Lineup 2018

[TheDHolford]

Feels like I saw so much over one weekend at Leeds,

Boy Azooga - A decent little indie band, reminded me somewhat of the times I've seen The Magic Gang, nothing overly special, but chilled.

Anteros - Way better than I expected them to be, full of energy and the lead singer is really great.

The Blinders - Saw them Thursday at festival republic and then again at BBC introducing stage. Great band with very catchy tunes, full of energy, great guitar sound and an awesome front man. Might be one of the top of my weekend.

Lady Bird - What I expected, a bit of a cheap version of Slaves. Did a decent set and got the small crowd going to say they performed at 12pm.

Tom Allen - Didn't expect to be able to get into the alternative stage at all but managed to have a sit down and food while watching Tom Allen, incredibly funny and had the crowd with him at all times, one of the best comedy sets I've seen at Leeds.

Bexey - Accidentally saw this odd "rap act" before Frank Carter's secret set, never heard of him before. Was almost certain he wasn't singing/rapping live, but there was a big crowd for him in the pit and everyone seemed to be loving it, so maybe it just wasn't for me.

Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes - From the first note of Juggernaut Frank owned that stage and the whole tent was on board from the start. Absolutely incredible, my favourite live band and front man. Loved the usual circle pit going around the tent.

Krept X Konan - Okay, they were a lot better in the Radio 1 tent in 2016. Crowd didn't seem to be up for it really and everyone was fairly relaxed and chill, despite the energy they brought. Thought the seemed a little lost on the main stage.

DMA's - Much better than when I saw them at YNOT last year, but maybe it's because I know more of their stuff now. The crowd was pretty big and clearly everyone was loving every second of their set. Overall a pretty standard little indie band with enough singalong tunes to make them worth a watch.

Chris Ramsey - Was the headline comedian on Friday but did less time than Tom Allen had done before, although he was pretty good, a tight set that the crowd seemed to lap up, again though, a fairly small crowd for that tent and it had started raining.

The Vaccines - What do you expect from the Vaccines? A good standard 45 minutes of singalongs and little else to remember. Still pretty good though, crowd didn't seem overly big and was chill.

Don Broco - First time seeing them and managed to be right at the front of the stage. They smashed it, I loved every second of it and the tent seemed packed out with everyone signing along. Good energy and vibes, lead singer sounds better live than on record.

Slaves - Favourite band and the act of the weekend for me. A few days before I'd met them and asked them to play Shutdown or Feed the Mantaray and they played both which was great. I was at the front again, and enjoyed my first proper mosh at a Leeds festival, incredible.

Tom Grennan - Bit disappointing. Came out 15 minutes late and was cut off, so 30 minutes for the festival republic headliner seems far too little and he didn't have as much energy and excitement as I thought he would. Certainly won't be in a rush to see him again.

Bring Me the Horizon - Didn't think I was a big fan of these, but knew every song they played and was pretty impressed. Really enjoyable and I can totally see them headlining next year if their new album does well.

Post Malone - Big disappointment, everyone from the whole festival seemed to be there and didn't even seem up for it at all, everyone just waiting for Rockstar and then the crowds started to leave in their thousands. He did sound better than I thought and now I've seen him once, that's far more than enough.

The Wombats - Like the vaccines I know what to expect from them and they just about exceeded my initial expectations with a good mixture of new hits and old hits, the crowd seemed to be loving every second of it, even with the odd elevator music song they played mid way through. I enjoyed it more than their tour to be honest.

The Kooks - Seemed very dull after the Wombats, maybe should have been switched, the crowd didn't seem to grow in size at all either. Never been a big fan of them, but they did what they needed to do, a good afternoon singalong in the rain.

Bad Sounds - A big surprise for me, I liked them on record, but live, they absolutely smashed. Good crowd size and were full of energy and moshpits. Great little band and will certainly go see them again.

Fall Out Boy - Pretty decent. Crowd wasn't too big, plenty of space in the pit for when we arrived 2 minutes before they were to start. I enjoyed them once again, standard set, though it seemed less active and energetic than their slot two years co-headlining. Pete Wenz now looks likehe hates every aspect of Fall Out Boy and doesn't want to be there. Which, to be fair, it is now Patrick Stump's show completely. 

Skindred - Always great, always good fun and great sounding live. Brought out the lead singer to Papa Roach which was cool as well.

Mike Shinoda - Okay, never heard any of his songs and only heard a few Linkin Park songs, but he was really good. One of my surprises of the weekend. Managed to get me all teary eyed with his little speech and song for Chester.

Sum 41 - Helped me relive my Sheffield Corporation days with plenty of throwbacks and sounded good live. Great performance just not one of my favourite bands in general.

Dua Lipa - Way better than I expected, great singer and very energetic, got the huge crowd going and dancing to not even just her most famous hits. Everyone was on board with what she was from the start. Slight downside, had some 16 year old girl crying beside me because this was her "favourite act of all time, she's the best, oh lord!".

N.E.R.D - Had nothing else to see and my friends wanted to see them, they were okay. A much smaller crowd than I expected, thought a lot of Dua Lipa's crowd would stay back to watch, but hardly anyone stayed.Clearly it's Pharrell's show and they all sounded good live, but not really for me.

Deaf Havana - Disappointment of the weekend, while not a huge fan I did expect something more than two semi-hits and then a load off their new album. This is a festival, play a few songs that everyone, including the casual fans can enjoy and know. His voice was too low for the guitar and drums, and didn't seem like he cared particulary.

Spring King - Very good once again. Loved this band and they never disappoint. Crowd was big, with big mosh pits all around us at the front.

