2024 Festival

[Andre91]

I’m going offer my views on the staging and some examples of the sort of acts I could see being booked for some of the stages (I don’t know enough about Dance music to offer up headliners): 
 

I’d like them to go back to one Main Stage and I think after MB’s vague response to a direct question about them could be telling. Headliners: Post Malone, Travis Scott & Blink-182. If Post Malone is at Wireless, Paramore. 
 

The NME/R1 tent needs to return in all its glory. Headliners: IDLES, The Wombats & Headie One (Andy C closing one night). 

I definitely think the 1Xtra should make way. I don’t think its needed nor attended well anymore.

The dance stage could probably stay but be scaled down because it is half empty most of the day.

The FR should stay and book a mixture of heavier rock and indie bands. Headliners: Pale Waves, Skindred & Ashnikko. 

The BBC Introducing will stay. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Andre91

[andyrhodes24]

If they change, go back to loosely doing themed days with counter programming on the R1 stage. MCR on main stage vs AJ Tracey, Post Malone vs Idles etc etc. It doesn’t have to be rock all day on the main stage but offer people the choice instead of subjecting 40 year old day trippers to the likes of Central Cee as a warm up to The Killers.

If they stick as they are, get a decent sized opener on a main stage each day, persuade people to get down early. A lot will go back to camp after but a lot will stay and spend money.

With the discount scheme it’s obviously hit home that they’ve got to win people back.

[Benj]

27 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

I’m going offer my views on the staging and some examples of the sort of acts I could see being booked for some of the stages (I don’t know enough about Dance music to offer up headliners): 
 

I’d like them to go back to one Main Stage and I think after MB’s vague response to a direct question about them could be telling. Headliners: Post Malone, Travis Scott & Blink-182. If Post Malone is at Wireless, Paramore. 
 

The NME/R1 tent needs to return in all its glory. Headliners: IDLES, The Wombats & Headie One (Andy C closing one night). 

I definitely think the 1Xtra should make way. I don’t think its needed nor attended well anymore.

The dance stage could probably stay but be scaled down because it is half empty most of the day.

The FR should stay and book a mixture of heavier rock and indie bands. Headliners: Pale Waves, Skindred & Ashnikko. 

The BBC Introducing will stay. 

Interestingly the dance tent was pretty rammed all day in the old format

Im not into dance enough to know if the lineups were better back then or if it was just another symptom of people spending more time in the arena pre two main stages

[Benj]

11 minutes ago, andyrhodes24 said:

 With the discount scheme it’s obviously hit home that they’ve got to win people back.

If the number of long time repeat goers who jibbed it on here was reflected in the wider audience, they deffo need to shake things up or they’d soon be completely reliant on 16 year old fist timers to sell out the whole damn thing every year!

[CG31]

Dyou think there’s an option to put the 2 main stages next to each other and then have an extra tent in.

probably a complete logistics nightmare but just throwing ideas out.

[On The Blend]

I think Hellfest did something like this where acts swapped from side to side, but imo it looks very strange and I don’t see it happening.

[nathanh]

21 minutes ago, On The Blend said:

I think Hellfest did something like this where acts swapped from side to side, but imo it looks very strange and I don’t see it happening.

Yeah whilst something like this is possible it looks awful and I'm not convinced how well you would be able to view the other stage from standing in front of the other.

[Will b]

BLINK-182 - Yungblud - Lil Yachty

OLIVIA RODERIGO - Boygenius - The Vaccines 

New tent: Pinkpanthress

 

TRAVIS SCOTT -Two Door Cinema Club - Ice Spice 

FRED AGAIN - Aitch - Anne Marie 

New tent: Soft play 

 

MUSE - Jamie T - Headie One 

ROYAL BLOOD - The Wombats - Tom Grennan 

New tent: Beabadoobee 

[swede]

14 hours ago, Benj said:

The simplest bet would be to go back to the old format

2 BIG headliners and a day with two MSW types co headling

AJ Tracey, Wolf Alice types in the tent?

 

Main - Blink - Post Malone - Rodrigo/ QOTSA (co-head)

Tent - AJ Tracey - Wolf Alice - Bicep

(not a prediction just rough sizes)

I think the main problem would be filling the undercard.  They could perhaps book 1-2 less a day give more established acts longer slots.

Seems daft having Don Broco play 35 mins when they could do a crowd pleasing hour. They will obv be subs in the tent in the great new (old) world mind

Wolf alice are headlining outright on the next album, they wont be playing tents. 

