2023 Festival

[Matt42]

On 10/15/2022 at 12:22 PM, WhoOdyssey said:

Stormzy has a new album out next month, lead single yesterday is quite good. Could we see him back for 2024?

Although interestingly it's not performing as well as his previous music, it's only at #12 on Spotify today so it could quite easily miss the Top 10. Comparing it to his last lead single, Vossi Bop, which went straight to number 1 with huge numbers - it's a big drop off.

I wondered this. He isn’t that much of a big tourer and tends to just pop up places. Think coming back to Reading could definitely be possible.

[Chad888]

Is it inevitable that the headliners in 5 or so years will be -

Yungblud | Post Malone | Sam Fender

Blossoms | Aitch | Wet Leg

 

Another Wet Leg song was on the radio this morning, I think I have heard them on the radio probably twice a day for the past 12 months. I've never enjoyed them, but I thought they must be very popular to have that sort of recognition.

1 x Album that only reached 60,000 combined sales and streams.

6 x Singles only 2 of which broke the top 100, both reaching 74, none reaching 200,000 sales and streams in the UK.

[BenG92]

I like Wet Leg just fine but I don't understand the overhype at all. See how their 2nd album goes before we call them future headliners

[Chad888]

49 minutes ago, BenG92 said:

I like Wet Leg just fine but I don't understand the overhype at all. See how their 2nd album goes before we call them future headliners

I agree. I won't turn off the radio when they come on, but I wouldn't go out of my way to seek their music.

The feeling I get is manufactured consent.

We get accustomed to the media constantly hyping them up as the best thing since sliced bread, and absolutely huge. We don't think twice when they are given more prominent roles in festivals etc, we don't even look at the numbers they are pulling.

Edited October 17, 2022 by Chad888

[gfa]

2 hours ago, Chad888 said:

Is it inevitable that the headliners in 5 or so years will be -

Yungblud | Post Malone | Sam Fender

Blossoms | Aitch | Wet Leg

 

Another Wet Leg song was on the radio this morning, I think I have heard them on the radio probably twice a day for the past 12 months. I've never enjoyed them, but I thought they must be very popular to have that sort of recognition.

1 x Album that only reached 60,000 combined sales and streams.

6 x Singles only 2 of which broke the top 100, both reaching 74, none reaching 200,000 sales and streams in the UK.

Cannot see Yungblud ever doing MSE. Blossoms are never getting to MSW either, been stagnated for about 5 years at 3rd down roughly. Aitch is probably a fad as are wet leg, not getting to MSW i think. Maybe one of those 4 will reach the positions you've given but all 4 - not a chance.

[Chad888]

55 minutes ago, gfa said:

Cannot see Yungblud ever doing MSE. Blossoms are never getting to MSW either, been stagnated for about 5 years at 3rd down roughly. Aitch is probably a fad as are wet leg, not getting to MSW i think. Maybe one of those 4 will reach the positions you've given but all 4 - not a chance.

My post was more referencing the fact that we are constantly told some of these acts are far bigger and more popular than they actually are. Especially Yungblud and Wet Leg, non-stop articles, continuous radio play, hammering feature appearances on everything. 

Even here, we talk about Yungblud as a big artist, but he doesn't get the numbers.

3 albums selling 90k, 100k and then 20k

32 singles only 7 of them got top 100, the highest charting 37 with BMTH

 

Sam Fenders debut album in contrast sold 4 times the amount of Yungbluds total, and YB has been around 2 years longer.

[andyrhodes24]

4 hours ago, Chad888 said:

Is it inevitable that the headliners in 5 or so years will be -

Yungblud | Post Malone | Sam Fender

Blossoms | Aitch | Wet Leg

 

Another Wet Leg song was on the radio this morning, I think I have heard them on the radio probably twice a day for the past 12 months. I've never enjoyed them, but I thought they must be very popular to have that sort of recognition.

1 x Album that only reached 60,000 combined sales and streams.

6 x Singles only 2 of which broke the top 100, both reaching 74, none reaching 200,000 sales and streams in the UK.

Post Malone and Sam Fender will do it again but the others won’t get anywhere near. The radio/mags/rags/awards can push Wet Leg all they like but that’s all it seems to be. Blossoms are a broken record at this point, YB might get as far as MSW and Aitch isn’t nearly big enough.

It’ll get close to this lineup but most of us will have moved on from R&L by then, the amount we moan about it on here I’m surprised we haven’t already.

[gfa]

41 minutes ago, Chad888 said:

My post was more referencing the fact that we are constantly told some of these acts are far bigger and more popular than they actually are. Especially Yungblud and Wet Leg, non-stop articles, continuous radio play, hammering feature appearances on everything. 

Even here, we talk about Yungblud as a big artist, but he doesn't get the numbers.

