This year's Reading and Leeds festivals have officially kicked off, with Travis Scott, Chappell Roan, Bring Me The Horizon and Hozier headlining. And that's not all, because Limp Bizkit, Enter Shikari, Amyl & The Sniffers and Pale Waves are also among the dozens of artists who'll be performing, so it's going to be a weekend full of excellent music.

The BBC will be bringing us live performances, highlights and more throughout the whole long weekend, so if you can't make it to either festival, you'll still be able to catch the action from the comfort of home through BBC iPlayer, BBC One, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing and BBC Sounds.

This guide will show you how to watch Reading and Leeds 2025, wherever you are, and whether you're watching on TV, streaming or listening online.

Save big on home entertainment with our pick of this year’s best Black Friday streaming deals.

How to watch Reading & Leeds in the UK

• UK coverage - free on BBC iPlayer

The BBC has been the home of the Reading & Leeds festivals since the late 1990's.

The broadcaster will be showing performances from the Main Stage, Chevron Stage and the BBC Introducing Stage - the latter featuring a host of up and coming stars. Some of the artists who have appeared on the Introducing Stage include The 1975 and Ed Sheeran.

Coverage of the festival will be on the BBC iPlayer, BBC One, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing and BBC Sounds.

How to watch Reading & Leeds outside the UK

• Watch from anywhere outside the UK: Nord VPN for only $3.09 per month

With so much going on around the Reading and Leeds, there's a good chance you might miss some of it if you're on holiday. In that case, you can use a VPN service such as NordVPN, our current top pick, instead, so you can still get your festival fix.

It’s not a difficult process and you can get up and running in minutes – and right now it's available with 72% off the normal price - and there's a 30-day money-back guarantee. As an added bonus, you can also grab an Amazon gift card if you sign up to one of NordVPN's two-year packages.

How to use a VPN

1. Install a VPN. As we've mentioned above, Nord VPN is Louder's favourite.

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN. If you're currently outside the UK on holiday and want to watch the BBC's Reading and Leeds coverage, just select 'UK' from the list.

3. Turn the volume up and relax. Sign in to your iPlayer account and you're all set to watch the weekend's action from around the festival site.

Reading & Leeds 2025: Where to start

The BBC iPlayer will be the main place to watch artists across the long weekend, with the BBC launching the Reading & Leeds iPlayer Channel which is being presented from Reading by Jack Saunders and Sian Eleri.

The coverage will start at 2pm BST on August 22, 23 & 24 and will focus on highlights from the Main Stage and Chevron Stage along with special guests

The BBC add: "Performances and highlight tracks will be available on-demand via iPlayer for 30 days following the festival, while a special compilation featuring standout moments from across the weekend will be available to stream for 12 months."

In addition, it's been revealed that across the weekend, BBC One will broadcast three main shows that'll feature the headline sets from Chappell Roan and Bring Me The Horizon.

Chappell Roan's set will be broadcast on Friday, August 22 at 10.40pm, while Bring Me The Horizon's performance will be shown at 11.55pm on Saturday, August 23.

While the BBC won't be covering all artists, they're still showing a huge amount of onstage action so you should be able to pick and choose from a selection of sets to watch at your leisure.

Artists & Stage Times

READING FESTIVAL

Thursday, August 21

Chevron Stage
9.15pm: Cam Smith
10.45pm: Jack Marlow
12.15am: Charlie Tee
1.45am: DJ Battle

Friday, August 22

Main Stage
12noon: Red Rum Club
12.50pm: Alessi Rose
1.45pm: The Royston Club
2.45pm: Bloc Party
4.10pm: Wallows
5.20pm: The Kooks
7.10pm: Chappell Roan
9.40pm Hozier

Chevron Stage
12.25pm: Good Health Good Wealth
1pm: Charlotte Plank
1.50pm: Badger
2.45pm: Nemzzz
3.50pm: Still Woozy
4.55pm: Soft Play
6.10pm Rudim3ntal
8:40pm: AJ Tracey
11:30pm: C100
1am: Badger
2am: DJ Battle

Saturday, August 23

Main Stage
12pm: VOILÁ
12:50pm: Lambrini Girls
1:45pm: South Arcade
2:45pm: Good Neighbours
3:55pm: Royal Otis
5:10pm: Conan Gray
6:30pm: Enter Shikari
7:55pm: Limp Bizkit
9:50pm: Bring Me The Horizon

Chevron Stage
12pm: James And The Cold Gun
12:45pm: Blanco
1:30pm: Issey Cross
2:15pm: Pozer
3:05pm: Example
4:15pm: Pale Waves
5:30pm: Bakar
6:35pm: Wunderhorse
7:35pm: Jazzy
8:50pm: Becky Hill
1am: Jeremiah Asiamah
2am: DJ Battle

Sunday, August 24

Main Stage
12:50pm: Demae
1:40pm: Songer
2:30pm: Waterparks
3:25pm: Sea Girls
4:20pm: Suki Waterhouse
5:30pm: Amyl & The Sniffers
6:45pm: Trippie Redd
8:05pm: D-Block Europe
9:50pm: Travis Scott

Chevron Stage
12pm: Lyvia
1:35pm: Late Night Drive Home
2:45pm: Del Water Gap
3:20pm: Leigh-Anne
4:30pm: Girl’s Don’t Sync
5:45pm: Lancey Foux
7pm: DJ EZ
8:40pm: Sammy Virji
11:30pm: BL3SS
1am: Millie Cotton
2am: DJ Battle

*All times BST

LEEDS FESTIVAL

Friday, August 22

Main Stage
12.20pm: Demae
1.10pm: Songer
2pm: Waterparks
2.55pm: Sea Girls
3.30pm: Suki Waterhouse
5pm: Amyl & The Sniffers
6.15pm: Trippie Redd
7.35pm: D-Block Europe
9.20pm: Travis Scott

Chevron Stage
12pm: Lyvia
1.30pm: Late Night Drive Home
2.20pm: Del Water Gap
3.15pm: Leigh-Anne
4.25pm: Girls Don't Sync
5.35pm: Lancey Foux
6.45pm: DJ EZ
8.10pm: Sammy Virji
11pm: BL3SS
12.30am: Millie Cotton
1.45am: DJ Battle

Saturday, August 23

Main stage

12pm: Red Rum Club
12.40pm: Alessi Rose
1.30pm: The Royston Club
2.25pm: Bloc Party
3.50pm: Wallows
4.55pm: The Kooks
6.40pm: Chappell Roan
9.10pm: Hozier

Chevron Stage

12pm: Good Health Good Weath
12.35pm: Charlotte Plank
1.25pm: Badger
2.15pm: Nemzzz
3.20pm: Still Woozy
4.25pm: Soft Play
5.40pm: Rudim3ntal
8.10pm: AJ Tracey
12.30pm: C100
1.45am: DJ Battle

Sunday, August 24

Main Stage

12pm: Voila
12.45pm: Lambrini Girls
1.35pm: South Arcade
2.25pm: Good neighbours
3.25pm: Royal Otis
4.40pm: Conan Gray
6pm: Enter Shikari
7.25pm: Limp Bizkit
9.20pm: Bring Me The Horizon

Chevron Stage

12pm: James And The Cold Gun
12.35pm: Blanco
1.15pm: Issey Cross
1.55pm: Pozer
2.45pm: Example
4.05pm: Pale Waves
5.10pm: Bakar
6.15pm: Wunderhorse
7.10pm: Jazzy
8.20pm: Becky Hill
12.30am: Jeremiah Asiamah
2am: DJ Battle

Reading & Leeds app

The official Reading and Leeds app is available to download via Apple iOS or Android. While the app has been set up primarily for those attending the festival, music fans watching from home will also find things to enjoy.

There's a handy line-up chart showing artists and stage times so you can plan out your Reading and Leeds experience, artist bios, a Spotify connect feature so you can discover more of the artists playing at the 2025 festival, links to social media, the chance to purchase merch, playlists and more.

Reading and Leeds Festival tickets

If you’re looking for last-minute tickets for the Reading and Leeds Festivals, there are still some available via Ticketmaster, but you’ll have to be quick.

