Who is the 3rd headliner likely to be?

[the wonderwhy]

so who do we think is currently popular enough to be the 3rd headliner????

[Asdaprice]

lol, he doesn't work for Asda!

[dart]

He's a nobody mate, its Gary's time back in the throne!

[thewayiam]

haha....nor do i?

[Asdaprice]

A hologram Kurt.

[Asdaprice]

fuck off garys a nob'ed robbie is king

Edited March 7, 2013 by Asdaprice

[thesecretingredientiscrime]

Out of interest, what bands that viably could play do you think are better for the Reading audience than Green Day?

I think they are incredibly popular with the younger generation.

Edited March 7, 2013 by thesecretingredientiscrime

[Com Truise]

fuck off garys a nob'ed robbie is king

[Asdaprice]

When you say viably, it depends what you mean. It's a very hard thing to judge because of the possibility of exclusives etc. I get the point you're trying to make, but in reality, unless we know booking details of who they've tried and failed to get, surely the only thing we can do is reasonably criticise/praise?

Now is a very tough time to put on a festival, which is why you have to offer something different, something out of the usual. Obviously people haven't been satisfied with what R&L has offered in recent years, which is why they need to look at who they offer to, and what they offer.

I don't really think the first bit is true. I think it's good enough until you go elsewhere and see what else is offered. A trend i've noticed this year is smaller festivals getting their headliners on exclusives (in retaliation for bigger festivals doing it to them in recent years) and I think that's what should be a major worry. A lot of these smaller festivals have much more going on, and are now getting bigger and bigger of acts. The evolution of Bestival should be a major worry for festivals. If Bestival was mainland, it would cause great problems.

You say it's festivals on a whole, but as i've pointed out, in more recent years, the smaller festivals have been doing very well. Places like Boomtown etc. sell out a long time in advance.

I agree that R&L is currently top of its list for GCSE market but it needs to retain that and look at a. the demographic of who goes, and b. the sales in recent years when looking at its lineup.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Asdaprice

[kaosmark2]

The talk of the site restructuring makes me think they might be introducing a few other things to try and bring in punters who want more than just the bands.

[Muppetmark]

Out of interest, how much better do you think sales would be if they had their big announcement a week or 2 before v festival?

[the wonderwhy]

A lot of these smaller festivals have much more going on, and are now getting bigger and bigger of acts. The evolution of Bestival should be a major worry for festivals. If Bestival was mainland, it would cause great problems.

[PDAD]

The talk of the site restructuring makes me think they might be introducing a few other things to try and bring in punters who want more than just the bands.

[thelionsmouth]

I think bestival poses a bigger threat to Reading than it does to Leeds. The only thing that stopped me going to Bestival over Reading was the awkwardness of the transport, and the fact that its lineup isn't that good. Not as good as R&L's usually is (and hopefully will be this year).

[thesecretingredientiscrime]

OK, so what would you do if you were Melvin to help the festival? I'm genuinely interested, because I think they're gonna do fine with what they're doing.

Also what you say about doing something different, surely a fest where you can see acts that range from jake bugg to system of a down is different to any other UK fest out there?

I agree about smaller fests though, you're right, they are doing better, but that's primarily because they are cheaper. I was meaning the top dog festivals market which is declining.

Edited March 7, 2013 by thesecretingredientiscrime

[dentalplan]

Bestival will be full of nobheads soon

[sftiz]

It's sending the festival back in time.

[kev1664]

The more popular something becomes, the more knobheads it will attract. I think that's what happened at R&L which reached a climax in 2009. That then put everyone off going, although I must admit 2011 & 2012 the atmosphere was a lot better than 2009 & 2010.

The festivals have expanded almost every year for the last few also.

[Asdaprice]

I think the headliners on their own are the incorrect choices. I was willing to write off the Eminem one, because they had Biffy, but then Green Day as the third, with SOAD and NIN? It's sending the festival back in time.

Is the festival any different to most UK festivals out there? Arguably post 2008, it's become more and more samey. I always go back to 2008, but I think it was the last line-up to have real strength in depth through every genre. I understand it's possible to say the acts look bigger when you look back at them however.

If you're asking me what I'd do for R&L, it depends on your take on whether you want a festival that sells, or a festival that's exciting and looks outside of the box, while not necessarily concentrating on sales. The hardest part is of course, mixing the two.

[dancelittleliar]

That is an interesting question, what would the best possible realistic set of headliners be in terms of sales? Could never be proven of course, but my bet would be on something like

AC/DC (tempted to go with Led Zeppelin, but realism. Metallica maybe? Rolling Stones would be ridiculous as well)

Foo Fighters (need I say anything? Other possibilities could be Muse, Coldplay possibly, or U2)

Arctic Monkeys (Excluding Oasis, which is unrealistic, they're probably the most popular indie band for RnL. Sadly Mumford might prove this wrong though. Take your pick)

Edited March 7, 2013 by dancelittleliar

[PDAD]

That is an interesting question, what would the best possible realistic set of headliners be in terms of sales? Could never be proven of course, but my bet would be on something like

AC/DC (tempted to go with Led Zeppelin, but realism. Metallica maybe? Rolling Stones would be ridiculous as well)

Foo Fighters (need I say anything? Other possibilities could be Muse, Coldplay possibly, or U2)

Arctic Monkeys (Excluding Oasis, which is unrealistic, they're probably the most popular indie band for RnL. Sadly Mumford might prove this wrong though. Take your pick)

[Com Truise]

That is an interesting question, what would the best possible realistic set of headliners be in terms of sales? Could never be proven of course, but my bet would be on something like

AC/DC (tempted to go with Led Zeppelin, but realism. Metallica maybe? Rolling Stones would be ridiculous as well)

Foo Fighters (need I say anything? Other possibilities could be Muse, Coldplay possibly, or U2)

Arctic Monkeys (Excluding Oasis, which is unrealistic, they're probably the most popular indie band for RnL. Sadly Mumford might prove this wrong though. Take your pick)

[thesecretingredientiscrime]

But there really aren't many other options headliner wise out there. Sure, they could have got Mumford, but if they wanted Biffy (a better booking in my opinion), then they would have faced backlash at both Biffy and Mumford headlining because they are both new to it. Whether or not you agree is a different matter, but they would have done. Also, Mumford may have not wanted to do it - so many factors its hard to know. So 1st question is, who would you have had headline? And who would you get now out of the remaining choices?

Edited March 7, 2013 by thesecretingredientiscrime

[Holmesylad28]

Yeah looking at those blur dates my gut says they are playing. To me, it looks like the same scenario we had with system, seeing a gap but just not knowing for sure. Which would mean biffy play above system and they mislead us on that radio interview. sneaky scots!

Biffy, system,

Eminem, prodigy,

Blur, jack white/ Noel g/ XX

C'mon, gotta be!?

[Holmesylad28]

Yeah looking at those blur dates my gut says they are playing. To me, it looks like the same scenario we had with system, seeing a gap but just not knowing for sure. Which would mean biffy play above system and they mislead us on that radio interview. sneaky scots!

Biffy, system,

Eminem, prodigy,

Blur, jack white/ Noel g/ XX

C'mon, gotta be!?