After a hugely successful debut last year, the Sick New World festival returns to Las Vegas on April 27, with a heavyweight bill that includes System Of A Down, Slipknot, A Perfect Circle, Bring Me The Horizon, Sleep Token, Lamb Of God, Babymetal and more.
Also on the bill are English shoegaze pioneers Slowdive, and it's fair to say that the Reading quintet are both bemused and amused by their inclusion on the line-up. And in a new interview with NME, the band say they "can't wait" to see how the day unfolds for them
“We were asked to play by the promoter,” vocalist/guitarist Rachel Goswell says. “And we were like, Yeah, don’t be silly! Metal fans aren’t gonna like it. Then they were like, ‘Watch, there’s this big crossover, blah, blah, blah’. So why not, you know? [Do] something completely different. Neil [Halstead, vocals/guitar] was a little bit nervous, he’s like, ‘I hope they don’t put us on the same stage as Slipknot!’ [Laughs] I’m sure it’ll be an experience. But yeah, [it’s] something completely wildly out of our comfort zone.”
Drummer Simon Scott tells NME that the band were encouraged to accept the offer to play by Placebo frontman Brian Molko, a friend of Goswell, as Placebo played the inaugural staging of the festival last year, and told the band that it's “a great festival”, adding, “you should do it, it's fun.”
“They probably fit slightly better than us, don’t they?” Goswell says. “But we’ll see. Hopefully we’ll get all the metallers weeping.”
Slowdive released their fifth studio album, Everything Is Alive, last year. The album reached number 6 on the UK charts, and peaked at number 7 on the US Top Alternative Albums chart.