Reading Festival Tickets
Weekend Ticket: SOLD OUT
Friday Day Ticket: SOLD OUT
Saturday Day Ticket: £125
Sunday Day Ticket: £125

Leeds Festival Tickets
Weekend Ticket: £340
Friday Day Ticket: £125
Saturday Day Ticket: £125
Sunday Day Ticket: £125

Reading and Leeds Weather

If you manage to secure a ticket for either festival, the forecasts for both Reading and Leeds are looking positive.

For Reading, the MetOffice say Thursday will be dry but breezy with some light showers, but the rest of the weekend should be warm and dry.

As for the Leeds Festival, they report that the majority of the site should remain dry on Thursday, while "lighter winds and warmer temperatures look likely to enhance the experience for campers and day visitors alike" over the rest of the weekend.

How to rewatch previous Reading and Leeds festival

If you want to relive the music and memories of Reading and Leeds festivals from previous years, the BBC iPlayer has you covered, with dedicated festival channels covering rock & indie, rap & hip hop, pop classics and the best on Reading 2022, 2023 and 2024.

The iPlayer is also home to Reading And Leeds Reloaded, featuring sets by artists including Metallica from 2015 and Foo Fighters from 2019.

Reading and Leeds 2025 have added over 25 new additions to this year's lineups, and they're spearheaded by none other than nu metal legends Limp Bizkit. Jacksonville's finest will play the Saturday of Reading and the Sunday of Leeds, playing directly before Sheffield metalcore juggernauts Bring Me The Horizon.

Bizkit are joined on the Reading and Leeds bills by British rap collective D-Block Europe, alongside the likes of House Of Protection, Heartworms, Snayx and more.

“Reading & Leeds really has something for everyone this year," says Managing Director of Festival Republic, Melvin Benn. "The response to the line up so far has been incredible, and today’s additions bring so much to the table. We’ve seen first-hand what Limp Bizkit and D-Block Europe can do in front of these crowds - they will not disappoint - and beyond that you’ll find countless artists making a name for themselves this summer.

"2025 already feels like the start of a bold new era for Reading & Leeds," Benn concludes, "and a positive shift in UK festival culture. This line up and everything we’re introducing to the festival experience will define the years to come.”

Today's new announcements join headliners Bring Me, Travis Scott, Hozier and Chappelle Roan alongside Enter Shikari, Amyl And The Sniffers, Bloc Party, The Chats, High Vis and many, many more. Reading and Leeds Festivals 2025 take place August 21-24 at Richfield Avenue (Reading) and Bramham Park (Leeds). Tickets are on sale now from the official Reading and Leeds websties.

See the full list of new bands added below.

AViVa
Badger
Bakar
Balu Brigada
Been Stellar
Ecca Vandal
Example
Glixen
Good Health Good Wealth
Good Neighbours
Heartworms
House of Protection
Jasmine.4.t
Jazzy
Matilda Mann
Mouth Culture
Nell Mescal
Nemzzz
Origami Angel
Pozer
Red Rum Club
Rifle
Snayx
The Royston Club
VLURE
VOILÀ

Bring Me The Horizon have been announced among the headlining artists for next summer's Reading and Leeds festivals. They will play Reading festival on Saturday, August 23, and close the Leeds event on Sunday, August 24.

The Sheffield metalcore crew previously co-headlined the weekender in 2022.

Frontmn Oli Sykes says "We are beyond excited to be returning to Reading & Leeds for our first fully fledged headline slot. We are going to bring hands down the greatest show of our careers. It’s going to be our only UK performance next year and the final European show of the NEX GEN campaign before the band take time away, so if you want to see BMTH next year, this truly is your only chance. Can’t wait."

Oli Sykes' band will join first time headliners Hozier and Chappell Roan plus US hip-hop superstar Travis Scott as the four headliners on a stacked bill at the long-running festivals, which are scheduled to be held, as ever, over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Other acts announced tonight, December 5, by BBC Radio 1 DJ Jack Saunders include Enter Shikari, Amyl & The Sniffers, Soft Play, The Chats, The Linda Lindas, AJ Tracey, Lambrini Girls, High Vis, Mannequin Pussy, The Kooks, Wunderhorse, Bloc Party, Pale Waves and Courtney Love favourite Sofia Isella.

General tickets for the weekenders will go on sale at noon on Monday, December 9, with various pre-sales scheduled for the coming days.

You can secure your weekend ticket with a first instalment of £46.50 then pay nothing until Feb 1.

Go here for full details.

Reviewing Bring Me The Horizon on their UK arena tour in January, Metal Hammer's Emily Swingle wrote, "Change is good - and bold transformation is exactly what has allowed the metalcore collective to stay relevant over the years. Bring Me are going from strength to strength, with absolutely zero sign of slowing down any time soon."

The John Hackett Band and local boy John Mitchell head up the first of a new quarterly prog evening in Reading that starts this Saturday at The Butler Music venue.

The First Night Of The Progs evening is the opening night of the somewhat confusingly titled Last Night Of The Progs, a new venture from Anne-Claire Rallo, founder member of Nine Skies, founder of Bad Dog Promotions PR and the creative force behind new prog outfit Frant1c.

"We are thrilled to announce the launch of Last Night of the Progs, our inaugural quarterly prog rock night at The Butler, one of Reading’s premier music venues," says Rallo. "Our aim is to showcase the most exciting and innovative prog rock bands from the UK circuit, creating a vibrant community for all lovers of the genre.

"Join us for an unforgettable night filled with exceptional music and a stunning lineup that you won't want to miss. We can't wait to see you there!"

As well as The John Hackett Band and John Mitchell, performing an acoustic set, chill-out prog rockers Hoopy Frood are also on the bill. Tickets are £15 in advance and £18 on the door, with doors opening at 7pm.

Get tickets.

Fever 333 have released two new singles, Murderer and Nosebleeds.

The twin tracks, which were put out yesterday (September 19), are both taken from the rap metal group’s upcoming album Darker White. Watch the music video for Murderer and listen to Nosebleeds via the players below.

Of Murderer, frontman Jason Aalon Butler comments, “The lyrics to Murderer draw attention to the thousands of innocent Palestinian people being killed every day. It is a call for support and reaction to the current situation happening there.”

Butler formed Fever 333 with guitarist Stephen Harrison (ex-The Chariot) and drummer Aric Improta (Night Verses) in 2017, following the breakup of his prior band Letlive. They released their debut album, Strength In Numb333rs, in January 2019 to positive reviews.

In 2022, it was announced that both Harrison and Improta had left the band, leaving Butler as the sole member. The pair later regrouped in House Of Protection. Butler rebuilt Fever 333 last year, amassing a new lineup with Brandon Davis (guitars), April Kae (bass) and former The Mars Volta member Thomas Pridgen (drums).

Darker White will be released on October 4 via Century Media and 333 Wreckords Crew. In the new issue of Metal Hammer, journalist Stephen Hill gives the album a mixed review and awards it a 6/10 score. “Stylistically, the core Fever 333 sound remains,” he writes. “There are still thumping, rudimentary groove metal riffs, along with slick production and Jason’s socio-political rhetoric delivered in a variety of raps, screams and soulful croons. But here the likes of Higher Power and Desert Rap sound like totally unremarkable, elementary rap-rock tunes.”

Fever 333 will embark on a world tour to promote Darker White from October to December. See dates below.