Kendrick Lamar - The act I was looking forward to most, but didn't please me as much as I though. Crowd around me was dead during any song on DAMN. and he didn't seem to put much effort in at all. Standing around on stage, no big show like I expected. came out late and then went off quite early, take out the Humble acoustic and the weird interlude videos, he probably did around 55 minutes, which isn't great for a headliner. 

 

Overall, great weekend. Friday of Leeds was by far the strongest to me and the Sunday the weakest, but I had a bloody good time. the after parties were all great. Depending on how the line up alters next year (certainly will be more Post's and Dua Lipa's higher up, as well as more big Indie names), then we'll see if I do it again. 

[Followill]

A great weekend at Leeds as always, with alcohol definitely helping the enjoyment of some of these acts in particular.

FRIDAY

Krept X Konan - Agree that they might not still be ready for mainstage but was an enjoyable way to start the weekend and they still drew a decent crowd.

Wilkinson - Crowd felt a little flat past the first barrier but a fun set and Afterglow is just a massive tune.

The Vaccines - Given these a go at a few times at a festival and always walking away thinking that was a bit gash. Maybe they'd be better at their own gigs but they just don't do it for me. Lead singer seems off his tits every time and not in a good way.

Don Broco - Packed the tent out and the atmosphere was absolutely bouncing. Could have headlined that stage this year and I don't think many who watched would have too many complaints.

Kings Of Leon - Could tell they're older stuff fell flat on the casual fans there for Use Somebody and Sex On Fire but it was well appreciated personally, things picked up in the latter half of the set though and the crowd did lose it for the songs they were there for. A shame they didn't fill their set length out as a few songs were missing but I think they were much solider than the reports from the last headline set. 

Diplo - Caught the last 10-15 mins walking past and although it looked fairly lively down the front the crowd barely reached halfway through the tent. KOL was quite spacious too so where was everyone?

SATURDAY

BMTH - Was really excited to see them in a relatively small setting for them and it didn't disappoint. From looking at the footage of reading Oli's vocals were much stronger here and the pits were insane. They should be headlining next year but unless they can manage a few more songs than there typical gigs, it'll need to be as a co-headliner.

Post Malone - Genuine surprise of the weekend, from what I've seen before of his shows he looked poor but he really smashed it and was deserving of the massive crowd he got. Someone getting a crowd like that for Leeds at 3pm is unheard of and everyone just seemed to be loving it, should have at least played third down and will certainly back to headline one day.

The Kooks - Alright I suppose, no idea how they deserved to be so high up but guess it was alright for a chilled singalong.

Travis Scott - Disappointment of the weekend for me, had high hopes after hearing the energy he put into his sets but didn't really feel it. Missing NO BYSTANDERS from his set was a let down too.

Fall Out Boy - Was pretty gone by this point but really really enjoyed it. They are just a great festival act to have with so many known songs and they went down a treat as a fun Saturday headliner. I get the new stuff's rubbish but they play everything they need to and to say they only played two years ago I had no complaints leaving.

SUNDAY

Mike Shinoda - The rain started to pour at this point and it really didn't help but still managed to enjoy this one. He's got a few more lively songs he should be playing, but it was more of a slow emotional set. Touching stuff

Sum 41 - Played all the hits and bringing Mike Shinoda out for faint just topped it off. A great set and if they came back to headline the Radio 1 stage one year I think it'd a treat.

Sigrid - She's getting a fairly decent reputation and with a strong album out could really push her up the line up, the few songs I caught the crowd seemed into it.

Pale Waves - They still don't seem to be getting the crowds you'd think they would for the following they are building although that could be down to going up against Dua. Smashed the set though and hope to see them back on the Radio 1 stage next year rather than Main.

Pendulum - Been waiting years to see these guys and it went off.  Really managed to pick our group's tiredness up and bring some energy to end of the weekend.

Kendrick Lamar - Echoing the thoughts on here already, it just wasn't enough from what we've previously seen from him. His sub-headline set felt bigger than this and (other than the missing songs/short set) there was something just missing about it. Maybe it was a different story down the front but from we were it was good, but not great.

Definitely felt quieter at Leeds however still dont think they've got anything to worry about as some acts are still drawing huge crowds and by the time the festival is over the line up seems to be appreciated more each time.

 

[LazyDavid]

Went to Reading on the Friday, a good day overall despite the evening rain (shorts and t-shirt wasn't a great choice!), anyway here's who I saw:

Big Shaq - Started off at the main stage for a bit of a laugh, glad I hung back a little bit because strangely there were loads of pits for this, probably excitable young people seeing their first act of the year at the festival. DJ was just playing popular club songs between the odd Big Shaq song (yes he has more than one…apparently!). Good fun.

Rae Morris - Really didn’t like this, saw her a few years ago doing a set at Truck Festival and sounded good. She’s turned more into a dance act now with average dance songs and strange vocals, wasn’t fond of her unfortunately!

Waterparks - Good bit of fun, caught most of their set, got the crowd going with a few jumpy ones, harmless pop punk in the sunshine.

Bring Me The Horizon  - Was great to see them back, crowd wasn’t as huge as I was expecting, I strolled in about 10 minutes before they came on and I got a spot on the second barrier at the end. Sound was oddly low for the performance, but a good set to get them back to live shows.

Creeper - Ran from BMTH to Creeper, moved into the front which looking back on it was a big mistake. Their performance was swarmed by Post Malone fans who had no idea who Creeper were. A few audible “Post Malone” chants between songs which seemed a little harsh. Creeper played well and during the slower songs the crowd was pretty respectful.

Fickle Friends - Good bit of fun in the Radio 1 tent, likeable band and songs perfect for a mid-afternoon slot, drew a decent crowd too.