[gblock]

2 hours ago, On The Blend said:

I think Hellfest did something like this where acts swapped from side to side, but imo it looks very strange and I don’t see it happening.

Also there’s no ped barriers to ensure any sort of crowd control in that setup, compared to the extensive barrier system in place now. I don’t think that would be viable for Reading/Leeds

[Andre91]

I started making a fake poster for the first time in bloody YEARS (I was never any good at it, I’m still not) and I was doing it for one Main Stage and an NME/R1 stage when I got the idea of creating a new stage that combines the 1Xtra and Dance stages seeing how those two tents’ type of music is way more widespread over the whole festival now and I got thinking that maybe they could do that and keep the two Main Stages, whilst also bringing back the big tent. However, I don’t think there’s enough big acts to go around. 
 

Anyhow, I couldn’t be arsed to start again so here’s my 2024 lineup, reverting back to one Main Stage, bringing the NME/R1 tent back, the FR stage and the stage I’ve named the Radio 1 Sound Stage that combines the Dance and 1Xtra into one mainstream focused stage: 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Andre91

[nathanh]

7 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

I started making a fake poster for the first time in bloody YEARS (I was never any good at it, I’m still not) and I was doing it for one Main Stage and an NME/R1 stage when I got the idea of creating a new stage that combines the 1Xtra and Dance stages seeing how those two tents’ type of music is way more widespread over the whole festival now and I got thinking that maybe they could do that and keep the two Main Stages, whilst also bringing back the big tent.
 

Anyhow, I couldn’t be arsed to start again so here’s my 2024 lineup, reverting back to one Main Stage, bringing the NME/R1 tent back, the FR stage and the stage I’ve named the Radio 1 Sounds Stage that combines the Dance and 1Xtra into one mainstream focused stage: 

Wait you might be on to something with this, i like this idea of the BBC Sounds Stage

[Benj]

58 minutes ago, swede said:

Wolf alice are headlining outright on the next album, they wont be playing tents. 

Dunno, think they may have peaked popularity wise and I say this as a supposedly top .05% of their listeners on Spotify.

Will need some big songs to make the leap on the next LP. 

I can see them maybe subbing a headliner in the pre 21 format, which is probably a place high for a tent headliner, which seemed to be around 3rd from toppish 

[Benj]

53 minutes ago, gblock said:

Also there’s no ped barriers to ensure any sort of crowd control in that setup, compared to the extensive barrier system in place now. I don’t think that would be viable for Reading/Leeds

There’s simply not the space at Reading, the site drops significantly to the north of the Main stage and the railway is to the south

[Hart Attack]

• Blink-182
• My Chemical Romance
• Paramore
• Green Day
• Fall Out Boy
• Ghost
• Boygenius
• Enter Shikari
• Turnstile
• A Day To Remember
• Parkway Drive
• Spanish Love Songs
• Holding Absence
• Creeper
• Pale Waves
• Beabadoobee
• Chvrches
• Bob Vylan
• Nova Twins
• Malevolence
• Ice Nine Kills
• Maggie Lindemann
• Neck Deep
• The Story So Far
• State Champs
• Stand Atlantic
• Meet Me @ The Altar

Get a good amount of those in the mix and I could be persuaded to return.

[On The Blend]

12 minutes ago, Benj said:

Dunno, think they may have peaked popularity wise and I say this as a supposedly top .05% of their listeners on Spotify.

Will need some big songs to make the leap on the next LP. 

I can see them maybe subbing a headliner in the pre 21 format, which is probably a place high for a tent headliner, which seemed to be around 3rd from toppish 

Wolf Alice have that unfortunate Foals-always-the-bridesmaid energy (though I suppose Foals ‘headlined’ this year) 

Edited August 30, 2023 by On The Blend

[Andre91]

7 minutes ago, Hart Attack said:

• Blink-182
• My Chemical Romance
• Paramore
• Green Day
• Fall Out Boy
• Ghost
• Boygenius
• Enter Shikari
• Turnstile
• A Day To Remember
• Parkway Drive
• Spanish Love Songs
• Holding Absence
• Creeper
• Pale Waves
• Beabadoobee
• Chvrches
• Bob Vylan
• Nova Twins
• Malevolence
• Ice Nine Kills
• Maggie Lindemann
• Neck Deep
• The Story So Far
• State Champs
• Stand Atlantic
• Meet Me @ The Altar

Get a good amount of those in the mix and I could be persuaded to return.