Fever 333 2024 tour dates:

Oct 17: Los Angeles 1720, CA
Oct 18: Garden Grove Amp, CA
Oct 19: Mesa Nile, AZ
Oct 21: Salt Lake City Soundwell, UT
Oct 22: Denver Bluebird, CO
Oct 24: Austin Mohawk, TX
Oct 25: Dallas Trees, TX
Oct 27: St Louis Delmar Hall, MO
Oct 29: Milwaukee Vivarium, WI
Oct 30: Chicago Outset, IL
Oct 31: Detroit Shelter, MI
Nov 01: Cleveland The Roxy, OH
Nov 02: Indianapolis HI-FI, IN
Nov 04: Boston The Sinclair, MA
Nov 06: Philadelphia The Church, PA
Nov 07: Washington DC Union Stage
Nov 08: Brooklyn The Monarch, NY

Nov 14: Amsterdam Melkweg Max, Netherlands
Nov 15: MunsterSkaters Palace, Germany
Nov 16: Hamburg Fabrik, Germany
Nov 17: Berlin Astra, Germany
Nov 19: Leipzig Felsenkeller, Germany
Nov 20: Prague Roxy, Czech Republic
Nov 21: Munich Backstage Werk, Germany
Nov 23: Vienna Simm City, Austria
Nov 24: Zurich Komplex 457, Switzerland
Nov 26: Cologne Carlswerk Victoria, Germany
Nov 27: Paris Bataclan, France
Nov 29: Antwerp Trix, Belgium
Nov 30: Manchester New Century Hall, UK
Dec 01: Glasgow Garage, UK
Dec 03: Birmingham XOYO, UK
Dec 05: Bristol Marble Factory, UK
Dec 06: London Electric Brixton, UK

Welsh proggers Magenta will headline the new look Highway Festival Of Progressive Rock, formerly Highway To Hull, which has moved from Hull on the country's east coast to Leeds in West Yorkshire, and will take place at Eiger Studios on September 21. You can watch a short video trailer for the event below.

Magenta, for whom the event is their only Northern date in 2024, are joined on the bill by Stuckfish, Simon Godfrey (ex-Tinyfish), This Winter Machine and Candacraig, and a short acoustic set from Paul Brunton from the Prog Exploration Plus Facebook group will open the proceedings.

"The decision to relocate was made because Leeds is easier to get to, and the venue is a short taxi ride from the centre (about 5 mins, or 1 mile)," the organisers explain.  "Parking is also much better. It's a non-residential area with plenty of room directly outside for parking, and easy roadside access to the ground-level venue. There are no stairs, so no restrictions for people with limited mobility."

Doors will open at 1pm on the day with the first act on stage at 2pm.

Get tickets.

In 1970 The Who recorded one of the greatest live albums of all time, Live At Leeds. 36 years later, as the band prepared to headline the Wireless Festival at nearby Harewood House, they returned to the scene of their original triumph, at Leeds University Refectory, to play again. Classic Rock was there. 

Had it not been for some faulty recording equipment being used by The Who on the night of February 15, 1970, The Who’s Live At Leeds album would have been titled Live At Hull. The Leeds University refectory would have gone back to merely serving dinners to hungry students instead of attracting the likes of Thin Lizzy, Lynyrd Skynyrd and AC/DC and Hull’s rock’n’roll reputation would probably stretch a bit further than Mick Ronson and Rich Rags. 

Instead, the gig taped at Leeds the previous night became one of the greatest concert recordings of all time: a no-holds-barred heavy rock live album, from – ironically – the Kings of the Mods. 

Consider this: the very day before The Who played Leeds, a little-known Brummie outfit called Black Sabbath released their first album on an unsuspecting world; Queen and Styx were just forming. It was officially A Long Time Ago. 

So long ago, in fact, that the occasion is now deemed worthy of a blue Civic Trust plaque, which Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have proudly seen unveiled this afternoon. When first arranging their attendance at the plaque ceremony, broadcaster Andy Kershaw (a former Leeds University entertainments secretary) had a brainwave. 

“By sheer coincidence, just weeks after speaking to Professor Arthur in Leeds about their plans, I met the band’s manager, Bill Curbishley, backstage at WOMAD,” Andy said. “I told Bill I thought it would be great if we got some members of the band to unveil the plaque. Then I said, ‘And while they’re there…’ Bill finished my sentence. ‘They’ll do it’, he said. And so the idea of a concert began.” 

With the band deciding on a world tour in 2006, everything fell into place. What better place to start the tour than the venue which cemented The Who’s reputation as the best live rock band of their time?” 

So it is that 2,000 Who fanatics, many here 36 years ago, are crammed into this sweatbox on one of the muggiest nights of the year. The steam is rising from the crowd and moisture is dripping down the walls but there are no concessions to age – either in the audience or on stage (Daltrey is 62, Townshend 61) – as the show begins with a ruthless winklepicker to the temple in the shape of Who Are You. 

Wisely resisting the nostalgic temptation to revive the original Live At Leeds setlist, The Who instead plump for their greatest hits. And what hits they are: Can’t Explain, The Seeker, Substitute and Baba O’Riley thunder through this low, narrow venue, and it becomes apparent just how powerful The Who are – a further echo of their 1970 show here, after which they unfurled their wings and soared across America, becoming a bona fide rock beast to rival Led Zeppelin in the process. 

Songs from their forthcoming “mini rock opera” (yes, again) Wire And Glass are previewed. Most of the audience haven’t heard them, and this isn’t really the atmosphere for a cerebral consideration of lyrical twists and musical complexity. 

Highlights from Tommy resume normal service, and a monstrous Won’t Get Fooled Again brings down the curtain on a night that was imbued with an intoxicating sense of occasion. 

As Daltrey, Townshend and their band – Pino Palladino on bass, Zak Starkey on drums, John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick on keyboards and Pete’s brother Simon on guitar – soak up the applause, you can almost hear a burst of mischievous laughter from the back of the hall. 

You get the feeling Keith Moon and John Entwistle would have approved.

Reading & Leeds festival has announced more names for its lineup for 2024.

The three-day weekender’s headliners have already been confirmed as Blink-182, Fred Again…, Lana Del Rey, Liam Gallagher, Catfish And The Bottlemen and Gerry Cinnamon.

Also appearing across the weekend will be Spiritbox, The Prodigy, Denzel Curry, 21 Savage, Pendulum, Skrillex, Loathe, Fontaines D.C., The Amity Affliction and more.

The festival’s new poster, featuring every newly announced name, is available below.

Reading & Leeds is an annual two-site weekender, which this year will take place at Little John’s Farm, central Reading, and Bramham Park, Leeds, from August 23 to August 25. Weekend and day tickets for both sites are available now.

The festival comments on social media: “Okay no more waiting 🤩 Your Reading & Leeds 2024 poster is HERE!

“6 INCREDIBLE headliners, an insane lineup to match and some new & exciting changes too 👀 🔥

“If you’re not in the fields with us this year you are MISSING OUT!”

Blink-182 will play the festival as part of their ongoing tour to promote new album One More Time…. The album marked the first time the pop-punks’ classic lineup of singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge, singer/bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker recorded together since 2011’s Neighborhoods.

Louder attended Blink-182’s concert at the O2 Arena, London, in October 2023.

Journalist Merlin Alderslade called the night “silly, puerile, epic, cathartic and, on more than one occasion, surprisingly emotional” in his four-star review.

“Hoppus, DeLonge and the ever-impressive Travis Barker are all on peak form,” Alderslade wrote.

“DeLonge's iconic yowls are in much better shape than during his last run with the band, his trademark harmonising with Hoppus rolling back the years as Barker batters the hell out of the kit behind them like a man possessed.”

Reading & Leeds 2023 was headlined by Sam Fender, Foals, The Killers, Lewis Capaldi, Billie Eilish and Imagine Dragons.

Fancy attending Download, Glastonbury, Reading/Leeds, ArcTanGent, 2000 Trees , Latitude or Bearded Theory festival for free this summer? You can do so if you volunteer to work at the festivals for Oxfam, taking on stewarding, campaigning, or shop volunteer duties for the charity.

Applications to volunteer for summer 2024 festivals - which also include Boardmasters, Boomtown, Isle Of Wight and more - are invited from tomorrow, February 1, on the Oxfam website. The charity is looking for 8,500 volunteers for what it describes as its “biggest summer of festivals yet.”

You’ll also get all the training you need, crew camping, a meal voucher for every shift, hot showers, free tea and coffee, and phone charging.

The charity says: “Oxfam Festival volunteering is a fantastic way to attend your favorite festivals, see some amazing acts, make new friends all whilst supporting Oxfam's work to end extreme poverty around the world.

“You can choose to be a steward providing directions to the festival-going public, checking wristbands, or patrolling campsites and arenas. A campaigner engaging with the public about Oxfam’s work or volunteering in one of our shops providing festival-goers with the latest fashions donated by our amazing supporters.

“You are supporting the festival with the smooth running of the event. In return for providing volunteers to a festival, Oxfam receives funds which help us in our work fighting against poverty.”