Yonaka - Fought through the Post Malone crowd (more in a minute) to get across to the Festival Republic tent, hadn’t heard of them before but a few of my friends said they were good. They were great, awesome songs and some pretty passionate fans nearer the front, good band!

Post Malone - Wasn’t really planning on seeing him but saw a mass of people heading to the main stage so thought I’d head over there. Only know a couple of his songs (Better Now, I Fall Apart, Rockstar) but he put on a hell of a show, can definitely see him headlining in a few years as that crowd was massive. Definitely the biggest I’ve seen for an early afternoon slot.

The Wombats - Perfect festival band, great mix of classics and newer songs, retained a decent crowd after Post Malone and they were really into them. Good set.

The Kooks - Very dull, a strangely large crowd (potentially early for Travis Scott?) but was a bit of a dreary performance. Not sure why they were so high on the bill.

The Used - Found myself swept into The Lock Up/Pit due to a monsoon and with nothing else to do. Strong performance, crowd interaction, however not sure the crowd would have been as big without the rain.

Nothing But Thieves - Best performance of the day for me by far, incredible vocals and tight performance, played a new song which was ace too. Drew a decent size crowd and also got a big cheer for a sarcastic comment about Travis Scott. Great show.

 

Overall the arena seemed quieter except during Post Malone, not sure if a lot of people were just heading into the arena for one act then back out to the campsite.

[Andre91]

Apparently the Courteeners tour has sold out already? 

[dentalplan]

1 hour ago, Andre91 said:

Apparently the Courteeners tour has sold out already? 

They’ve done this tour a few times already so they know what they’re doing.

 

Re: Post Malone being a future headliner. He definitely isn’t an act that has a sustainable level of success so I’d have to disagree. The same people won’t still be listening to him in five years.

 

[Andre91]

6 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

They’ve done this tour a few times already so they know what they’re doing.

 

Re: Post Malone being a future headliner. He definitely isn’t an act that has a sustainable level of success so I’d have to disagree. The same people won’t still be listening to him in five years.

 

I don’t think it’ll even take five years. I think if he brings another album out in 2020 then that’s him sorted. He would be able to headline easily. He’s arguably the biggest name on planet right now and seems to be universally popular. A lot of those same people are still going to be with him in two years time. 

[huntyyy]

3 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

I don’t think it’ll even take five years. I think if he brings another album out in 2020 then that’s him sorted. He would be able to headline easily. He’s arguably the biggest name on planet right now and seems to be universally popular. A lot of those same people are still going to be with him in two years time. 

I think what dental is trying to say is that he's top of the pile but it's a pile with rather fickle fans. Regardless of the quality of his output he could easily be yesterdays news by 2020.

[dentalplan]

Just now, huntyyy said:

I think what dental is trying to say is that he's top of the pile but it's a pile with rather fickle fans. Regardless of the quality of his output he could easily be yesterdays news by 2020.

Yeah this. Migos have pretty much suffered that fate already.

[dannylrq]

Been to Leeds the last 4 years for the weekend, this was my first time with a day ticket (Friday). Was pleasantly surprised how good the value for money is, if you get there early to see a wide range of acts. Here's who I saw and my thoughts: 

Twisted Wheel - Didn't know much about them except that they'd supported Oasis years ago. My type of music and was a lively set, despite not knowing the songs. The band seemed a lot younger than I expected for some reason! 

Marsicans - Wasn't planning on watching them, but it started heavy raining so stayed in the R1 tent! Remind me of a budget 1975, they're not bad actually and an easy watch/listen. 

Shame - I got surprisingly into this set, they have some decent sounding tracks and the lead singer was incredibly entertaining (if impossible to understand), they were a surprise package in a tough slot on the main stage. Can imagine at their own gig they could be pretty fun. 

Sam Fender - Enjoyed this set, his voice is very good and the crowd were really into it. The festival republic stage was relatively busy for this set, and he deserved the crowd he got. Would see him again definitely. 

DMA's - I've seen DMA's multiple times and they're my favourite band at the moment. The crowd was pretty big, and Tommy's voice is always outstanding. They played a pretty short set, and left out a few crowd pleasing tunes in favour of some slower numbers. Even so, they're on the up and are great live. 

Wilkinson - Really enjoyed the first 15 mins, after then it just became fairly repetitive for me. It's not really my cup of tea, but the crowd seemed up for it and he does have some good tunes. 

Vaccines - Not a bad crowd, they sounded a lot better than they were at Leeds 3 years ago, but still don't think they have the sound to play the main stage effectively. I think in the R1 tent or at their own gig they'd be pretty fun to watch. Lead singer always looks off his nut, and I realised I like far more of their songs than I thought! 

Courteeners - This was the 21st time I've seen the Courteeners (really). I've been a huge fan for years, although less so in recent months/years. Unfortunately Liam Fray cannot sing anymore, and his guitar playing leaves a lot to be desired at times as well! The crowd was pretty dead past the front barrier. I enjoyed it as I love their music, but can't help but reminisce about when Liam could sing! 

Kings of Leon - First time seeing KoL. The crowd seemed really small about 10 mins before they came on stage, so I went to get a drink and then took me about half an hour to get back to where I was as it filled up! Thought they were excellent, and I left remembering how much I used to be into them when I was younger, so been playing the first 2 albums on loop since! 

[Dangerbreaks]

My belated views on Sunday at Leeds. Had a great day despite the rain and managed to pack loads in. 

Teenage Wrist - tiny crowd in the pit at the start of the day, were decent but I ended up leaving to catch the second half of Trash Boat. 

Trash Boat - second half of their set was good with a surprisingly enthusiastic crowd for early in the day. Good amount of energy about them too. 

