury Tomorrow etc are and will therefore think the line up is weak. But for somebody whos taste is like mine I'm sure they would be delighted with the undercard.

A lot of the bands accross all stages get a lot of play on Radio 1 at the moment and I think more than acts from previous years. It seems they are having a major influence on the line up. the NME stage is quite dance heavy and even some of the heavier bands playing get play on Radio 1. A lot of the music accross the line up is very popular at the moment so I reckon a lot of people who wouldnt normally go will do this year. There's gonna be a massive variety of fans though so its gonna be interesting.

[mrtourette]

The quality is open to opnion but what isn't is the 'newness' (there must be a better word for it than that) of the NME stage, with only four acts having more than one record out, and how well-know the bands lower down are.

The rest of what you say makes sense, apart from this which is complete nonsense;

Also, I counted 18 bands on the main which could play Download which proves it is heavier this year.

[Asdaprice]

The quality is open to opnion but what isn't is the 'newness' (there must be a better word for it than that) of the NME stage, with only four acts having more than one record out, and how well-know the bands lower down are.

The rest of what you say makes sense, apart from this which is complete nonsense;

Yeah this is true, but actually I give kudos to reading for it. Baring in mind all the talk about guitar is dying and new artists not being exposed, reading is giving them an opportunity, which is weaker for the goer, but actually for music as a whole I think is quite a good thing. These guys are still going to fill their sets, so there's not too much problems. But then again, because I love main, maybe I'm biased about it all.

Also, I don't think he was chatting shit there. The only bands that download either hasn't booked before or that I couldn't see them booking are eminem, foals, white lies, fall out boy, lumineers, and editors.

[thesecretingredientiscrime]

Also, I don't think he was chatting shit there. The only bands that download either hasn't booked before or that I couldn't see them booking are eminem, foals, white lies, fall out boy, lumineers, and editors.

It's wrong because it assumes because some of the acts have played Download before, it makes the whole lineup heavier. I've counted as many acts who V would book from the lineup.

[mrtourette]

My point was that you can't 'prove' that a festival is heavier just by there being a certain of bands that you think could play a heavier festival. And maybe Download is 'lighter' this year because there are more bands that would play/have played R&L?

[the wonderwhy]

I'm all for giving 'new' bands a chance, but not headlining a stage against fucking Eminem.

[Chinaski_]

My point was that you can't 'prove' that a festival is heavier just by there being a certain of bands that you think could play a heavier festival. And maybe Download is 'lighter' this year because there are more bands that would play/have played R&L?

The 'heavier' acts on the bill always tend to be the same types you'd see at any Download festival. I'd have liked to see acts like Metz, Fucked Up, No Age, Dinosaur Jr, Pissed Jeans etc. on the bill.

[Asdaprice]

My point was that you can't 'prove' that a festival is heavier just by there being a certain of bands that you think could play a heavier festival. And maybe Download is 'lighter' this year because there are more bands that would play/have played R&L?

Oh right, fair enough. I thought he just meant this year is heavier main stage wise and not too dissimilar to a download lineup. But yeah, the fest is unique in that its varied from having bands from a load of genres. I thought that was universally accepted haha

[Asdaprice]

I'm all for giving 'new' bands a chance, but not headlining a stage against fucking Eminem.

Haha, I can't believe people like alt j anyway. Awful to my ears. But yeah, I'm in 2 minds about nme headliners - skrillex and Phoenix are certainly hyped enough and alt j does seem to be liked a lot, but I do miss the established slots they used to dish out aka ash 2007, manics 08

[mrtourette]

Oh right, fair enough. I thought he just meant this year is heavier main stage wise and not too dissimilar to a download lineup. But yeah, the fest is unique in that its varied from having bands from a load of genres. I thought that was universally accepted haha

Well if it was main stage specific that would make more sense, although when the Download line-up was done I said it looked more like an R&L line-up. There's a lot of potential crossover between the two this year, although I don't know why it's R&L that gets judged as being 'like Download' rather than vice versa.

And as usual trying to judge how heavy a festival based is on how many bands have played a heavier festival is completely flawed. C&S played Download last year, does that mean that booking C&S this year makes R&L 'heavier'? Of course not, as just because a band played a 'heavy' festival doesn't make them 'heavy'.

Edited April 29, 2013 by mrtourette

[Andre91]

I still can't believe how low The 1975 are. Fair enough they will have been very low-key when they were booked, but they're bigger than a lot of the acts on the NME now, surely they could have shuffled the lineup around a bit knowing that they will pull a much bigger crowd in August than they would have when they were booked originally?