The full details are here. Please note that some of the volunteer roles are allocated on a first come, first served basis, while others involve a selection process.

After a stint of huge festival sets and arena support slots this past summer, Loathe are thrumming with excitement over the prospect of a no barrier show. Tonight, the heavy metalgaze quartet are set to perform to a packed-out crowd in The Warehouse - and fans are in for a treat, it’s not often that the group’s immense, awe-striking soundscapes are able to unravel within such an intimate space these days. But, most importantly, it’s an evening with a purpose. 

The sold-out show is to be the first of many upcoming gigs raising funds for beloved local venue Boom Leeds, currently under threat of closure. “We always want to support grassroot venues, and Boom’s history within hardcore music is so important,” guitarist and vocalist Erik Bickerstaffe explains ahead of the band's set. “Boom is such a communal place for musicians,” frontman Kadeem France adds. “Those spaces are so vital. Like, the practice room we used when we were 16 is just an accommodation block now but we met so many people in that space. So many bands wouldn’t exist without communal spaces.”

Downstairs, fans have eagerly crammed themselves inside the venue. With the clock ticking, Loathe make their final preparations - and the energy, the anticipation, is electric. By the time the quartet make their grand entrance, the operatic might of Giacomo Puccini’s Nessun Dorma sounds out over the venue speakers. They’re met with a a hero's welcome - one they soak up avidly. But the grandeur quickly descends into the chaos of Gored, and the floodgates are opened.

Fans are immediately in motion, throwing themselves around in sync with the sharp bite of Gored's hectic instrumentals. New Faces In The Dark and Banshee welcome in the first waves of stagedivers - with no barrier in sight, nobody can resist taking a punt.

As the crowd swarms and swirls, Kadeem looks entranced. Lost in the bittersweet ebb-and-flow of harsh riffs and weightless keys, the frontman floats, feather-light, as the mania unfolds - all before crashing back down to Earth with a guttural growl, blastbeats rumbling through the venue floor as he commands the crowd to mosh even harder.

“We can’t stress the importance of supporting DIY spaces like Boom," the singer takes a moment to emphasise. "Without them, there wouldn’t be the community. Keep the love."

In the spirit of celebrating the heavy community, Loathe welcome out a few guests. Dance On My Skin sees Modern Error’s Zak Pinchin growling along for the climactic finale, while Broken Vision Rhythm sees vocalist Harry Rule unleashing carnage, feral after lying dormant since God Complex’s final show last April. The final feature comes in the form of Static Dress’ Olli Appleyard for Heavy Is The Head…, Kadeem and Olli working together in perfect harmony.

As the evening slowly nears the end, Loathe knock out the heavy hitters in the form of two of their most poignant, gloriously gorgeous tunes. Is It Really You? is transcendental, Erik’s soft vocals practically heaven-sent as they ooze out over the crowd. Closer Two-Way Mirror serves as the final burst of instrumental prowess, the gentle crush of rich shoegaze the perfect send-off. As the band finally trundle off stage, the crowd revels in the afterglow. Loathe’s sound captures something timeless, and it’s clear that The Warehouse was truly blessed tonight.

Reading and Leeds festivals have officially unveiled their first lineup announcement for 2024, and it includes some major rock and indie heavyweights, an enigmatic alt pop star, some pop punk legends and one of the world's fastest-rising electronic producers.

Headlining both festivals, which have shifted to a 'double-headliner' set-up for each day over recent years, will be Blink-182, Fred Again, Lana Del Rey, Catfish And The Bottlemen, Gerry Cinnamon and Liam Gallagher, who will be performing Oasis' landmark debut album Definitely Maybe in full to celebrate the record's 30th anniversary.

“Reading and Leeds. Last time was absolutely fucking bananas," says Cinnamon, who last played in 2021. "Was first gig straight out of lockdown, heavy emotional. Headlining now so we’ll take it up another level again. Buzzing to be back. See you there.” 

Also confirmed for next year's lineup are modern metalcore starlets Spiritbox, who will be commanding an impressive main stage slot for their Reading and Leeds debut, alongside EDM mainstay Skrillex, singer-songwriter Raye and British rapper Digga D.

“We are thrilled to announce the first wave of artists for Reading & Leeds 2024," says Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festival Republic. "I am very proud that the biggest artists in the world choose to play Reading & Leeds and to have three incredible UK festival exclusives – the electrifying Fred Again.., a true generational talent Lana Del Rey and the legendary Blink-182. The iconic Liam Gallagher will return to play an all-time classic album Definitely Maybe which will be a special moment indeed. We pride ourselves on nurturing artists from the early stages in their career, so to see acts like Catfish And The Bottlemen rising through the festival to headline for the second time is very rewarding. 2023 was a hugely successful year for attendance and sensational audience feedback, and we are eager to build upon this success even further at the UK's biggest and best music festival.”

Reading and Leeds Festivals 2024 take place from August 21-25 at Richfield Avenue (Reading) and Bramham Park (Leeds). Tickets for both festivals will go on sale Thursday November 30 at 8.30am British Time from www.readingfestival.com and www.leedsfestival.com.

It can be quite the trip scrolling through old Reading line-up posters. Where else would you be able to envisage Sleater-Kinney sharing a stage with Toploader (1998), or Coldplay playing before Toploader (1999) or, well, just Toploader. Then there’s quirks like seeing Queens Of The Stone Age playing before The Wanndies (2000), or Biffy Clyro first on the bill.

That’s not the half of it though. If you dig through some of the posters over at Reading’s official website, there’s a very strange recurring theme from the late 90s and over the next decade. It’s that most years, a Chelsea player crops up on the bill. 

Here's one of the earliest festival appearances from a Blues player, as former Juventus and Lazio striker Pierluigi Casiraghi pops up on the Reading 1999 bill between Peeps Into Fairyland and Quasi. Bet you didn’t get that in Serie A, did you Pierluigi?

Next up is Chelsea’s goalscoring machine Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, listed as JF Hasselbaink, skipping training to appear at Reading 2001 where he undoubtedly very excited to appear on the same stage as Gay Dad and Cooper Temple Clause:

It’s a goalkeeper’s turn in 2002 as Italian stopper Carlo Cudicini gets a go:

There follows a bit of a break for Chelsea players clogging up the line-up on Reading’s lower stages. Fair enough as they got annoyingly good at that point and started winning everything. But come 2006, they returned with a bang as star midfielder but rubbish manager Frank Lampard made his Reading debut:

A bit more of an exotic choice the next year, as Portuguese full-back Paulo Ferreira is summoned to Berkshire. Don't forget your wellies Paolo!

Any decent manager worth his cliches will tell you that football is a squad game, though, and it was time to give some of the lads who weren’t making the first XI on a regular basis a boost. Like this appearance in 2009 from Brazilian right-back Juliano Belletti:

Belletti was getting on a bit though – it was time to start getting some youngsters involved in this whole weird endeavour. Enter young French winger Gael Kakuta, sandwiched between US indie-rockers Funeral Party and experimentalist choir Gaggle. Good luck Gael!

It is with an appearance from kamikaze Brazilian defender David Luiz in 2011 that the run of Chelsea players cameoing on Reading posters draws to a close. If his playing style was anything to go by, someone needed to keep an eye on David, he was very likely to accidentally two-foot a water tap and inadvertently knock over a row of Portaloos:

It's here that the thread goes cold, with no official explanation as to why the hell Chelsea players kept appearing on Reading posters, with one mooted theory offering the simple explanation that the poster designer was a Chelsea fan. It’s a shame they never really got past the smaller stages though. Didier Drogba really could’ve got that Main Stage crowd going.

Anyone remember festival rumours? If you were of gig-going age at a time before smartphones, you probably heard a few yourself. Stories that the Queen had died, missing Manic Street Preachers' guitarist Richey Edwards had been found alive and a sinkhole had swallowed up the Green Futures tent used to sweep Glastonbury on a yearly basis, and news of Cliff Richard’s death was passed around Reading Festival on a couple of occasions by bored mischief makers. Having little access to official news outlets from the outside world, it took a good while for such apocrypha to be disproved.

