2023 Festival

[Benj]

2 hours ago, Andre91 said:

I imagine it’ll be like Glass Animals this year where the crowd is just there for the big song from TikTok. Absolutely zero atmosphere. 

It’s fucking tragic, it really is

Im well old, so have gone through a load of fashion/ music changes, appreciating that it’s all a cycle.

I can’t get my head around this one though. It’s just so shallow, no appreciation of the art at all, music has become a meme

[Benj]

5 minutes ago, charlierc said:

I forgot Razorlight headlining Reading 2007 was a thing in fairness. Them headlining above Kings of Leon, who arguably were headline level already, seemed to approach it as such judging by YouTube footage, and were still in their pre-Sex on Fire days when they didn't play to crowds only there for that is quite the unusual one.

Razorlight were properly massive at the time. 
 

They headlined the second stage at V in 2006 (vs Morrissey) and the whole festival was there, the size of the crowd was mad. It was not a shock they headlined Reading, however weak they look now

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, Andre91 said:

I imagine it’ll be like Glass Animals this year where the crowd is just there for the big song from TikTok. Absolutely zero atmosphere. 

Reminds me of Kate Nash at Truck Festival when people were chanting for her to play Foundations from the very start, sung along massively when she played it, and were largely apathetic for the rest of it.

[charlierc]

7 minutes ago, Benj said:

Razorlight were properly massive at the time. 
 

They headlined the second stage at V in 2006 (vs Morrissey) and the whole festival was there, the size of the crowd was mad. It was not a shock they headlined Reading, however weak they look now

Interesting. 2006 is slightly before my gig-going time and my knowledge of Razorlight's Reading slot mainly comes from sniffy reviews and YouTube. But I do recall America and Before I Fall To Pieces being bona fide mega hits in the late 2000's.

I am getting links a lot in my SeeTickets/Gigs&Tours recommended purchases for Razorlight's upcoming tour tbf. Not that I'm feeling suitably interested in attending. Indeed when they opened for Muse at one of their Hammersmith Apollo shows in May, that might be the first inkling I'd had in years that they were still active.

Edited December 9, 2022 by charlierc

[andyrhodes24]

10 minutes ago, Benj said:

It’s fucking tragic, it really is

Im well old, so have gone through a load of fashion/ music changes, appreciating that it’s all a cycle.

I can’t get my head around this one though. It’s just so shallow, no appreciation of the art at all, music has become a meme

At risk of going down a rabbit hole, Tik Tok is fuelling the hit wonder in its least noteworthy form. There’s so many that come and go so quickly, by the time August rolls around half of the Tik Tom acts unveiled now will be forgotten about. There’s no longevity to them whatsoever.

By all accounts, Gayle’s set was packed last year but I’d love to know how many of that crowd knew more than abcdefu

[R Shah]

I'm ngl I think this line-up will be lapped up by the 16-19 year old demographic. Sam, Billie and Killers are a ginormous three headliners.

Obviously I agree that it's uninspiring and there's no unique names it's a very narrow genre spread across the big names, not to mention the running order being disjointed.

But honestly, with the 3 MSW headliners, they've stayed within the indie - pop constraints to almost double down on that demographic.

It's safe, it's uninspiring, but weekend tickets will sell very well.

I honestly think Sam, Billie and Killers are the biggest 3 names you can book in 2023 judging by who's around in August. From an FR persepctive, it does make sense to build the line-up around those 3 rather than throw in a bunch of rocky subs for the sake of it.

I hate them, but objectively Imagine Dragons are a logical MSW partner for Billie, and their 2016 appearance did get a massive crowd - and they're around in August and have barely touched the UK since 2018 apart from one stadium show. It does actually make sense, as much as I don't want it to.

Same with Capaldi - like Fender, he's toured sooooooo much in the UK but his rise has been that meteoric that he's just too easy a booking to ignore. 

Foals is a weird one. I love them so much and so do plenty on this forum, but if anything I feel they actually contribute to the line-up being uninspiring. Fender and Killers tick the indie box, a more rockier act or a rapper could have taken that slot but ngl I'm not gonna complain. In a way, they serve as the rockier act. 

But yeah - it's safe, uninspiring, the same is true for some of the subs, but it will sell well and it does look cohesive around those big 3 names of Fender, Killers and Billie.