Chase Atlantic - very big crowd in the Radio 1 tent but this was most likely due to the rain. Some decent songs but the people around us seemed to be really into it all. 

Pretty Vicious - Only stayed for the first few songs but the performance wasn't great. Probably let down of the day for me. 

Skindred - The lead singer knows how to work a crowd. Great fun even though I hadn't listened to them before and bringing out Jacoby from Papa Roach for the last song finished a good set. 

Mike Shinoda - I wasn't expecting much from the set but he got a bit crowd considering the rain and gave an emotional and varied setlist. 

Sum 41 - Played all the hits, got a good crowd, a lot better than I expected. Playing Faint with Mike Shinoda was a nice ending. 

Went to the Sum 41 signing at this point whilst Sigrid was in the Radio 1 tent. Big crowd for her and sounded good from what I heard. 

Rex Orange County - good crowd and pretty much what I expected in terms of performance. Enjoyable and he's obviously talented. 

N*E*R*D - as others have said they got a smaller crowd then I was expecting but still good fun. 

Panic - stayed at the front of the main stage and realised too late that Black Peaks were on. Gutting. But Panic played a much more enjoyable set than I imagined to a massive crowd. The cover of Bohemian Rhapsody was very good and the front was quite cosy by the middle of the set. Left early to make sure I got to Beartooth in time. 

Beartooth - probably the act I was most excited for, they delivered. Brilliant set and wish it could've gone on for longer. 

Papa Roach - wasn't expecting much to be honest but it was absolutely insane. The crowd continued well outside of the pit and the setlist was a perfect variety of old and new. Played on after the mics got cut for overrunning and the crowd was mental. Definitely the surprise of the day for me. 

Had a great time even if navigating the mud bath in the dark was a challenge. 

[MIchael_scarn]

Been away during the fest so missed anything that went on. Anything of any relevance happen? Also who was the secret set?

[Andre91]

15 minutes ago, MIchael_scarn said:

Been away during the fest so missed anything that went on. Anything of any relevance happen? Also who was the secret set?

Secret sets were BMTH, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and Peace (I think). 

[MIchael_scarn]

16 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

Secret sets were BMTH, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and Peace (I think). 

That's not bad I would've seen FC and probably BMTH if it was early on in the day, how did they go down with the attendees?

Also presume BMTH are being heavily considered for next year now after that?

[Andre91]

14 minutes ago, MIchael_scarn said:

That's not bad I would've seen FC and probably BMTH if it was early on in the day, how did they go down with the attendees?

Also presume BMTH are being heavily considered for next year now after that?

I only went to Leeds for the Saturday but BMTH rammed the tent and sounded great. Crowd was going nuts from start to finish. 

Frank Carter apparently rammed the tent he played too and looked as intense a always from footage I’ve seen. 

 

[frontsidecab]

Slaves to play third down next time out? Feel that both them and Broco could've headlined that tent Sunday night, phenomenal performances. New songs got a good reception aswell.

[BeddingatReading]

My honest (belated) review of the bands at Reading- please don’t judge for some of my choices of bands ?

Big Shaq - really not my sort of thing but nothing clashing and was quite interested to see how it went down. Got a great reception from the crowd even though it was just a hype band playing old tunes and Big Shaq playing man’s not hot at the end

Waterparks- a nice pop-punk band to start the day, really enjoyable in my opinion and the crowd seemed to enjoy it too. 

Creeper- I really enjoyed them, I’ve seen them once before and have never been too keen but live they’re quite enjoyable. Just a shame everyone around me seemed to be there for Post Malone and constantly heckling them shouting for Post during the set. I also overheard someone asking if the singer was Noel Fielding with no irony. 

The Kooks - very poor. Quite looked forward to seeing them before as one of the bands I’ve never seen before, they mainly played new songs nobody knew and the crowd couldn’t be arsed and it looked like they couldn’t either. 

The Wombats - I’ve probably seen them close to 10 times now as they’ve been at most festivals I’ve been to and they haven’t clashed with anyone but you know what you get with them, fun feel-good tunes, plus no stupid mosh pits which was great. 

Nothing but thieves - really enjoyed seeing them too, he’s a great singer and some nice slow songs to really appreciate that but with the newer album there’s also heavier songs to keep the crowd from getting bored. 

Fall out boy - Poor, saw them 2 years ago and they put on a great performance, this year I decided to see them again because there were no clashes and it wasn’t as entertaining and it looks like Pete is starting to give up on the band now. 

Marsicans - only started getting into them shortly before the festival but seemed like great fun and I think I would have really liked it if it wasn’t the first band on and I wasn’t so hungover!

Sam Fender - the kid’s got one hell of a voice but nothing special. Only really went to see him to stay out of the rain but would not choose to see him again. 

The Vaccines - Well, what did you expect from the vaccines? A set full of songs everyone knew the words to, most of the crowd even knew the songs off the album that’s only just recently been released so I’d say they’re going as strong as ever. 

Slaves- another band I’ve seen a few times, always enjoyable always gets the crowd going and put on a great set. Shame about the setlist though, missed out a lot of their bigger hits. 

Tom Grennan- full of hits most people know, he’s got a great voice and a cocky swagger that seems to get the spirits up,  considering getting tickets to see him after that performance. 

Alma - I got talked into seeing her and really don’t see the appeal. Felt way too old in that crowd as well!

Sea Girls - Really enjoyed the set, they were very strong live and got the crowd going. Another band though who aren’t a moshy band and the pits just ruined it for me, I don’t want to be jumped into by some cocky 16 year old who thinks he’s hard while listening to some innocent indie tunes. 

Dua Lipa - Surprisingly really enjoyable and I knew a lot more songs than I thought. The crowd seemed to enjoy it too and she sounded amazing. 