As punters gathered for the annual Reading festival on the August Bank Holiday in 1992, the loudest and most urgent whisper doing the rounds was that Sunday night headliners Nirvana were in fact not going to appear. And it kind of made sense. Evidence that all was not entirely rosy in the grunge giants’ garden had been gathering for the previous six months or so. 

Music press stories alluding heavily to (if not explicitly revealing) Kurt Cobain’s heroin use and that of his pregnant new bride, Hole frontwoman Courtney Love provoked a steady stream of stories about collapses, emergency hospital visits (on both Kurt and Courtney’s parts) and fragile intra-band relations. 

An NME cover story days before the show had revealed a major source of tension to be the new Mrs Cobain herself. Kurt was, one inside told journalist Keith Cameron “A nice guy BC (before Courtney)”, while among other members of the Nirvana camp, he wrote, “she seems almost universally disliked”. 

Kurt felt bewildered by the negativity displayed towards the woman he loved, and that turned to blind rage when a profile on Courtney Love appeared in US Vanity Fair just two weeks before the Reading show. In an article by Lynn Herschberg whose intro asked if Kurt and Courtney were “the grunge John and Yoko or the next Sid and Nancy”, it quoted Courtney as casually mentioning that she used heroin at a time when she would have been several months pregnant with the couple’s daughter Frances Bean. 

Meanwhile, tensions had risen further due to Kurt renegotiating the songwriting royalties for the band. According to band biographer Michael Azerrad, the previously even split was changed to a 75% share for the frontman and main songwriter, with the arrangement applied retrospectively to include royalties from Nevermind. Ouch. 

So going into that Reading Show, the mood was tense. Drummer Dave Grohl later told The Scotsman, “I really thought, this will be a disaster, this will be the end of our career for sure. Kurt had been in and out of rehab, communication in the band was beginning to be strained. Kurt was living in LA, Krist [Novoselic] and I were in Seattle. People weren't even sure if we were going to show up. We rehearsed once, the night before, and it wasn't good.”

The weather did its worst to further dampen spirits with rain, flooded tents and mudbaths throughout the site. 

But when the time came for the headline act, they took a leaf out of James Brown’s showbiz manual. But whereas the Godfather of Soul had a regular trick where he would collapse and be escorted from the spotlight, seemingly exhausted, then burst free to start the next number, Kurt had something else up his sleeve. 

As the lights went down, a figure in a long blond wig was pushed onto the stage in a wheelchair, clad in a hospital gown. Krist Novoselic solemnly addressed the crowd. “I can’t… it’s too painful, it’s too painful… With the help of his friends and family, he's gonna make it."

The stricken Cobain (for it, obviously, was he) reached for the mic stand and tried to haul himself up. He began to croak out the opening lines of Bette Midler’s The Rose, a movie about a rock singer who died of a drug overdose. “Some say love, it is a river,” he crooned before he flopped theatrically onto his back the stage.

And sure enough, up he leapt and calmly picked up his guitar and launched into a splenetically brilliant Breed. 

The performance was somehow all the more surreal for the lone stage invader in clown make up – Antony Hodgkinson, the drummer from UK grungers Bivouac – who was dancing, Bez-like, without explanation in the middle of the stage.

Within a couple of songs the wig was dispensed of and the band played one of their best ever shows – which turned out to be their last ever in the UK.

Melody Maker journalist and friend of the band Everett True, who had been the one who wheeled Kurt onto stage that night, later recalled to Clash magazine that the wheelchair stunt “had been planned the previous night as a burn on those who’d been gossiping about Kurt and his wife [Courtney Love], who’d just given birth to Frances Bean: ‘Kurt’s in hospital, Kurt’s been arrested, Kurt’s OD’d, Courtney’s OD’d, the baby’s been born deformed…’”

Touche. 

Further ripostes to Nirvana’s perceived enemies followed. Before playing Smells Like Teen Spirit, the band picked out a few bars of Boston's More Than A Feeling, a middle finger to those who had pointed out that the song had a similarity to the riff of Nirvana’s breakout hit. 

Meanwhile, before new song All Apologies, he told the Reading crowd: “This song is dedicated to my 12-day-old daughter and my wife. There's been some pretty extreme things written about her and she thinks everybody hates her. This is being recorded, so could you say, ‘Courtney, we love you’ on the count of three?” 

The crowd did just that. Whether the rest of Nirvana’s crew and management joined in has, alas, gone undocumented. 

“It turned out to be a wonderful show,” said Grohl, “and it healed us for a little while.” They never played in the UK again. But those who were there that night could barely imagine how they would ever have topped it.

For the third time in the last four lineups, The 1975 are playing Reading and Leeds. The circumstance for this happening is far more complex than just lazy booking, with Rage Against The Machine pulling out at the last minute in 2022 and Lewis Capaldi, who The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy dedicates their set to tonight, taking a step back from performing after, quite rightly, deciding to prioritise his mental health this year. 

In that spirit, grumbles about seeing the Cheshire indie-pop crew on the bill once again seem slightly unfair. And, to The 1975’s credit, they haven’t just decided to turn up and plop out any old set to fill time; with it being a decade since they released their self-titled debut, an album that has gained classic status in the eyes of their adoring fanbase, they are playing it in its entirety this evening. So, hey: what’s not to like? 

Well, to many, Healy himself is the problem at the root of The 1975's place in music in 2023. It’s hard to think of a more divisive figure in popular music than young Matthew right now: he kisses people in the wrong place at the wrong time, he goes on podcasts and talks about pulling his willy to grotty things, he did a Nazi salute on stage (it might have been 'ironic', but he still did it!). All in all, he's perceived by many to be something of a wrong'un.

With all this information swilling round your brain, it’s quite odd to go and actually see Healy perform and witness, rather than the second coming of GG Allin, quite simply a very good songwriter with an unusual and slightly disheveled onstage demeanour. Healy pulls funny faces, swigs out of a wine bottle, huffs fags, staggers around and mumbles whatever has just entered into his head between each song throughout the show. But, crucially, he sings and plays said songs rather sweetly and earnestly. At one point he breaks a mic stand and pretends to be Freddie Mercury; it’s quite funny and clearly happens completely off the cuff. He feels like the exact intersection between Justin Bieber and Shane MacGowan; an engaging and charismatic, if slightly unconventional, pop star.

Yes, The 1975 are ultimately stood up playing stages like these because of the cult of Healy’s personality, but also because they are insanely talented songwriters. Ten years in, the tunes from their first album still sound brilliantly box-fresh and timeless; Chocolate, Girls, Robbers, all are greeted by screams and mass sing-a-longs. They’re classics at this point. And, with 40 minutes left to play after their run through the record, a mini greatest hits set chocked with Oh Caroline, If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know), It’s Not Living (If It’s Not with You) and more is a fantastic way to close and bring a joyous sense of euphoria to a packed field on a Saturday night. If The 1975 were booked again for 2024, you wouldn’t get many people here complaining. Low on controversy, high on massive tunes, this is exactly what you’d have hoped for.

The 1975 Reading Festival 2023 setlist

1. The City
2. M.O.N.E.Y.
3. Chocolate
4. Sex
5. Talk!
6. Heart Out
7. Settle Down
8. Robbers
9. Girls
10. She Way Out
11. Menswear
12. Pressure.
13. It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)
14. Happiness
15. I'm In Love With You
16. Oh Caroline
17. If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)
18. I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)
19. About You

Everyone knows the story: the Sex Pistols played Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall and future members of the Buzzcocks, Joy Division, The Smiths, The Fall (as well as TV presenter and soon-to-become Factory Records boss Tony Wilson) have their minds blown and set out changing the musical landscape. Manchester’s self-promotion and self-aggrandising has been shameless ever since.

Just 40 miles away, on the other side of the Yorkshire Moors, another musical awakening, arguably as influential, was taking place. The Sex Pistols played Leeds Poly in late 1976 and, as in Manchester, some of the audience went on to form influential bands like Gang Of Four and Delta 5. 

But the story isn’t as neat as that. The Leeds scene was inspired by punk but moved quickly beyond it to post-punk, goth, pop, shoegaze, industrial, second-wave street punk, rockabilly, jangling indie, pub rock, noise rock, grebo and electronic dance music. The music of Leeds might not have dominated the mainstream, but it did help define the independent music of the 80s and beyond.