Edited December 9, 2022 by R Shah

[wro_lap]

Future headliners by year (in non-headline or secret slots):

2004: Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines, Razorlight, Kasabian

2005: The Killers, QOTSA, Kasabian, Kings Of Leon, Biffy Clyro, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, My Chemical Romance

2006: Arctic Monkeys, Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At The Disco

2007: Kings Of Leon, Arcade Fire, Fall Out Boy, Biffy Clyro, Panic! At The Disco, Foals, Paramore

2008: Biffy Clyro, QOTSA, Foals

2009: Fall Out Boy, Bring Me The Horizon

2010: QOTSA, Biffy, Mumford, The Libertines, Paramore, Foals

2011: Panic! At The Disco, Bring Me The Horizon

2012: Paramore

2013: Foals, The 1975, Catfish And The Bottlemen, Disclosure, Fall Out Boy, Twenty One Pilots, Bring Me The Horizon, Imagine Dragons

2014: Catfish and the Bottlemen, The 1975, Disclosure, Imagine Dragons

2015: Panic!, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy, Bring Me The Horizon

2016: Twenty One Pilots, Stormzy, The 1975, Imagine Dragons

2017: Liam Gallagher, Halsey, Dave

2018: Post Malone, Lewis Capaldi, Sam Fender (also had Travis Scott, AJ Tracey, Courteeners, Dua Lipa, Playboi Carti, Lizzo and Yungblud - all with potential to headline one day. Seemed a poor lineup at the time but it has aged well)

2019: Dave, Billie Eilish

2021: Sam Fender

Edited December 9, 2022 by wro_lap

[thewayiam]

1 hour ago, VCK said:

This was pre-stadium rock bores KoL when they were still putting out superb music, and Interpol always had some great stuff. That Razorlight booking has not aged well at all though.

I just went on the Pumpkins and Chilis day. Pumpkins were good, not mindblowing but it was a solid set with a decent balance of classics and more obscure stuff. Way better than at Download the other year.

Chilis, on the other hand, were infamously dogshit.

I don't think I set foot in the NME stage at all. I wanted to see Dinosaur Jr but just went with my mates and watched Bloc Party and Arcade Fire, both of whom were superb.

Chillis were not no but I did enjoy them in the states.

41 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Feels like a missed opportunity to me. A run of Killers > Foals > NBT > Wet Leg plus one of Don Broco or You Me At Six would've got me to book this but scattered around the 3 days amidst a lot of acts that aren't of interest to me, it feels like a harder sell.

Just feels like all a bit meh, even in comparison to the 2022 edition.

If the Killers day was like that I'd probably be even less interested. Wet Leg are easily going to get 3rd down Other or 4th Pyramid I reckon. 

[VCK]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

One thing I found odd was a few weeks ago at a house party when I saw Lewis Capaldi branded "Big Sexy Meat One" and "Big Sexy Cheesy One" pizzas. Might well have been the first time I'd heard about him since ignoring his set at Truck 2019.

Maybe I've not got track of how popular he is but he's R&L headline worthy now? Even in this odd split-main stage thing they do? I mean, it's their festival bill and I'm not gonna be a gatekeeper to say he never should be there or considered a headliner, just feels like a surprise to me.

He's one of the hugest acts in the country right now, he's now a proven headliner and he is overdue a slot at the festival, with 2020 being cancelled and him pulling out in 2021.

His music is dross and I find him annoying but definitely MSW headline level.

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

I forgot Razorlight headlining Reading 2007 was a thing in fairness. Them headlining above Kings of Leon, who arguably were headline level already, seemed to approach it as such judging by YouTube footage, and were still in their pre-Sex on Fire days when they didn't play to crowds only there for that is quite the unusual one.

Yep. It's easy to forget but during that brief period Razorlight were massive. Selling out arena tours, self titled number one album, America was everywhere at the time etc. Plus with the other two headliners that year being older American alternative rock acts the festival needed an indie headliner as that was the most popular type of music at the time and there wasn't many options, as all the other acts that could have done it were exclusives elsewhere. Also a similar booking to Franz Ferdinand the previous year who went down pretty well and won a lot of doubters over.