3 albums selling 90k, 100k and then 20k

32 singles only 7 of them got top 100, the highest charting 37 with BMTH

 

Sam Fenders debut album in contrast sold 4 times the amount of Yungbluds total, and YB has been around 2 years longer.

I agree with Wet Leg, but Yungblud has been doing big tours. Nobody cares about album sales, its 2022 not 2012.

[WhoOdyssey]

12 hours ago, Chad888 said:

My post was more referencing the fact that we are constantly told some of these acts are far bigger and more popular than they actually are. Especially Yungblud and Wet Leg, non-stop articles, continuous radio play, hammering feature appearances on everything. 

Even here, we talk about Yungblud as a big artist, but he doesn't get the numbers.

3 albums selling 90k, 100k and then 20k

32 singles only 7 of them got top 100, the highest charting 37 with BMTH

 

Sam Fenders debut album in contrast sold 4 times the amount of Yungbluds total, and YB has been around 2 years longer.

It doesn’t really make much difference, but as you count ‘Obey’, you may as well count KSI & Yungblud’s ‘Patience’ which reached #3.

Edited October 17, 2022 by WhoOdyssey

[Chad888]

3 hours ago, WhoOdyssey said:

It doesn’t really make much difference, but as you count ‘Obey’, you may as well count KSI & Yungblud’s ‘Patience’ which reached #3.

Obey is a Yungblud song that BMTH feature on. Patience is a KSI song that Yungblud is one of multiple features on.

[D666N]

3 hours ago, Chad888 said:

Obey is a Yungblud song that BMTH feature on. Patience is a KSI song that Yungblud is one of multiple features on.

Wrong, Obey is a BMTH song that Yungblud features on, you're right about Patience.

[Chad888]

1 minute ago, D666N said:

Wrong, Obey is a BMTH song that Yungblud features on, you're right about Patience.

Yep, you're absolutly right. Wikipedia had me mistaken. My apologies.

 

This means that from 31 singles, only 6 reached the top 100 (which is every stream, youtube play, radio play, and purchase) hitting 59, 90, 62, 98, 78, and 80. Add that to the combined album listens for all 4 of them, being a fraction of Sam Fenders debut album recieved.

 

I get he fills shows, but those numbers can be fudged through many means - limited releases, ticket giveaways, stacked undercard, faked attendance, less seats and more compact crowd.

 

If the people that walk around with airpods in continuously, always have their phones attached to their hands, sit in the parks and on buses and street corners constantly blasting their favourite tunes aren't listening - then he isn't that big.

[D666N]

1 minute ago, Chad888 said:

Yep, you're absolutly right. Wikipedia had me mistaken. My apologies.

 

This means that from 31 singles, only 6 reached the top 100 (which is every stream, youtube play, radio play, and purchase) hitting 59, 90, 62, 98, 78, and 80. Add that to the combined album listens for all 4 of them, being a fraction of Sam Fenders debut album recieved.

 

I get he fills shows, but those numbers can be fudged through many means - limited releases, ticket giveaways, stacked undercard, faked attendance, less seats and more compact crowd.

 

If the people that walk around with airpods in continuously, always have their phones attached to their hands, sit in the parks and on buses and street corners constantly blasting their favourite tunes aren't listening - then he isn't that big.

No worries mate - I agree, there is no way he is headlining MSW or MSE in the next 2 years. Look how long it took BMTH to do it and they only got MSW which was a travesty in my opinion. After seeing BMTH absolutely smash it on MSW and then walk over to MSE to see Arctic Monkeys, it was like losing a tenner, then finding 10p on the floor, underwhelming to say the least. It's a "what's more relevant" sort of festival now, rather than a "who sells or has the higher streaming figures".

[WhoOdyssey]

2 hours ago, Chad888 said:

 

This means that from 31 singles, only 6 reached the top 100 (which is every stream, youtube play, radio play, and purchase) hitting 59, 90, 62, 98, 78, and 80. Add that to the combined album listens for all 4 of them, being a fraction of Sam Fenders debut album recieved.

 

The UK charts don’t count radio play FWIW.

[gfa]

2 hours ago, D666N said:

No worries mate - I agree, there is no way he is headlining MSW or MSE in the next 2 years. Look how long it took BMTH to do it and they only got MSW which was a travesty in my opinion. After seeing BMTH absolutely smash it on MSW and then walk over to MSE to see Arctic Monkeys, it was like losing a tenner, then finding 10p on the floor, underwhelming to say the least. It's a "what's more relevant" sort of festival now, rather than a "who sells or has the higher streaming figures".

would have been the smallest ever MSE crowd and horrendous day ticket sales. dread to think who would be on MSW if BMTH were on MSE 

[BenG92]

31 minutes ago, gfa said:

would have been the smallest ever MSE crowd and horrendous day ticket sales. dread to think who would be on MSW if BMTH were on MSE 

I'd liked to have seen how they did if they weren't immediately before the band that 95% of attendees were planning to see. I keep hearing that Wolf Alice was absolutely dead because it was all people camping for AM.