It’s a story captured in a new boxset on Cherry Red: Where Were You?: Independent Music from Leeds 1978-89. Vivid and rightly incoherent, Where Were You? is the fetid essence of Dirty Old Leeds sprayed over 3 CDs and nearly 70 tracks. From the Mekons to Edsel Auctioneer, Soft Cell to Cud, Gang of Four to the Bridewell Taxis, The Sisters of Mercy to the Pale Saints, Scritti Politti to The Mission, Delta 5 to the Wedding Present and dozens of points in between, this compilation gives equal space to Leeds’ national treasures and its local heroes and also-rans. 

If there’s an argument to be made for the city’s world-shaking importance it’s in Leeds’ numerous post-Suicide adventures with drum machines. The bands that mashed their machines up with distorted guitars have perhaps had the greatest influence. It’s been said before: no Leeds, no Trent Reznor. 

We asked Where Were You?'s chief compiler Benoît Farvak – the long-serving guitarist in Salvation – and his right-hand man and éminence grise, Richard Rouska, maverick historian of Leeds music, about the boxset and the lasting impact of the Leeds scene.

In the histories of punk and post-punk, Leeds rarely gets a seat at the top table with Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow, even Coventry. Is this compilation definitive proof that the city has been short-changed?

Benoit Farvak: Totally! Musically, the city was always vastly underrated by the press. Leeds was often derided as ‘Goth City’ and by the mid-80’s ‘goth’ had become a swear word. But you only have to listen to a handful of tracks from the compilation to realise how diverse the musical landscape really was. This compilation should prompt a reappraisal of the musical heritage of the city.

Richard Rouska: Culturally, yes. Musically, probably not, to be fair. It was simply a problem of having arsey buggers who wouldn’t compromise in the name of a hit record and, thereby, national acclaim. Few would play the game! To be fair, Smash Hits were all over Soft Cell and Fad Gadget – who we couldn’t get on the comp – so we can’t complain. Whilst God created Manchester, according to Sarah Champion and John Robb, it was God’s wilful, troubled, feisty and wanton youngest daughter Fanny – all splendid in black – that created Leeds!

There does seem to be an increased interest in this era of the city and its music: two books on early Sisters of Mercy – one of them mine; Gavin Butt’s No Machos Or Pop Stars and accompanying CD The Art School Dance Goes On. Were you conscious of this pro-Leeds upsurge when assembling this collection?

BF: No, it came as a surprise. You wait for years, then three Leeds compilations come along at once. But to be fair, I think they complement each other quite well. There’s room for everyone and we hope there will be many more records and books about Leeds music. 

RR: Ahem, you missed one. For once in my life I was ahead of the curve. A couple of years ago I published a book covering Leeds music scene 1977-87 (‘It Ain't Peters & Lee’). It was the reason I was dragged in screaming to help with the track listing.

The Mekons – not one of them from Leeds – kick off this compilation. They are such a key band in the history of the Leeds music scene. Can you explain?

BF: They were more like a ‘collective’ and didn’t define themselves as a ‘band’ in the traditional sense. They contended that ‘anyone can do it’. And people did! They inspired a whole generation of Leeds musicians.

RR: How many artists on this comp can you name having been born in Leeds? It’s the same if you do a London compilation, which would probably feature 20% born in the city. Leeds was the home of these bands. It was where they formed, germinated and made merry.

Leeds seemed to skip orthodox punk and go straight into new wave and postpunk. That’s the impression the compilation gives: the first track is from late ’78.

BF: Historically it has often been said that the seminal moment was when the Sex Pistols played Leeds Poly in late 1976. Many who attended went on to form bands such as Delta 5 and Gang of Four. But this happened organically and very much in ‘DIY’ fashion. There was no financial backing or corporate structure at the time to help the nascent scene so no surprise it took a little while to develop.

RR: Insidious. Like primordial slime it took time to grow legs, eyes and a gob.

Why end in 1989?

BF: End of the decade and the start of the club/dance/DJ culture - which in itself could probably constitute a ‘Volume 2’!

RR: Utah Saints and beyond. 

Looming in the background of this compilation is the monumental figure of promoter John Keenan. Can you explain the importance of Keenan to the Leeds music scene of this era?

BF: John Keenan was a visionary and well ahead of his time. As a promoter, he championed the early Leeds bands by giving them support slots on the bigger gigs that he was putting on at the Poly, the F-Club and later on at The Duchess of York. And of course, he was also the man behind the legendary Futurama Festivals.

RR: A scene needs infrastructure. Bands need gigs. JFK solved that. 

Leeds never developed enough infrastructure, especially record labels, to become a musical powerhouse though.

RR: Plenty of bigmouths and bigshots but not enough hits. The money would’ve come and infrastructure with it but Leeds was a student city and most of its band members had been to the Uni and Poly so we’re not talking the kind of intellects who would stoop to making ice cream toons. Money didn’t call the shots in Leeds then.

All music scenes throw up various instances of ‘How the hell did they not make it big?!’ I vote for Music For Pleasure. They should have been Leeds’ Simple Minds! What are your picks?

BF: I’m fascinated by the early days of the scene. In my view, obscure bands such as The Neat, Shake Appeal and City Limits compare favourably with the likes of Buzzcocks or Altered Images and could easily have joined the ‘big league’. Why they didn’t is a mystery. Often it’s about that initial push, the promotion… And luck.

So much of this music seems to be from the Burley and Headingley areas of the city – then a very tightly packed mix of students and ‘bohemian’ locals? 

BF: There must have been something in the water. There was indeed a very high density of musicians in those areas with bands rehearsing in cellars on virtually every street.

RR: There was cheap student accommodation and most of the band members were students. A lot of music did come from these areas but it was rampant in most parts and suburbs.

There was a tight network of pubs and clubs and venues that sustained the Leeds music scene during this decade. What are the key ones for you?

RR: Haddon Hall. Poly & Uni. Astoria. Irish Centre.

BF: In terms of pubs, it was the Fenton pub in the early days, then the Faversham became the central hub and meeting place for punks, weirdos and alternative types – with the place divided into territories according to your musical allegiance… or your hairstyle! Club-wise, it was the Warehouse and the Phono that led the way with legendary nights and cutting-edge playlists.

Putting together a compilation like this can be legally and financially complicated. What slipped through the cracks; the tracks and artists that got away?

BF: We got pretty much everyone we wanted with only a few exceptions mainly due to labels refusing to license the material for some reason. So no major disappointments for me.

RR: Regrettably yes, he says unwisely. Chumbawamba, Fad Gadget, Parachute Men. Revolution by Chumbawamba kind of sums up the undercurrent of hostility towards a society, recognised clearly in Leeds, as failing the young, old and all in between. It was Thatcher’s Britain at the time, lest we not forget. The 80’s for Leeds was very much a ‘fuck you’ moment.

And Lo! On Disc 2, Leeds becomes Goth City. Three drum machine bands in a row at the start: The Sisters of Mercy, The March Violets and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. That sequencing proves that (so-called) goth could be brilliant.

BF: It was! Despite the stereotyping of goth bands as miserable, all sounding the same, singing about bats and coffins, it was anything but. The track by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry features an exquisite saxophone part. How goth is that? Goth was a natural progression from glam, punk, Nico, Joy Division. And it has proven durable with three major new books on the market by respected authors such as John Robb and Cathi Unsworth celebrating the scene.

RR: Andrew Eldritch discounts the notion that The Sisters were in fact a goth band. I think he has a point. Leeds was not Gotham city. We all just liked to wear black.

Even the later goth bands like Rose of Avalanche made good records – and were not at all po-faced. In fact, they were outrageously funny when I saw them live in Northampton in 1987.

BF: Exactly! Rose of Avalanche were more like a classic rock band and displayed a keen sense of humour. Had they been from another town, they would never have been tagged with the ‘goth’ label.

The history of Leeds music in this era could almost be told as a history of the drum machine: Pop, rock, industrial, dance…

RR: Yes and there’s so much evidence of it. Generally, a lot of leading lights on the scene liked control and drum machines and synths gave them that. And there was a plethora of bands including Coil, Possession, Sirius B and Andrew Hulme, who didn’t make it on here that were at the cutting edge of industrial. Although, The Cassandra Complex probably got there before anyone, including Nine Inch Nails.