Like I said it wasn't a booking decision that aged well given how quickly they fell off afterwards. But still a more logical choice for headliner than FOB in 2018.

As for KOL they weren't quite headline level at that point, but I'm sure I read that their performance was what inspired Glasto to take a punt on them and headline the following year.

[VCK]

Oh wait, I just remembered. I did go into the NME tent in 2007. I missed the first half of that NIN set to see...*checks notes*...CSS.

[WhoOdyssey]

4 hours ago, VCK said:

Ah another Kid Laroi then.

I feel like I'm showing my age where I have no idea who some of the subs are. Polo G is an example from last year.

Steve Lacy is really bloody good though, more indie-ish than Kid Laroi. He’s also in a band called The Internet. 

[Sam Y]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

Feels like a missed opportunity to me. A run of Killers > Foals > NBT > Wet Leg plus one of Don Broco or You Me At Six would've got me to book this but scattered around the 3 days amidst a lot of acts that aren't of interest to me, it feels like a harder sell.

I'd get a day ticket if foals and the killers were together

[charlierc]

1 minute ago, Sam Y said:

I'd get a day ticket if foals and the killers were together

That would've been enough for me tbf. I missed Foals' tour in April and Yannis is saying that the club shows and R&L will be it for UK 2023 shows.

[Chad888]

5 hours ago, VCK said:

Very punk rock of you lads, changing a name you've used for years to appease a vocal minority of complainers.

The biggest load of cringe I've ever seen in my life. And the worst part is that they probably did this because their record label demanded it. Pure irony if so.

 

Changing the name so that nobody knows that we are all slaves to system is the biggest "look away shrug shoulders" I've seen somebody that thought they made it do to appease the powers that be.

 

Because, let's be real -- they did not change the name because people told them that its offensive to the slaves of 300 years ago, when the word Is in the dictionary and represents the same meaning it did when they named themselves that. 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, VCK said:

He's one of the hugest acts in the country right now, he's now a proven headliner and he is overdue a slot at the festival, with 2020 being cancelled and him pulling out in 2021.

His music is dross and I find him annoying but definitely MSW headline level.

I know he's O2 level given Rob Beckett said on the Parenting Hell podcast that he was there at that show. So I'm not saying that he's not a big name in British music, more just that I hadn't heard much of any music since his debut and wasn't aware if there'd been a big leap in hype powering him up through the leagues to this level. And that's without Wikipedia saying his next album won't be out until May.

Someone was saying in another thread that he was being linked with doing Wembley at one point tbf.

1 hour ago, VCK said:

Yep. It's easy to forget but during that brief period Razorlight were massive. Selling out arena tours, self titled number one album, America was everywhere at the time etc. Plus with the other two headliners that year being older American alternative rock acts the festival needed an indie headliner as that was the most popular type of music at the time and there wasn't many options, as all the other acts that could have done it were exclusives elsewhere. Also a similar booking to Franz Ferdinand the previous year who went down pretty well and won a lot of doubters over.

Like I said it wasn't a booking decision that aged well given how quickly they fell off afterwards. But still a more logical choice for headliner than FOB in 2018.

As for KOL they weren't quite headline level at that point, but I'm sure I read that their performance was what inspired Glasto to take a punt on them and headline the following year.

Interesting note about KOL tbf. I did see footage of their Reading 2007 performance and it looked great. Their 2009 and 2018 ones, by contrast, seemed a bit messier.

Franz Ferdinand in Reading 2006 seemed to go down well tbf, even if Franz's stature since has been harder to quantify but very much not at that level. Razorlight must've seemed like a solid idea at the time given they had a few hits but then after that, just seemed to stumble into trouble. I remember the album after R&L 07 getting a pasting in the previously supportive NME, for instance.

I'd forgotten Fall Out Boy did Reading 2018 tbf, having turned up with Biffy Clyro not that long beforehand.

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, thewayiam said:

If the Killers day was like that I'd probably be even less interested. Wet Leg are easily going to get 3rd down Other or 4th Pyramid I reckon. 

To each their own. In fairness it seems like they're going for a little bit of everything on each days popping from genre to genre, meaning it was unlikely you'd end up with something like what I suggested.

