Lineup 2018

[she bangs the drums]

9 hours ago, Andre91 said:

It sounds to me like you’re longing for a festival that books a lineup tailored to your exact tases. If you’re looking for a festival that books NIN to headline with ADTR also on the bill you’re going to be looking a while  You go to those bands own tour dates to see them. 

Download doesn’t just book bands like Saxon. ADTR will likely headline Download the next time they play. 

Maybe you should try discovering some new bands. The world of rock and metal is in a really exciting place for excellent new bands (and has been for the past couple of years). Festivals like 2000 Trees and ArcTanGent are fantastic at supporting and booking young, exciting bands and are far cheaper than R&L and Download. 

I like lots of different music Rammstein, Kacey Musgrave, Future Islands, Machine Gun Kelly, Justice, Cancer Bats, Enter Shikari, Rancid, Frank Carter to name a few and 2000 Trees has been the one festival outside of Glastonbury that has appealed to me but the timing hasn't been good. 

Download has several bands that I like each year but overall line up never does it for me, too much Saxon, Thunder or Scandinavian metal for my liking. 

As for next music, I'm currently listening to the Fever 333, Idles and Boston Manor so hoping all 3 will be on the line up for Leeds next year. Leeds 2008 was my fav but know it's unlikely we will get the likes of Rage, Metallica, Tenacious D, QoTSA and Gallows on one bill at Leeds

[she bangs the drums]

9 hours ago, Gucci Piggy said:

My main thought was overseas festivals. I went to Mad Cool this year for like £130 which had NIN, Pearl Jam, Depeche Mode, QOTSA, Jack White, ATDI, Justice, Tame Impala, Massive Attack and loads more of the kind of acts you no longer see much of at R&L. Rock Werchter and a few others also book a lot of these acts.

Aside from that, day festivals like QOTSA at Finsbury, some BST days, APE if you're into the less heavy side of it (Justice were there this year).

Sadly overseas would be a bit of an ask when you have 3 kids but I agree about the line ups. 

I also see what your saying about crowds no longer being interested in many of the bands I like. I have stood and watched the likes of NIN (x2) ATDI and Faith No More with not many others while the majority of others have watched the popular bands such as Disclosure, Kings of Leon instead. 

[dum surfer]

Gutted shame had such a small crowd, were incredible, one of the best of the weekend for me

[TheWaters]

2 minutes ago, dum surfer said:

Gutted shame had such a small crowd, were incredible, one of the best of the weekend for me

Was probably due to the rain + being at the exact same time as Frank Carter as I imagine they share quite a few fans (including me)  would've loved to have seen Shame but wasn't going to miss Frank.

[rivalschools.price]

Awesome weekend with some top performances 

BMTH kicked the weekend off with a flyer but The Fever333 immediately upstaged them and set a very high bar for the rest of the weekend.

Great performances by Front Bottoms,Royal Republic,La Dispute and the Used followed before I watched Death from Above top the end of a great day in the FR tent.

Skindred were as good as they always are but the main surprise for me was how good Sum 41 were.Absolutely loved their set.

Wasn't overly engaged watching Mike Shinoda.I know a lot enjoyed but for me ,bar the understandable emotion of the Chester tribute, all I could hear was his poor solo stuff and watered down versions of Linkin Park songs.

Metz and Black Peaks were excellent back in the Pit before I watched Starcrawlers set in FR before I headed to Pendulum.

Wow! Pendulum were absolutely amazing.Fantastic performance,great crowd.

Didn't have time to catch my breath before Papa Roach put in a storming Pit headline set.

Missed Dinosaur Pile-up,Joy Formidable and Billy Talent as I had hangover/rain issues ( yes I’m a lightweight)

Good mid afternoon sets from Milk Teeth,Black Foxxes and Lowlives in the Pit (with a brief trip to BBC introducing to watch Ladybird)

Glorious Sons in the FR were the discovery of the weekend,awesome set.

Stood outside the tent sort of half watching Don Broco,seemed good and had a huge crowd.

Slaves were Slaves.Awesome and the new songs are great too.

Gave Kings of Leon a go. Worked on the theory that I like the first three albums so I can tolerate one or two poor songs if I can listen to one or two good songs.That theory went out of the window when they played about four or five songs off their newer albums in a row and was bored stiff.Got to hear The Bucket as I was walking off so I got something for my troubles.