Deaf Havana - really let me down actually. Didn’t play enough of the hits but played a lot of the new album which hadn’t even been out a week so nobody would know. 

Pendulum - been looking forward to seeing them for a long time. Great atmosphere just a shame to see so many young people being pulled out probably on all kinds of drugs  

Kate Nash - awful. She’s trying something new so fair play to her but the heavier direction she’s trying to take just isn’t for me. 

 

All in all a very enjoyable festival. Although it sold out it didn’t feel really packed. At first I felt really old (I’m 24) but the crowd actually seemed really mature and I did not feel out of place at all. 

[rivalschools.price]

Don’t know if it was my imagination but the crowd seemed a lot older this year

Saying that, I was nowhere near the dance tent or the 1xtra stage and barely spent any time at Radio 1 tent

[Mattymooz]

Better Clashfinder stats:

Final Percentages for the top 75 acts:

 

Headliners Popularity Over Time:

 

NME Headliners Popularity Over Time:

 

The Race for the most highlighted act:

 

Top 75 acts by location disparity (+ve means proportionally more highlights on the Leeds clashfinder, -ve means proportionally more on Reading)

[dentalplan]

2 hours ago, Mattymooz said:

Better Clashfinder stats:

Nice post. These are dope.

On 9/1/2018 at 11:48 AM, frontsidecab said:

Slaves to play third down next time out? 

Probably. Fifth down on last album weren’t they? Think they might get a decent slot at Download next year to pass the time.

[UndergroundSound]

Started this post straight after the fest and intended it to be a short sum up but ended up making it into a fuck off blog style post so it's not really suited to this thread now, apologies. Here are my ops anyway.

 

 

I had a quality second year at Reading, camping from Wednesday to Monday. However it's not a good feeling to now be home and upset knowing that I've got no more festivals lined up until (hopefully) Glasto 2019. 

The lack of Thursday entertainment compared to Leeds does get a little frustrating and also resulted in the small Smirnoff house stage (one of the only venues that were actually running) getting far too rammed to the point that you couldn't hear the music unless you were close to the front because the crowd was far too big for the size of the stage. Nonetheless, Wednesday and Thursday were very enjoyable spent in an unbeatable environment.

 

Friday was a great day for me, filled with artists who I was very excited to see right up until the headline slots. At that point I wondered between stages which ended up being a nice way to finish the evening.

Dental's plan worked a treat.  Big Shaq Brought thousands into the arena to start the day and the crowd was instantly buzzing. Certainly a more appropriate opener for the festival than Judas (apparently not their name anymore) were last year. Following this set I headed over to the FR stage as I hadn't seen Touts before and was very impressed, small crowd as expected but was a decent set. Also was great to see them come through and give @TheWaters a birthday shoutout.

Fourth time seeing one of my favourite bands SWMRS and first time in nearly a year and they've upped their game. Cole has developed considerably as a frontman and the crowd was incredible. It definitely helped that there will have been many Bring Me fans there getting involved. I waited around in the radio 1 tent for Bring Me The Horizon and stayed for about 20 minutes of this before heading over to Creeper as I'm only casually into these lot but they were very impressive and MANTRA sounded massive live. Creeper was packed with Post Malone fans which made the overall crowd atmosphere a bit off. This was a good performance in general but with the point I previously made taken into consideration combined with the fact that in my opinion they're not at their best on a main stage in broad daylight, I much preferred their set at 2000 trees. Staying at the main stage, I waited for Post Malone in what became one of the biggest crowds that I've seen at a festival, I would expect to see his name much higher up festival bills in the near future. Despite much of the negative feedback I've heard about this set, I enjoyed myself more than I was expecting to. Sure it wasn't mind-blowing, emotional or energetic, but considering how early in the day his set was I enjoyed chilling with my mates to Post's surprisingly decent set, filled with songs of course everybody knows. Slightly confused how people managed to mosh to even his slowest tracks though...

Over the next couple of hours I didn't have any 'must sees' so I found myself catching parts of The Front Bottoms, The Wombats and The Kooks. TFB were very impressive and I definitely wished that I had seen more of their set because what I did see I was enjoying. I don't really have too much to say about the latter two, The wombats sounded OK but nothing that distracted me too much from eating my overpriced pizza and honestly, The Kooks were just The Kooks. They're one of those 2000s indie bands that in my opinion are hugely overrated, just don't go away and somehow can still get away with a significant slot on a festival bill. With this in mind, their live show was just what you'd expect, samey, boring and it felt like it went on for far too long.

As the first day of music drew to a close I was buzzing for Travis Scott, who did not disappoint. The energy of this set was unreal and became one of my favourite sets of the weekend, consecutive bangers from start to finish. His live shows really are an amazing experience with super effective stage and sound effects, and his sheer skill of hyping up a crowd. Before wandering between Fall out boy, Annie Mac and Wolf Alice, who were all decent (Fall Out Boy less so) I headed to see Death From Above headline the Festival Republic tent. and one thing to note was that the crowd was by no means full which was the opposite of what I was expecting. Despite this, they put on a very impressive show and undoubtedly the show that has fucked up my ears the most. From where I was stood fairly close to the front, the sound wasn't far off being too loud and the bass genuinely shook my body. I did enjoy walking between headline sets after DFA as I've mentioned, however I do think it is preferable to finish a night with a strong main stage headliner. 