Andrew Eldritch and the Sisters are obviously important in Leeds and wider musical history. Them and Gang of Four are the two Colossi on this compilation in my opinion.

RR: You could argue Soft Cell and Anni Hogan, if we’re talking number of hits and quantity of releases. Sisters did how many albums? Gang Of Four did how many good ones?

Towards the end of the compilation you can hear Leeds getting into samplers, sequencers and ecstasy – and keeping the guitars. That stuff has worn very well: Bazooka Joe and MDMA. 

RR: Which is good to hear. And the other bands peppered all around them? Having turned down both bands (for the Rouska label) and much as I love Jez Willis and Paul Fryer, I have absolutely no regrets. Both went on to much better things. Both deserve to be on here but there are other excellent bands you need to try out.

The proto-electronic dance tracks seem to have worn better than a lot of Leeds’ late 80s guitar rock. Honourable exceptions being the Pale Saints and Edsel Auctioneer. And Wasteland by The Mission! That sounds colossal and reeks of ambition...

BF: A huge band which alongside Soft Cell, Scritti Politti and others went mainstream with chart hits all over the world. Again, this is evidence of the appeal that many Leeds bands had and still have on the international scene. 

Is this a ‘warts and all’ compilation? Some bands aren’t captured at their peak. Ghost Dance had a run of early great EPs, but are represented by their Chrysalis dog days…

BF: Regrettably, Ghost Dance’s back catalogue has been somewhat neglected over the years with the rights to early material now difficult to obtain. We hope this is rectified soon, as we know many fans have been waiting for a definitive compilation of the early days.

RR: We got what we could get: you should’ve seen the draft list! But to be fair it’s as good as it gets and without pulling any punches. I’d give it 9/10 for content and as for being representative: 9.5/10. 

Certain characters seem to run through this compilation cropping up in various guises: Craig Adams, Brian Moss and Jose Warden, Len Liggins, Paul Dillon and Jez Willis, Jon Langford – not to mention Rouska. Who are the Leeds faces that stand out for you?

BF: Richard Rouska is a key figure here! A recognized authority on the Leeds musical movement with incredible knowledge of the origins of the scene. A promoter, musician, record label owner, he has since documented the scene in several books.

RR: I talk a good game, put my neck on the line and have remained faithful to the cause even though I had a rough ride during this period, but I’m not up there with many of the following who I do rate: Jon Langford, Keenan, Eldritch, Si Denbigh, Jez Willis, Rodney Orpheus, John Boocock, Chris Bishop, Kevin Lycett, Anni Hogan, Ian Cheek and James Brown, who put out the Leeds fanzine ‘Attack On Bzag’ and who later founded Loaded.

Pick your hidden gem track from the compilation. Mine is ‘Trip#67’ by Purple Eternal: fantastic noise rock that could have been recorded by Steve Albini and come out on Amphetamine Reptile.

BF: I’ll go with the sublime ‘Have You Seen Gene’ by Rouge.

RR: ‘Moscow Idaho’ by The Cassandra Complex and ‘Seeds In The Spoil’ by the Dustdevils.

 Where Were You? is out now on Cherry Red Records.

Looking at the Reading and Leeds festival lineups today, you couldn't imagine an artist like 50 Cent getting a rough reception. Nowadays, the festivals offer two of the most diverse lineups in the modern UK music scene, packing everything from rap heavyweights and pop icons to superstar DJs and pit-worthy rock and metal mainstays. 

In times gone by, however, it was quite a different story. Through the 80s and 90s, before its Northern cousin was introduced, Reading was considered a rock festival first and foremost. Sure, the likes of Cypress Hill, Ice-T, Björk, Underworld and The Chemical Brothers provided some memorable exceptions over the years, but for the most part, the festival's stages were overwhelmingly dominated by rock, punk, grunge and metal acts.

By the time of 2004, both Reading and the recently added Leeds were in the midst of a shift. The arrival of Download a year prior had meant the twin festivals no longer had first round picks for the era's biggest rock bands, while the dedicated Dance Stage, first added in 2000, was now becoming a big deal.

Despite all this, rock still undoubtedly ruled the main stage. That year, the festivals were headlined by The Darkness, The White Stripes and Green Day, with the likes of The Offspring, Morrissey, The Libertines, Ash, The Hives, Placebo and The Distillers filling up premium main stage slots. Hip hop did have some presence: Welsh comedy rappers Goldie Lookin' Chain, respected genre heavyweights The Roots and Jurassic 5 and rising UK rap/garage/grime innovators The Streets all held down main stage positions, their sets drawing positive receptions from a mostly rock-oriented crowd. One rapper drew particular attention, however, and it certainly wasn't positive: chart-smashing superstar 50 Cent, whose multi-platinum debut LP Get Rich Or Die Tryin' had become the biggest-selling album in the world just a year prior.

Whether it was his braggadocious, swaggering style of hip hop, his cocky persona or the fact that he was commanding a Sunday night sub-headliner slot that saw him sandwiched between two generational rock favourites in Placebo and Green Day, 50 - real name Curtis Jackson - had seemingly rubbed a lot of Reading-goers the wrong way. Rumours of a backlash growing around the site abounded as the weekend wore on, and despite there being no reported issues with his set at Leeds two nights prior, by the time it got to late Sunday afternoon, there was undoubtedly something a little odd going on.

As Placebo departed the stage to raucous cheers, dozens upon dozens of fans could be seen collecting empty cups and bottles from the littered floor around them. Soon, swarms of teenagers clad in black band shirts and hoodies were making their way closer to the stage itself, armed with armfuls of rubbish of various shapes and sizes. At one point you could even catch glimpses of people carrying bin liners filled with bottles and god knows what else, fighting their way through the crowd to get as close as possible to the front. It was clear: war was about to break out.

By the time 50 Cent's intro tape began, a venomous chorus of boos broke out across the field, and the first flurries of bottles began flying. 50, clearly aware of what was going on and flanked by members of his group G Unit, bounced out onto the stage, unveiling a table filled with half-full water bottles of his own. Soon, bottles were flying so thick and fast between the stage and the crowd that it felt like the skies themselves had darkened, 50 and his pals doing their best to give as good as they got as he kicked into Get Rich Or Die Tryin' opening track What Up Gangsta. 

What followed wasn't so much a festival set as a battlefield unlike anything Reading had witnessed before or since. Needless to say, G Unit ran out of missiles a lot quicker than Reading did; in fact, as the set wore on and it appeared that 50 was determined to power through ("We ain't going nowhere!" he defiantly yelled at one point), the barrage from the army amassed in front of him got even more intense. Eventually, those poor souls who had actually come to the festival to see 50 could be seen desperately fighting their way back through the crowd, many in tears. Soon everything from cutlery to pieces of food to shoes and wellies were making their way to the stage.

"No Cadillac, no perms, you can't see," 50 Cent sang during smash hit P.I.M.P., boldly holding his mic out to let the crowd finish the lyric. "That I'm a motherfucking..." "WANKER!" came the unified response. If that wasn't enough to finally put him off, what came next certainly was: an unfolded camping chair flew onto the stage, narrowly missing the rapper. "Alright, I'm out," he sighed, dropping his mic and exiting the stage, his crew quickly following suite.

Cheers rang out, the main stage lights came back up and, after just 20 minutes, 50 Cent's Reading debut was over. Green Day would turn up less than an hour later, playing an extended headline set to fill out the extra time. The "haters", it seemed, had won.

Of course, 50 Cent is by no means the only artist to have been bottled at Reading. Daphne and Celeste received a famously lairy welcome when they were inexplicably popped onto a main stage bill featuring Rage Against The Machine, Slipknot and Blink 182. In 2006, emo heroes My Chemical Romance got a rude awakening from Slayer fans that had stuck around after the thrash legends' set to see what all the fuss was about. In fact, the very same day that 50 Cent played Reading, popular 2000s goth rockers The Rasmus got mud slung at them during their early afternoon set. Nothing, however, seemed to match the sheer ferocity and hostility that greeted poor old Curtis.