Finished off with Hollywood Undead.Great fun. Didn’t know any of their songs but the tent was full of people who knew every word and the atmosphere was amazing.

The main thing I was pleased about was that the packed and enthusiastic crowds for the likes of BMTH,Don Broco,Papa Roach,Sum 41,Pendulum (who aren’t rock but seem to attract a lot of rock fans),Slaves, Frank Carter, etc put paid to my fears that the festival wouldn’t attract enough rock fans because of the amount of Rap,Indie,Dance and pop on the bill.

In short,despite me whinging and moaning about the line up for the last six months, I had yet another fantastic weekend in Reading and you all have permission to remind me of this when I start moaning about next years line up.

[VCK]

5 hours ago, thewayiam said:

 

Sum 41 setlist was top drawer to be honest, everything was spot on and his voice was alright...better on tour but maybe being inside an academy helped.

Pendulum was exceptional...I had a great spot due to having been center of the 1st barrier in front of it for Deaf Havana before and not moving. Papa Roach was ridiculous...came out a bit later than stated at Leeds so slightly down for that as another song if not too could have been included like Blood Brothers that was on some of the other tours. I always find a favorite is left out though when a band is maybe going to do their own tour after etc.

Billy Talent are a bit shit now, BT III was ok but now it's all gone to out of ideas. I think they have done what many rocks acts have tried to now who aren't growing and maybe dropping off, trying to go a bit more mainstream and it just doesn't work. I actually think papa Roach are verging a bit too mainstream on this new record.

On KOL...a crowd of 16-19 year old's won't give a shit about songs that aren't played regularly from them...they won't even know The Bucket or Molly's Chambers for eg. Caleb has no presence or banter...Kaiser Chiefs completely upstaged them at Reading 2009 and at Hyde Park years ago it was lifeless.

Same at Leeds. Although they were nowhere near the level of absolute garbage that Arctic Monkeys were on that year.

[Alfie Clayton]

4 hours ago, dum surfer said:

Gutted shame had such a small crowd, were incredible, one of the best of the weekend for me

yeah same here!!! gotta go see em in London at the end of their tour!! but shame were amazing, even with such a small crowd in the rain and on the main stage, felt so personal and energetic!! really special band! 

how big do you guys think they will become??

[dum surfer]

15 minutes ago, Alfie Clayton said:

yeah same here!!! gotta go see em in London at the end of their tour!! but shame were amazing, even with such a small crowd in the rain and on the main stage, felt so personal and energetic!! really special band! 

how big do you guys think they will become??

Hopefully whenever they release their next album and if its as good as their first they should have quite a following 

[Chinaski_]

On 8/27/2018 at 10:51 PM, Gucci Piggy said:

Half of these acts get shit crowds which is why they don't get booked anymore.

In the years I went (2011-2013) my favourite acts who played were the likes of NIN, The Cure, ATDI, but the unfortunate reality is that these acts drew embarrassingly small crowds. FR recognised this and started booking more of the stuff that people there actually wanted to see.

The festival has changed; people who want to see Nine Inch Nails and Weezer will be looking elsewhere, and throwing a couple of them each year into a lineup mostly aimed at school leavers is a pointless exercise.

In the first year or two that I didn't go but was still considering going (until the lineups got released) I felt a bit miffed that they were booking less and less of these acts, but now I've accepted that the festival is no longer for me I can see that they've made the right call in stopping booking these bands. And I don't get why people care; if you're into those bands there are better options out there for you than Reading and Leeds, where these acts would get dead crowds anyway and it'd be a much worse experience than seeing them elsewhere.

Well I don't go anymore, but for me Reading had the best atmosphere and I've seen so many great bands there, so it's a shame it's gone down the route it has. I've no interest in Download, it's not my kind of music. The thing with Reading was there was something for everyone, you could see Anti Flag and The Shins on the same day, for example. Only really Glastonbury could probably do that in the UK, but for me the crowds were nowhere near as loud as Reading used to be and there wasn't the sense of 'community' you'd get with the Lock Up. I do usually go abroad now, I couldn't this year otherwise I'd have done Mad Cool or NOS Alive, but again they don't have the atmosphere you get in UK festivals. 