 

I kicked off my Saturday by catching Skindred, after a needed sleep in from spending far too long at the silent disco the previous evening. Wasn't sure what to expect after seeing some cringey festival clips in the past but it turned out to be a decent set with good energy. As anticipated Benji found himself a little too funny however this didn't take away from the overall quality of the set. Originally I had planned to go straight from here to catch Playboi Carti, however his set was cancelled last minute so I took the chance to wait around for Mike Shinoda. For me this set wasn't too impressive as I'm not into his solo stuff but I could tell this was a special moment for some people. Luckily for me, one of my most anticipated acts BROCKHAMPTON came through and brought their set forward in order to fill some of the lost time caused by Carti, and to play a longer set. This cued my friend and I to sprint over to the radio 1 stage, along with thousands of others with the same idea. Over the next 20 minutes, before BROCKHAMPTON were due to start, it felt like the whole arena were headed to watch the 'world's greatest boyband' as the tent became more rammed and overflowed than I've ever seen it before. These boys did not disappoint and had the whole crowd off their feet from start to finish, you could tell that it felt special to them and I wouldn't be surprised to see them blow up off their upcoming effort.

After briefly catching my breath and reuniting with some friends who were lost in the pits, I painfully missed the end of HMLTD after having a great time at one of their headline gigs not long before, and got myself back over to the main stage to catch the end of Sum 41 for some nostalgia. It's safe to say that I was seriously surprised at how much energy these lot still have in them and at the quality of their live sound. After collectively singing along to 'in too deep' and 'fat lip' with thousands of others, I'm glad I didn't miss this one.

The next couple of hours were some rare chilled ones for me as I had no acts that I felt I had to be in the centre of the action for. In this time chose to sit around and catch some of Sigrid, Dua Lipa, Rex Orange County and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie at their respective stages. I found this to be a nice way to spend some time taking in the atmosphere of this year's festival and each set was enjoyable to watch. Dua Lipa pulled a notably huge crowd in which could almost be compared to Post's, and she sounds great live.  I definitely wouldn't describe her as 'out of place' at Reading Festival in 2018.

Running up to the end of the evening, I packed in some quality sets, the first coming from N.E.R.D. Although pulling a much smaller crowd than I was expecting, Pharell and co proved to be a strong late addition to the lineup with an energetic and mind-blowingly bassy performance. This set became a special moment when Pharell brought every member of BROCKHAMPTON to the stage, referring to them as his 'little brothers' and leaving them to dance around the stage for the remainder of the performance. From here my friends and I made our way to The Pit to catch the end of Black Peaks. After previously being very impressed with their set at 2000 Trees I was prepared for another monumental set, however I had forgotten just how perfect Gosney's live vocals are, hitting you even harder than on the meticulously recorded tracks. Hanging around in The Pit in anticipation, I was buzzing to catch $uicideboy$ for the first time. Perhaps a fitting way to describe their show would be to imagine BROCKHAMPTON, Ho99o9 and Lil Peep all showcasing their best assets in one mix, along with a unique sense of dark emo energy. This quickly became one of the stand-out sets of the weekend for me as the electrical group energy filled the crowd of one of my favourite venues at the festival. Now was time to catch the last half an hour of Panic! at the Disco while searching for a decent spot to watch King Kenny. As a 'kind-of-but-not-really' co-headliner, I thought P!ATD did a decent job of crafting their performance to suit, with a popular setlist and an impressive light and firework performance. Singing along to 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' was fun in a crowd of people who generally either new every lyric or had never heard the song in their life, and it was nice to see Urie admit having a fanboy moment that he was playing before Kung-Fu Kenny. And so it had arrived, perhaps my most anticipated set of the festival, one of the most talented rappers in the world right now, Kendrick Lamar. As the only main stage headliner that I would watch in full over the weekend Kendrick's performance was almost everything that I hoped that it would be. Intricate, entertaining and engaging, I had an amazing time. However I couldn't help that something small was missing, although I can't put my finger on what it was. Perhaps the short setlist, or maybe even a slight lack of enthusiasm. Despite this, I was blown away by Kendrick's performance and it was the perfect close to another busy day.

 

And so finally Sunday came around, all too quick for me, although my body felt it from sleeping on a deflated air bed in a flooded tent. Sunday for me began by painfully missing Shame, and getting to The Pit for the much anticipated Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes secret set. As always, Frank and company blew my mind with a heavy and electrifying show thanks to Frank's unbeatable frontman capabilities. Also it turns out that that was The Snakes' last show of the year before they write and record their next album, so I was glad to have been there. From here I went to try out Scarlxrd at his 1xtra set and to be honest I just can't get past the fact that he used to be a story-time youtuber. parts of Krept and Konan, J Hus and Lady Bird kept me entertained in the mud over the next hour or so, each putting on decent sets despite the traditional UK festival weather.

Lil Pump. Couldn't not see this out of fascination. He's an idiot, calling crowd members 'faggots' in 2018? Really? Getting people to chant 'Fuck the security' just isn't necessary. Despite these aspects, his energy and crowd were respectable, although nothing groundbreaking. Overall this wasn't an impressive effort. Remaining in the Radio 1 tent, up next were the Bedford boys, Don Broco. I was very impressed by this one, their sound is just so well suited for a festival atmosphere and their setlist contained a solid mix of belters. Far better than i was expecting. Staying in a similar genre and audience I was interested to see what Slaves were like this time out, after recently releasing their third full length album. Although I wasn't overly fussed about the album they came through with a great live show, sounded raw and filled with energy, and the Skepta tribute was just what we all needed.

To finish the weekend I split my time between Kings of Leon, Diplo and AJ Tracey. Kings of Leon were sounding decent over at the main stage but I wasn't properly familiar enough with their setlist to stay much longer than 20 minutes so I headed to Diplo, who exceeded any expectations that I might have had. Constant bangers. Managed to get to AJ Tracey just in time for my favourite song of his 'Blacked Out' which sounded massive in the packed out tent before heading back to Diplo to finish off the festival.