That said it's hard to disagree too much, BMTH were the most exciting set of the day but it's still L+R, there's a reason they weren't MSE

[thatTFBguy]

2 hours ago, BenG92 said:

I'd liked to have seen how they did if they weren't immediately before the band that 95% of attendees were planning to see. I keep hearing that Wolf Alice was absolutely dead because it was all people camping for AM.

That said it's hard to disagree too much, BMTH were the most exciting set of the day but it's still L+R, there's a reason they weren't MSE

Wolf Alice at Leeds this year was one of the worst festival sets I've ever seen.

Not because of the band, I like Wolf Alice a lot, but the entire front section was people just camped out for AM. As in people sitting down in circles even. 

We got funny looks for singing along to Wolf Alice as if we were annoying the AM fans around us by trying to enjoy the band on stage. Really felt for Wolf Alice, deserved their own crowd. 

[BenG92]

1 minute ago, thatTFBguy said:

Wolf Alice at Leeds this year was one of the worst festival sets I've ever seen.

Not because of the band, I like Wolf Alice a lot, but the entire front section was people just camped out for AM. As in people sitting down in circles even. 

We got funny looks for singing along to Wolf Alice as if we were annoying the AM fans around us by trying to enjoy the band on stage. Really felt for Wolf Alice, deserved their own crowd. 

Yeah that's a real shame. We were gonna go see them, but Pendulum were calling, which definitely distracted a significant chunk of WA's 30-something fan base. Saw similar problems at Primavera this year where groups of people just talked the entire way through The National's set while they were waiting for Caribou and Jamie XX, it was horrendous. So much worse because the two main stages were next to each other, at least LnR doesn't do that. 

[Benj]

Sadly a curse of the modern festival safety barriers, where it’s much harder to get to the front. 

…further not helped at Reading of course by them halving what else you’d maybe be tempted to see on other stages instead

Wolf Alice atmos was great further back amongst the 30 somethings(+)!

[Chad888]

1 hour ago, Benj said:

Sadly a curse of the modern festival safety barriers, where it’s much harder to get to the front. 

…further not helped at Reading of course by them halving what else you’d maybe be tempted to see on other stages instead

Wolf Alice atmos was great further back amongst the 30 somethings(+)!

I was in the 2nd section back with my wife for Wolf Alice, really enjoying ourselves. The whole area was just kids sat down on their phones waiting for AM. They get very very angry when you stand in front of where they are sitting, the audacity of you to block their future view.

[Benj]

54 minutes ago, Chad888 said:

I was in the 2nd section back with my wife for Wolf Alice, really enjoying ourselves. The whole area was just kids sat down on their phones waiting for AM. They get very very angry when you stand in front of where they are sitting, the audacity of you to block their future view.

All about getting a good spot for the ‘gram with the kids today as opposed to actually having a good time. 

Generation sucks

[SleepingGiants]

17 minutes ago, Benj said:

All about getting a good spot for the ‘gram with the kids today as opposed to actually having a good time. 

Generation sucks

Ignoring the fact many of the people camping out for AM were middle-aged...

[Benj]

2 hours ago, SleepingGiants said:

Ignoring the fact many of the people camping out for AM were middle-aged...

There with their TikTok dancing spawn I suspect

[charlierc]

On 10/17/2022 at 7:15 AM, Chad888 said:

Is it inevitable that the headliners in 5 or so years will be -

Yungblud | Post Malone | Sam Fender

Blossoms | Aitch | Wet Leg

 

Another Wet Leg song was on the radio this morning, I think I have heard them on the radio probably twice a day for the past 12 months. I've never enjoyed them, but I thought they must be very popular to have that sort of recognition.

1 x Album that only reached 60,000 combined sales and streams.

6 x Singles only 2 of which broke the top 100, both reaching 74, none reaching 200,000 sales and streams in the UK.

Hmmm it's difficult to try and predict the headliners for Reading and Leeds 2027 now. Not least as if you'd suggested certain of-the-moment acts in 2016/17 as R&L headliners of the future, you'd have not got them. Like, in 2016, Mitch Benn said that The 1975 and Chvrches had the air of future headliners, and one of them has indeed literally done that twice, while the other not so much. I mean, much as I love Chvrches, I'd be surprised if they got booked as an R&L headliner any time soon.

[TommyS]

In all seriousness - is it not quite obvious that Blink 182 are gunna be one of the headliners? Their UK tour starts 3 days after bank holiday...