[thewayiam]

7 hours ago, VCK said:

Same at Leeds. Although they were nowhere near the level of absolute garbage that Arctic Monkeys were on that year.

Tbh Arctics is a hard one to judge for me as you could barely hear anything other than turn it up from the crowd....it was like a Hyde Park gig. I'm pleased to see Leeds bar the odd quiet time have continued with their good sound. It seemed noticeably quicker to walk from brown campsite to the arena at Leeds....albeit I've never done it without camping stuff on my back.

[Chinaski_]

16 hours ago, dentalplan said:

[manchestermusicreview]

Although I wasn’t there, the lineup did seem to match my taste in music. There’s been a great growth in British punk and alternative pop worldwide. Hence Shame, Dua, BORNS, Sigrid being booked- they still seem ‘rock’ in a sense- they make bangers, use live guitars and drums. Major mistake in not booking Lorde this year, would’ve been a much better headliner than Diplo (even if he was a replacement for Skepta), or third down than NERD. They need to book Lorde, CHVRCHES, Idles, Cabbage, The Blinders for next year, and possibly Disclosure for a R1 headline as their new track is a banger. 

The Wombats and the Vaccines have had big resurgence this year, hence their booking. But KOL is a massive mistake, especially when they could/should have had Foos. From what I’ve heard BMTH are in demand, and so are the 1975. Must have for headline next year 

[Gucci Piggy]

3 minutes ago, manchestermusicreview said:

Although I wasn’t there, the lineup did seem to match my taste in music. There’s been a great growth in British punk and alternative pop worldwide. Hence Shame, Dua, BORNS, Sigrid being booked- they still seem ‘rock’ in a sense- they make bangers, use live guitars and drums. Major mistake in not booking Lorde this year, would’ve been a much better headliner than Diplo (even if he was a replacement for Skepta), or third down than NERD. They need to book Lorde, CHVRCHES, Idles, Cabbage, The Blinders for next year, and possibly Disclosure for a R1 headline as their new track is a banger. 

The Wombats and the Vaccines have had big resurgence this year, hence their booking. But KOL is a massive mistake, especially when they could/should have had Foos. From what I’ve heard BMTH are in demand, and so are the 1975. Must have for headline next year 

How could they have had Foos who weren't active?

[manchestermusicreview]

2 minutes ago, Gucci Piggy said:

How could they have had Foos who weren't active?

They have been active. During the weekend they’ve been playing secret shows in America. You could have any other band in there, though. But I guess of the big headliners around, not many have been active. Perhaps an opportunity to have a slightly more ‘out-there’ headliner/co-headliner like Justice. 

[Gucci Piggy]

1 minute ago, manchestermusicreview said:

They have been active. During the weekend they’ve been playing secret shows in America. You could have any other band in there, though. But I guess of the big headliners around, not many have been active. Perhaps an opportunity to have a slightly more ‘out-there’ headliner/co-headliner like Justice. 

Fair I didn't think they were doing anything at all, but you still can't say they were available when they were in a different continent with stuff planned. For all we know they may have tried to book Foos and been told no because they already had plans or didn't want to come over to Europe at the time.

And Justice are nowhere near being able to co-headline R&L.

I agree that KOL were a bad booking but we have no idea how many acts were approached before KOL were settled on. We heard from someone on here who's had good info in the past that they tried for Arctic Monkeys and failed. Good chance they tried for a few other big indie bands before getting to KOL.

[FakeEmpire]

Managed to cram so much into the weekend.

Wolf Alice - Wonderful headline set although not a particularly busy one.  I understand that Fall Out Boy weren't well-attended either so where was everyone? Annie Mac? The Silent discos?

Bicep - Loved this and, actually, very few "Whomph there it is" chants which was a pleasant surprise.

Travis Scott - He was great but hard to enjoy it fully when  "mosh pits" were opening up every time people didn't really know the songs.   By mosh pits, I mean when groups of idiots get bored and so push everyone back and hold it for a drop that's never going to come.   

The Kooks - Felt very out of place and dated in 2018 but enjoyable enough.

The Wombats - They were great.   Big crowd who seemed to know the knew songs almost as well as the older ones.  Good fun.