At the very least, and as I said earlier on, a Killers/Foals double would've absolutely worked for me, yet I can take or leave the others those two are paired with. Doesn't look like it's going to be in play for The Killers' Edinburgh & Belfast dates given both already have Johnny Marr as confirmed support, and I think Foals are at Cala Mijas/Kalorama on the same weekend of Electric Picnic.

Edited December 9, 2022 by charlierc

[rivalschools.price]

6 hours ago, Chad888 said:

The biggest load of cringe I've ever seen in my life. And the worst part is that they probably did this because their record label demanded it. Pure irony if so.

 

Changing the name so that nobody knows that we are all slaves to system is the biggest "look away shrug shoulders" I've seen somebody that thought they made it do to appease the powers that be.

 

Because, let's be real -- they did not change the name because people told them that its offensive to the slaves of 300 years ago, when the word Is in the dictionary and represents the same meaning it did when they named themselves that. 

Was there any genuine problems or an major fuss with people complaining about their name? 
All the articles I’ve seen have quoted the same one or two tweets by the same people (who seem not to know the know why they are called Slaves)

Its hard to believe that anyone is genuinely offended once they know the real reason behind their name and it seems the band have tried to solve a problem that didn’t really exist.

[foolee]

2 hours ago, rivalschools.price said:

Was there any genuine problems or an major fuss with people complaining about their name? 
All the articles I’ve seen have quoted the same one or two tweets by the same people (who seem not to know the know why they are called Slaves)

Its hard to believe that anyone is genuinely offended once they know the real reason behind their name and it seems the band have tried to solve a problem that didn’t really exist.

Yeah I had the same view about this myself. Never heard anyone say anything or moan about it. I don’t think there’s going to be one person out there that didn’t like Slaves that’s now going to go out and be there new no.1 fan. Very strange move unless they’re going to change the music style and ultimately that’s actually the reason for it. Also seems weird because of what they stand for, not much of a punk move. 

[foolee]

11 hours ago, VCK said:

Oh wait, I just remembered. I did go into the NME tent in 2007. I missed the first half of that NIN set to see...*checks notes*...CSS.

Ouch

[foolee]

I recently saw a video of Steve Lacy in concert where everyone was singing his song that went viral on TikTok for 30 seconds and then he tried to get the crowd to sing the rest of the song and it was silent because no one knew it, embarrassing. 

[jonnyx]

On 12/9/2022 at 9:19 PM, VCK said:

Oh wait, I just remembered. I did go into the NME tent in 2007. I missed the first half of that NIN set to see...*checks notes*...CSS.

I did the same. 

But it was all about new rave! 😄

[Guest]

Don’t think the lineup is that weird/different to normal. Feels similar to the reaction the 2018 lineup got when it dropped, which in hindsight now looks pretty fine imo.

If there was still the NME stage I could see it looking something like this. Again, just looks p standard R+L to me.

Main: Sam Fender // Foals (coheadline), Loyle Carner, Declan McKenna, Inhaler

NME: Slowthai, Lil Tjay

 

Main: Billie Eilish, Central Cee, Steve Lacy, Nothing But Thieves, Don Broco

NME: Bicep, Chase Atlantic

 

Main: The Killers, Lewis Capaldi, Wet Leg, You Me at Six, Tion Wayne

NME, Becky Hill, Trippie Redd

Edited December 10, 2022 by SomeoneListeningIn

[charlierc]

13 hours ago, VCK said:

Oh wait, I just remembered. I did go into the NME tent in 2007. I missed the first half of that NIN set to see...*checks notes*...CSS.

 

1 hour ago, jonnyx said:

I did the same. 

But it was all about new rave! 😄

"So I went to go see Brazilian new rave, which was the style at the time"

[VCK]

2 hours ago, jonnyx said:

I did the same. 

But it was all about new rave! 😄

 

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

 

"So I went to go see Brazilian new rave, which was the style at the time"

"New Rave"

Good god. It's easy to look back on that era with fond nostalgia, but there was some awful music being hyped up. The whole tent that day was just "New Rave" bands.

[TKOCF]

11 minutes ago, VCK said:

 

"New Rave"

Good god. It's easy to look back on that era with fond nostalgia, but there was some awful music being hyped up. The whole tent that day was just "New Rave" bands.

The only good band to survive that genre was LCD Soundsystem. Possibly Hot Chip and Klaxons too.