I don’t think there’s any chance of the ones I’ve emboldened ever showing up. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Andre91

[Benj]

26 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

I started making a fake poster for the first time in bloody YEARS (I was never any good at it, I’m still not) and I was doing it for one Main Stage and an NME/R1 stage when I got the idea of creating a new stage that combines the 1Xtra and Dance stages seeing how those two tents’ type of music is way more widespread over the whole festival now and I got thinking that maybe they could do that and keep the two Main Stages, whilst also bringing back the big tent. However, I don’t think there’s enough big acts to go around. 
 

Anyhow, I couldn’t be arsed to start again so here’s my 2024 lineup, reverting back to one Main Stage, bringing the NME/R1 tent back, the FR stage and the stage I’ve named the Radio 1 Sound Stage that combines the Dance and 1Xtra into one mainstream focused stage: 

It already looks way stronger than what’s on offer now, with proper alternatives to see if you don’t like what’s up top. Deffo far stronger for a weekend goer.

Id swap Two door with Idles and Boy Genius with Wombats, although that’s probably just making it better for me rather than a stronger overall sell

[Dull Tools]

How the hell have the Wombats survived this long? Amazing out of all the 2000s bands they are one to hang on.

Also that Hellfest setup is how Reading used to be in the early days.

I think Kasabian as a sub headliner is a good shout. They won't be as expensive as they used to be but have name recognition to sell tickets.

I think the big dropoff this year was in rap and metal fans with no major draw for either of them.

I am not sure if the rap one was on purpose after all the trouble in 2022.

Any chance they get RATM back after they cancelled last year?

[FrogLobster]

1 hour ago, swede said:

Wolf alice are headlining outright on the next album, they wont be playing tents. 

Wolf Alice have yet to headline Wembley or o2 arena in London; largest they have done is Ally Pally. I think they'd have to get one of those safely sold out before being under consideration. Next album will need to have some pretty huge singles that the kids latch onto for them to get to that next step; especially when comparing their current size to all the 2023 headliners (IE: Capaldi and Fender shift arena tickets for a laugh, Imagine Dragons have even done a UK stadium, Killers are stadiums, Billie is one of biggest pop stars alive etc.).

(I say this as a huge fan and Blue Weekend being my AOTY of 2021)

Edited August 30, 2023 by FrogLobster

[FrogLobster]

1 minute ago, Dull Tools said:

Any chance they get RATM back after they cancelled last year?

Main booker has already said no.

[CG31]

Just now, Dull Tools said:

How the hell have the Wombats survived this long? Amazing out of all the 2000s bands they are one to hang on.

Also that Hellfest setup is how Reading used to be in the early days.

I think Kasabian as a sub headliner is a good shout. They won't be as expensive as they used to be but have name recognition to sell tickets.

I think the big dropoff this year was in rap and metal fans with no major draw for either of them.

I am not sure if the rap one was on purpose after all the trouble in 2022.

Any chance they get RATM back after they cancelled last year?

He mentioned Rage in his interview and said it’s not immediately on the agenda or something. Basically a no coz they’d be one off shows that they wouldn’t play

Wombats wise, they’ve all kinda held on, anyone with more than one big song has managed to stay popular. Two Door have the whole first album plus Sun, Are We Ready. And the wombats had a resurgence on Kill the Director, Greek Tragedy, LDTJD, Moving to New York. Every album they’ve released seems to somehow have a song everyone adores

[Benj]

1 minute ago, Dull Tools said:

How the hell have the Wombats survived this long? Amazing out of all the 2000s bands they are one to hang on.

Also that Hellfest setup is how Reading used to be in the early days.

I think Kasabian as a sub headliner is a good shout. They won't be as expensive as they used to be but have name recognition to sell tickets.

I think the big dropoff this year was in rap and metal fans with no major draw for either of them.

I am not sure if the rap one was on purpose after all the trouble in 2022.

Any chance they get RATM back after they cancelled last year?

Wombats aren’t reliant on a single LP like the rest. They’ve slowly added to their catalogue, with 1-2 good new songs each album cycle, while the rest blow up and fade away

They’re a good band the wombats, there I’ve said it! I like the wombats 

[Benj]

6 minutes ago, Dull Tools said:

 

I am not sure if the rap one was on purpose after all the trouble in 2022.

 

The big fear of booking Travis Scott. It’s basically his MO to call for such antics

[Andre91]

8 minutes ago, Dull Tools said:

How the hell have the Wombats survived this long? Amazing out of all the 2000s bands they are one to hang on.

It stuns me. In 2015 they were headlining the FR tent and now look at them! What happened between then and 2019/2020 for them to become as big as they are now? Nobody cared in the early part of the last decade. It’s mental.