Overall Reading 2018 was a massive one and the perfect end to my festival season. Other than a couple of weaker headliners the lineup was particularly strong for me overall this year and I'm not at all against the direction in which the festival is going.

Edited September 3, 2018 by UndergroundSound

[TheWaters]

9 minutes ago, UndergroundSound said:

Started this post straight after the fest and intended it to be a short sum up but ended up making it into a fuck off blog style post so it's not really suited to this thread now, apologies. Here are my ops anyway.

 

 

I had a quality second year at Reading, camping from Wednesday to Monday. However it's not a good feeling to now be home and upset knowing that I've got no more festivals lined up until (hopefully) Glasto 2019. 

The lack of Thursday entertainment compared to Leeds does get a little frustrating and also resulted in the small Smirnoff house stage (one of the only venues that were actually running) getting far too rammed to the point that you couldn't hear the music unless you were close to the front because the crowd was far too big for the size of the stage. Nonetheless, Wednesday and Thursday were very enjoyable spent in an unbeatable environment.

 

Friday was a great day for me, filled with artists who I was very excited to see right up until the headline slots. At that point I wondered between stages which ended up being a nice way to finish the evening.

Dental's plan worked a treat.  Big Shaq Brought thousands into the arena to start the day and the crowd was instantly buzzing. Certainly a more appropriate opener for the festival than Judas (apparently not their name anymore) were last year. Following this set I headed over to the FR stage as I hadn't seen Touts before and was very impressed, small crowd as expected but was a decent set. Also was great to see them come through and give @TheWaters a birthday shoutout.

Fourth time seeing one of my favourite bands SWMRS and first time in nearly a year and they've upped their game. Cole has developed considerably as a frontman and the crowd was incredible. It definitely helped that there will have been many Bring Me fans there getting involved. I waited around in the radio 1 tent for Bring Me The Horizon and stayed for about 20 minutes of this before heading over to Creeper as I'm only casually into these lot but they were very impressive and MANTRA sounded massive live. Creeper was packed with Post Malone fans which made the overall crowd atmosphere a bit off. This was a good performance in general but with the point I previously made taken into consideration combined with the fact that in my opinion they're not at their best on a main stage in broad daylight, I much preferred their set at 2000 trees. Staying at the main stage, I waited for Post Malone in what became one of the biggest crowds that I've seen at a festival, I would expect to see his name much higher up festival bills in the near future. Despite much of the negative feedback I've heard about this set, I enjoyed myself more than I was expecting to. Sure it wasn't mind-blowing, emotional or energetic, but considering how early in the day his set was I enjoyed chilling with my mates to Post's surprisingly decent set, filled with songs of course everybody knows. Slightly confused how people managed to mosh to even his slowest tracks though...

Over the next couple of hours I didn't have any 'must sees' so I found myself catching parts of The Front Bottoms, The Wombats and The Kooks. TFB were very impressive and I definitely wished that I had seen more of their set because what I did see I was enjoying. I don't really have too much to say about the latter two, The wombats sounded OK but nothing that distracted me too much from eating my overpriced pizza and honestly, The Kooks were just The Kooks. They're one of those 2000s indie bands that in my opinion are hugely overrated, just don't go away and somehow can still get away with a significant slot on a festival bill. With this in mind, their live show was just what you'd expect, samey, boring and it felt like it went on for far too long.

As the first day of music drew to a close I was buzzing for Travis Scott, who did not disappoint. The energy of this set was unreal and became one of my favourite sets of the weekend, consecutive bangers from start to finish. His live shows really are an amazing experience with super effective stage and sound effects, and his sheer skill of hyping up a crowd. Before wandering between Fall out boy, Annie Mac and Wolf Alice, who were all decent (Fall Out Boy less so) I headed to see Death From Above headline the Festival Republic tent. and one thing to note was that the crowd was by no means full which was the opposite of what I was expecting. Despite this, they put on a very impressive show and undoubtedly the show that has fucked up my ears the most. From where I was stood fairly close to the front, the sound wasn't far off being too loud and the bass genuinely shook my body. I did enjoy walking between headline sets after DFA as I've mentioned, however I do think it is preferable to finish a night with a strong main stage headliner. 

 

I kicked off my Saturday by catching Skindred, after a needed sleep in from spending far too long at the silent disco the previous evening. Wasn't sure what to expect after seeing some cringey festival clips in the past but it turned out to be a decent set with good energy. As anticipated Benji found himself a little too funny however this didn't take away from the overall quality of the set. Originally I had planned to go straight from here to catch Playboi Carti, however his set was cancelled last minute so I took the chance to wait around for Mike Shinoda. For me this set wasn't too impressive as I'm not into his solo stuff but I could tell this was a special moment for some people. Luckily for me, one of my most anticipated acts BROCKHAMPTON came through and brought their set forward in order to fill some of the lost time caused by Carti, and to play a longer set. This cued my friend and I to sprint over to the radio 1 stage, along with thousands of others with the same idea. Over the next 20 minutes, before BROCKHAMPTON were due to start, it felt like the whole arena were headed to watch the 'world's greatest boyband' as the tent became more rammed and overflowed than I've ever seen it before. These boys did not disappoint and had the whole crowd off their feet from start to finish, you could tell that it felt special to them and I wouldn't be surprised to see them blow up off their upcoming effort.

After briefly catching my breath and reuniting with some friends who were lost in the pits, I painfully missed the end of HMLTD after having a great time at one of their headline gigs not long before, and got myself back over to the main stage to catch the end of Sum 41 for some nostalgia. It's safe to say that I was seriously surprised at how much energy these lot still have in them and at the quality of their live sound. After collectively singing along to 'in too deep' and 'fat lip' with thousands of others, I'm glad I didn't miss this one.