Post Malone - Absolutely massive crowd, one of the biggest I've seen at Reading.   Sure some of it was ridiculous (the "fuck that bitch" chants were a bit uncomfortable) but I had a much better time than I thought I would.

Fickle Friends - Wall to wall bangers and the first set of the day when the Radio 1 Stage sound was working properly.

Bring Me The Horizon - Great set, surely headliners next year?   The sound was still really off at this point though.

SWMRS - So much energy but really let down by terrible sound.

Rae Morris - Really enjoyed this.   Second album is such a huge step up from the MOR debut and I'm glad her set recognised that.  

Big Shaq & Friends - Where were the "Friends"?  I think by the end of this set, everyone on site agreed that the joke was over.

Kendrick Lamar - Enjoyed it but it definitely felt 'off' as a headline set.   The video interludes did not work in the festival setting.  Starting 15 mins late and still finishing early was short changing the crowd really.  He was still very good but not as good as on his arena tour earlier in the year or his Reading sub set.

Pendulum - The music has not dated well on record but live it still went off.   Really good crowd as well - the dickheads all appeared to be elsewhere.

$uicideboy$ - This was awesome.   Big crowd in the Pit and everyone just going for it from front to back.  Loved it.

Yxng Bane - Couldn't actually get into the 1 Xtra tent for this (was it that busy all weekend?   So 'watched' from outside.   Seemed terrible but perhaps not fair to judge without being inside

Starcrawler - These were great.  I know some people on here haven't enjoyed them but I thought they put in a really solid set worthy of a better crowd.

Dua Lipa - It was actually quite refreshing to have a bit of a pop break at Reading.   Gigantic crowd, people smiling and enjoying themselves.   She's not exactly the most exciting pop star but she gave it a good go.

Sum 41 - I fully expected this to be terrible but actually they were really good.   All the hits and then a special moment with Faint at the end.   They were one of the big surprises of the weekend for me. 

Sunflower Bean - Great little set, sweet tunes, amazing players and really deserved a much bigger crowd than they had.   Tent about a third full.

Sea Girls - Nah, not for me.   Baby's first indie band.   Decent sized crowd of people into them though.

Lizzo - Absolute superstar.   She came out to quite a difficult crowd of people more interested in throwing themselves around to dj sets and she changed the vibe in the tent immediately.   It was an absolute blast and she deserves ALL the success.  Hope she's at Glastonbury next year.

Now, Now - I'd only discovered these from the Reading lineup and have really been enjoying their latest album.   It all seemed a bit flat, probably because they weren't very well suited to the Dance tent.

Wyvern Lingo - The music's a bit old-fashioned but incredible voices and harmonies.    A really lovely start to the day.

Kings of Leon - I really enjoyed their set.  I know they get a bit of a bad reputation for not being The Killers when it comes to performing but they sounded great and it was a really strong setlist.   Crowd were terrible in the first half but after the trouble-makers had headed off to Diplo, it became a lot more enjoyable.   Much better than I'd anticipated.

Courteeners - Easy to criticise but they're a great festival band.   I wasn't sure if they'd pull off the sub spot but they absolutely nailed it.   Someone's going to give them a shot at headlining a major festival soon.

The Vaccines - In the same slot again with a smaller crowd each time but they know how to play these outdoor festivals and they give the crowd what they want.  Always enjoy them.

J Hus - Better than I was expecting.     Crowd were good, busy but with enough room to dance.   Lacking in stage presence perhaps (even he wasn't convinced by coming out of that giant hat) but album's packed with tunes.

Welshly Arms - These are a bit Radio 2 on record but it was really great live.   There's not much Americana/Bluesy stuff at Reading so this was refreshing.

Sam Fender - Terrible.   It's literally every college kid with a guitar busking outside Burger King.   Not for me.

Let's Eat Grandma - Nailed the transition to a big stage.   A shame that they only had 30 mins as their songs are quite long but they made the most of it.   One of the albums of the year and a real privilege to see them.

Monarchy - Enjoyed this.  Again, probably not very well suited to the Dance Tent.   A lot of disappointed ket-heads that there was a live band on stage rather than a DJ Set.    

Lady Bird - They're alright but it's just too similar to Slaves, isn't it?