"50 Cent was very different," Reading organiser Melvin Benn told Gigwise years later. "He brought the attitude on to the stage of being above and better than everyone and having seen it all and the crowd like their music and won't be told what to like and what not to like.

"They're very clear about that and I think it was just an attitude problem," he added. "It wasn't a genre problem. We've had hip hop and rap at the festival consistently year after year."

Whatever the reason, 50 Cent is yet to return to Reading or Leeds. And, despite the festivals' evidently different approach to lineups these days, who can blame him? 

As much as we want to believe that rock music is a utopia free from society’s ills, there’s a dark history of misogyny in the industry, with generations of female artists ignored, belittled and harassed as they’ve come up through the scene. But in the wealth of music books that have been published in recent years, more and more of these women have been making their voices heard.

From female musicians telling their stories in their own words, to detailed explorations of the scenes that were built by women, here are 10 'must read' books worth celebrating on International Women’s Day.

Just Kids – by Patti Smith

There are artists who write beautiful lyrics, but who come across as detached and distant when they put their stories onto paper. Then there’s Patti Smith, whose grocery list could probably move you to tears. Just Kids focuses primarily on her relationship with artist and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and the very early days of her career as a musician, but it has all the rich lyricism we know and love. Just Kids is one of the seminal works of the genre for a good reason, and you’ll have a hard time putting it down.

It Takes Blood And Guts – by Skin with Lucy O’Brien

Skunk Anansie vocalist Skin stands out as one of the most iconic women in modern rock. And her story is awe-inspiring. From a traditional upbringing in her family home in Brixton to bringing a unique perspective to the '90s BritRock scene, to becoming Glastonbury’s first Black British headliner in one of the country’s hardest rock bands, It Takes Blood And Guts recounts a life of extraordinary anecdotes (hanging out with Pavarotti and Nelson Mandela, to name a few examples). Skunk Anansie’s rise to the top – despite the obstacles that the music sets out for an openly bisexual Black woman fronting a rock band – is an inspiration.

Clothes Clothes Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys – by Viv Albertine

If you only choose one book on this list, make it Viv Albertine’s autobiography. At first glance, the main draw of Clothes... Music... Boys... is her unflinching retelling of those hedonistic early days of punk and her experience in The Slits, but it’s what comes next that makes this autobiography so vital.

Albertine’s real story begins with her personal reinvention in the years of unbelievable hardship following The Slits’ breakup. The music industry is quick to put a ridiculously short sell-by date on women, valuing youth above all else; to see a punk icon like Viv Albertine rebuild herself and return to music in her fifties is revolutionary.

Face It: A Memoir – Debbie Harry

In Face It, Debbie Harry takes us through her legendary career, from those electrifying days in New York in the late 60s and 70s and the formation of Blondie to her journey through addiction, Blondie’s break-up and their eventual reformation. This memoir also sees her analyse her own stage persona, and how she owned her femininity and sex appeal in a scene that didn’t always welcome women onto the stage. Face It is something of a work of art, too, decorated with decades of fan art that she’s collected over the years.

Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl: A Memoir – Carrie Brownstein

Carrie Brownstein, one-third of Sleater-Kinney, is a defining figure of the ‘90s riot grrrl movement. But what makes Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl so refreshing is that first and foremost, Brownstein is a fan, and anyone who knows the healing power of rock and roll will see themselves in these pages. It takes us on a tour of the often-underappreciated Seattle alternative scene and Sleater-Kinney’s empowering role in carving out a space for women in rock. It also shows what happened in the aftermath of riot grrrl’s heyday when the band went their separate ways.

Fallopian Rhapsody: The Story of the Lunachicks – by the Lunachicks with Jeanne Fury

Fallopian Rhapsody is the story of one of the most outrageous – and criminally underrated – bands in rock: Lunachicks. Going above and beyond the riot grrrl label that was so often imposed on them, this was a band that rejected any box you tried to put them in. They had plenty of obstacles along the way (like the clubs who refused to host them because they “booked a female band last month”), but none of it got them down as they shocked audiences all over the world, spitting in the face of macho rock.

What are You Doing Here? – by Laina Dawes

In What Are You Doing Here?: A Black Woman's Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal, Laina Dawes tackles two dangerous myths: that Black people do not belong in the heavy metal scene, and that Black people who enjoy heavy metal are denying their heritage. Dawes combines interviews with Black artists and fans with her own personal experience of racism and identity in the heavy metal, punk and hardcore world. Looking at the history of Black rock stars alongside her own story, this book is an important look into the too often-ignored racism and misogyny rife in the alternative scene.

Fangirls: Scenes from a Modern Music Culture – by Hannah Ewens

For too long, ‘fangirl’ has been an insult, conjuring up images of the screaming teenage girl who is rarely considered a “real music fan”. Enter British music and culture writer Hannah Ewens who wants to explore this cultural phenomenon from Beatlemania to Directioners without judgement or condescension.

Fangirls covers a whole range of genres and artists, including some excellent chapters that explore female fans in the world of rock and their devotion to artists such as My Chemical Romance, The Beatles and Courtney Love. The fact is, most of these artists wouldn’t exist without their fangirls, and Hannah Ewens shows us just how much we owe them.

Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution – by Sara Marcus

The Riot Grrrl movement was an essential period for women in rock music, making space in a closed-off industry that we still reap the benefits of today. But it was also a short-lived movement that disappeared almost as quickly as it popped up. In Girls To The Front Sara Marcus explores the main players in the scene, but most importantly, takes an honest look at its shortcomings, and what made it burn out by the turn of the millennium.

Revenge of the She-Punks – by Vivien Goldman

Where other books focus on a particular period or alternative scene, punk professor Vivian Goldman takes a broader approach to women’s contribution to punk over the years and across the whole world in Revenge of the She-Punks. She focuses on the key players like X-Ray Spex's Poly Styrene and The Slits but gives equal time to underdogs across the globe, such as China’s first all-girl punk band Hang On The Box and fresh faces on the scene like Londoners Big Joanie. Each chapter comes with a playlist focusing on identity, money, love and protest.

Sleep Token, Frank Turner, Palaye Royale, Knocked Loose, Rina Sawayama and Yonaka are amongst the dizzying amount of new names confirmed for this year's Reading and Leeds festivals, with no fewer than 80 new artists now added to the lineup.

They all join headliners Sam Fender, Foals, The Killers, Lewis Capaldi, Billie Eilish and Imagine Dragons, as well as the likes of Bicep, Loyle Carner, Wet Leg, Slowthai, Becky Hill and others previously announced.

Reading and Leeds festivals take place over the bank holiday weekend of August 25-27 at Richfield Avenue, Reading and Bramham Park, Leeds respectively. Tickets are on sale now from this location.

For the full list of latest Reading and Leeds lineup additions, see below.

Reading and Leeds 2023 lineup additions

Arlo Parks
Artemas
Austin Millz
Bakar
BZ
Caity Baser
Charlie Tee
Clavish
COIN
D Double E
DJ Target
Dylan John Thomas
Easy Life
Ekkstacy
English Teacher
Ethel Cain
Finn Foxell
Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn
Friction
Games We Play
Giant Rooks
Girls Don’t Sync
Graphic Nature
Gryffin
Harriet Jaxxon
Hedex
High Vis
Holly Humberstone
Hot Milk
J Fado
Jaguar
Jamie Webster
Jbee
Jesse Jo Stark
Joesef
K-Trap
Kenny Allstar
KennyHoopla
KiLLOWEN
Knocked Loose
Koven
Lancey Foux
Magnolia Park
Malaki
Meet Me @ The Altar
Metrik
midwxst
Mimi Webb
Mother Mother
Nieve Ella
Nippa
NOISY
Normandie
Palaye Royale
Pinkshift
Proph
Queen Millz
Rina Sawayama
Royel Otis
Sainte
Sammy Virji
Scowl
Sea Girls
ShaSimone
Sleep Token
Soulecta
Sub Focus B2B with Dimension
Temz
The Amazons
The Last Dinner Party
The Murder Capital
Tom Odell
TV Girl
Vibe Chemistry
Vistas
Wallice
Yard Act
Yonaka
ZAND