The next couple of hours were some rare chilled ones for me as I had no acts that I felt I had to be in the centre of the action for. In this time chose to sit around and catch some of Sigrid, Dua Lipa, Rex Orange County and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie at their respective stages. I found this to be a nice way to spend some time taking in the atmosphere of this year's festival and each set was enjoyable to watch. Dua Lipa pulled a notably huge crowd in which could almost be compared to Post's, and she sounds great live.  I definitely wouldn't describe her as 'out of place' at Reading Festival in 2018.

Running up to the end of the evening, I packed in some quality sets, the first coming from N.E.R.D. Although pulling a much smaller crowd than I was expecting, Pharell and co proved to be a strong late addition to the lineup with an energetic and mind-blowingly bassy performance. This set became a special moment when Pharell brought every member of BROCKHAMPTON to the stage, referring to them as his 'little brothers' and leaving them to dance around the stage for the remainder of the performance. From here my friends and I made our way to The Pit to catch the end of Black Peaks. After previously being very impressed with their set at 2000 Trees I was prepared for another monumental set, however I had forgotten just how perfect Gosney's live vocals are, hitting you even harder than on the meticulously recorded tracks. Hanging around in The Pit in anticipation, I was buzzing to catch $uicideboy$ for the first time. Perhaps a fitting way to describe their show would be to imagine BROCKHAMPTON, Ho99o9 and Lil Peep all showcasing their best assets in one mix, along with a unique sense of dark emo energy. This quickly became one of the stand-out sets of the weekend for me as the electrical group energy filled the crowd of one of my favourite venues at the festival. Now was time to catch the last half an hour of Panic! at the Disco while searching for a decent spot to watch King Kenny. As a 'kind-of-but-not-really' co-headliner, I thought P!ATD did a decent job of crafting their performance to suit, with a popular setlist and an impressive light and firework performance. Singing along to 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' was fun in a crowd of people who generally either new every lyric or had never heard the song in their life, and it was nice to see Urie admit having a fanboy moment that he was playing before Kung-Fu Kenny. And so it had arrived, perhaps my most anticipated set of the festival, one of the most talented rappers in the world right now, Kendrick Lamar. As the only main stage headliner that I would watch in full over the weekend Kendrick's performance was almost everything that I hoped that it would be. Intricate, entertaining and engaging, I had an amazing time. However I couldn't help that something small was missing, although I can't put my finger on what it was. Perhaps the short setlist, or maybe even a slight lack of enthusiasm. Despite this, I was blown away by Kendrick's performance and it was the perfect close to another busy day.

 

And so finally Sunday came around, all too quick for me, although my body felt it from sleeping on a deflated air bed in a flooded tent. Sunday for me began by painfully missing Shame, and getting to The Pit for the much anticipated Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes secret set. As always, Frank and company blew my mind with a heavy and electrifying show thanks to Frank's unbeatable frontman capabilities. Also it turns out that that was The Snakes' last show of the year before they write and record their next album, so I was glad to have been there. From here I went to try out Scarlxrd at his 1xtra set and to be honest I just can't get past the fact that he used to be a story-time youtuber. parts of Krept and Konan, J Hus and Lady Bird kept me entertained in the mud over the next hour or so, each putting on decent sets despite the traditional UK festival weather.

Lil Pump. Couldn't not see this out of fascination. He's an idiot, calling crowd members 'faggots' in 2018? Really? Getting people to chant 'Fuck the security' just isn't necessary. Despite these aspects, his energy and crowd were respectable, although nothing groundbreaking. Overall this wasn't an impressive effort. Remaining in the Radio 1 tent, up next were the Bedford boys, Don Broco. I was very impressed by this one, their sound is just so well suited for a festival atmosphere and their setlist contained a solid mix of belters. Far better than i was expecting. Staying in a similar genre and audience I was interested to see what Slaves were like this time out, after recently releasing their third full length album. Although I wasn't overly fussed about the album they came through with a great live show, sounded raw and filled with energy, and the Skepta tribute was just what we all needed.

To finish the weekend I split my time between Kings of Leon, Diplo and AJ Tracey. Kings of Leon were sounding decent over at the main stage but I wasn't properly familiar enough with their setlist to stay much longer than 20 minutes so I headed to Diplo, who exceeded any expectations that I might have had. Constant bangers. Managed to get to AJ Tracey just in time for my favourite song of his 'Blacked Out' which sounded massive in the packed out tent before heading back to Diplo to finish off the festival.

Overall Reading 2018 was a massive one and the perfect end to my festival season. Other than a couple of weaker headliners the lineup was particularly strong for me overall this year and I'm not at all against the direction in which the festival is going.

Beautiful that, brought a tear to my eye. I'm glad one of us can remember Travis and NERD lmao.

[Andre91]

Travis put on one of the best shows I’ve seen in my life. 

[justanothername]

50 minutes ago, UndergroundSound said:

Creeper ... I much preferred their set at 2000 trees.

I mean, Conjurer were better though

[Steve1000]

Late to the party but go on. Top 5 for me were Frank Carter, Bring Me, Kendrick, DFA, Pendulum. S/o to HMLTD, The Vaccines and Stray From The Path.

biggest letdown were Creeper but not their fault, they were literally in the worse possible spot on the lineup for them. Also Black Peaks because some fucker broke me nose.

[UndergroundSound]

3 hours ago, TheWaters said:

Beautiful that, brought a tear to my eye. I'm glad one of us can remember Travis and NERD lmao.

I remember trying to tell you that Pharell had brought out BROCKHAMPTON and you had no idea what I was talking about