Household Dogs - Best of the BBC Introducing acts that I saw despite the terrible weather and small crowd.

 

[Gucci Piggy]

8 minutes ago, RyanS said:

Kendrick Lamar - Enjoyed it but it definitely felt 'off' as a headline set.   The video interludes did not work in the festival setting.  Starting 15 mins late and still finishing early was short changing the crowd really.  He was still very good but not as good as on his arena tour earlier in the year or his Reading sub set.

Surely this isnt true, as it'd mean he played less than an hour, including video interludes. He was scheduled to start at 10 and finish at 11:15.

[ConorC]

Kendrick, Travis, Let's Eat Grandma, Bicep, Suicideboys, Hinds, Rex Orange County and Brockhampton all excellent at Leeds.

Who thought Brockhampton in a tent at 3pm was a good placing? Should've at least subbed R1.

Kurupt FM on the secret Thursday lineup on relentless was a nice surprise.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Gucci Piggy said:

Surely this isnt true, as it'd mean he played less than an hour, including video interludes. He was scheduled to start at 10 and finish at 11:15.

At Leeds he came on 15-20 mins late and finished before 11 so he did play less than the 1hr15 that was advertised. Still must have been more than an hour though. 

[ConorC]

2 minutes ago, Gucci Piggy said:

 Surely this isnt true, as it'd mean he played less than an hour, including video interludes. He was scheduled to start at 10 and finish at 11:15.

I can't remember fully to be honest but he did his full 18(ish) song set and there was a gap of a few minutes between him going off then coming back on to do Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe so I'd be surprised if he did less than an hour.

Sadly for me he doesn't play anything like as much of To Pimp A Butterfly as he should do these days so I'll never enjoy a gig of his as much as at Longitude 2016 again. King Kunta and Alright is a piss poor show for one of the best hip hop albums of this decade. No Untitled 2/7 either, both of which would've gone down perfectly instead of the Travis Scott crossover stuff imo.

[ConorC]

I'm kind of cold on him headlining glasto now with that DAMN. tour setup though. Needs to bin the video interludes and get rid of some of the DAMN. filler/bring some new material to the table beforehand.

In fact, keep the DAMN. tunes if he wants and just add an extra 7/8 tracks from GKMC/TPAB/Untitled & ADHD. A 65 min headline set on the pyramid ain't gonna fly.

Edited August 29, 2018 by ConorC

[FakeEmpire]

I was a tad drunk but he definitely didn't start until 10:10-10:15 and I checked my watch when I was at the toilets and it was 11:15 so I'd say he played for about an hour or just over.

[Guest]

Yeah I can't see Kendrick headlining Glasto next year unless he's got new material out. The DAMN. tour feels as if it's coming to an end - it'd be overdone to death if he headlined Glasto off the back of it.

[Gucci Piggy]

22 minutes ago, ConorC said:

I can't remember fully to be honest but he did his full 18(ish) song set and there was a gap of a few minutes between him going off then coming back on to do Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe so I'd be surprised if he did less than an hour.

Sadly for me he doesn't play anything like as much of To Pimp A Butterfly as he should do these days so I'll never enjoy a gig of his as much as at Longitude 2016 again. King Kunta and Alright is a piss poor show for one of the best hip hop albums of this decade. No Untitled 2/7 either, both of which would've gone down perfectly instead of the Travis Scott crossover stuff imo.

Yeah his setlists really don't look that good. 18 songs with 5 of them being YAH. (instrumental), Big Shot (Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott cover), goosebumps (Travis Scott cover), Collard Greens (Schoolboy Q cover) and HUMBLE. (acapella), with actual HUMBLE. being another of the 18 is mad poor.

[Gucci Piggy]

22 minutes ago, ConorC said:

I'm kind of cold on him headlining glasto now with that DAMN. tour setup though. Needs to bin the video interludes and get rid of some of the DAMN. filler/bring some new material to the table beforehand.

In fact, keep the DAMN. tunes if he wants and just add an extra 7/8 tracks from GKMC/TPAB/Untitled & ADHD. A 65 min headline set on the pyramid ain't gonna fly.

Yeah he was my number one wish for Glasto next year but I ain't all that bothered now. 65 mins for someone headlining major festivals and charging like £70 minimum for his own tour is shocking.