Reading Festival 2010

Simply click on the lineup poster here if you fancy it.

If you want to read a bit more then please, read on!

With a host of huge names and exclusive performances, this year’s Reading and Leeds Festival is, once again, the only place to be for the serious music fan over the summer. Now, promoters Festival Republic are proud to announce the Festival Republic Stage, the place where the headliners of the future make their first mark on the twin sites. Over the years, this stage has seen everyone from Coldplay and Muse to The Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs begin their love affairs with the best festival crowd in the world and this year is no exception. With a line-up that crosses all the genres from rock to synth pop and all the names you have read about as tips for the year, The Festival Republic Stage is once again your A to Z of the best new bands in Britain and the world. Reading and Leeds is not just about the big names, on this stage some of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll stories begin and, this year, here’s who will be writing their names into the history of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll show on earth.

THE FESTIVAL REPUBLIC STAGE

Friday 28th August at The Reading Festival / Sunday 30th August at The Leeds Festival

MARMADUKE DUKE is the self-created surreal musical world of enigmatic Scottish duo The Atmosphere and The Dragon, two frontmen better known as Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro and JP Reid of Sucioperro respectively. A collision of twisted disco, white boy funk and unadulterated nu-pop weirdness, new album Duke Pandemonium is the soul-tinged version of ‘Caligula’ - the madness, the mayhem – that MARMADUKE DUKE have been threatening to make. This is a soundtrack to hedonism, decadence, deviance and dancing. Lots of dancing. These shows are MARMADUKE DUKE’S ONLY CONFIRMED UK DATES and, as such, are a singular opportunity to see this unique collaboration live.

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.themarmadukeduke.com/

SOULSAVERS WITH MARK LANEGAN will take to the stage for what is sure to be a very special set on the release of their third album, Broken. With previous album, It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s Where You Land garnering critical acclaim across the board, the one-time studio project has blossomed into a full scale project that, over the three albums has also seen vocal contributions from such diverse talents as Jimi Goodwin, Richard Hawley, Mike Patton and Gibby Haynes. If you have yet to experience SOULSAVERS then there is no better time than these sets, sure to be the talk of the site at the close of the weekend.

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.thesoulsavers.com/

BLACK LIPS represent the faith that it takes to reject that world of sterile, futile, servile, silliness and forge your own world based on bravery and bad?ass?ness. They have carried to fruition the plan that has been hatched, and will continue to be hatched in the minds of dizzy, dumb and desperate youth the world over. Now they carry their message of faith to the world. FEAR NOT! BE BRAVE AND TAKE HEART! THE WORLD IS YOURS IF YOU ACCEPT THE POWER OF FAITH!!!

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.black-lips.com/

Saturday 29th August at The Reading Festival / Friday 28th August at The Leeds Festival

If you’re going to title an album The Best In Town then it’s a good idea to make sure that you are the best in town. THE BLACKOUT are in no doubt that this claim – which also happens to be the title of their new album – is justified. Beginning life in the Welsh town of Merthyr Tidfil in 2006, the six piece supported fellow countrymen Lostprophets prior to releasing debut album, We Are The Dynamite and progressing swiftly to their own sold out London Astoria headline. Now signed to Epitaph, you can understand why president ‘Mr Brett’ Gurewitz’s confidence when he states “I expect these guys to make a huge leap forward this year. I’m thrilled to have them on the label.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.myspace.com/theblackout

BRING ME THE HORIZON are five young British lads with a penchant for the heavy. Hailing from Sheffield, England, the band formed in 2004 and began setting the UK ablaze with blistering performances across the country. By 2006 the band had already won Kerrang!'s "Best British Newcomers" award and toured with groups as varied as Killswitch Engage, Lostprophets, Megadeth and more. Later that year they unleashed their debut album, Count Your Blessings, which further cemented their place among the Heavy Metal elite. Second album Suicide Season was released in November 2008 to critical acclaim, propelling the band into international stardom. Having toured all over the world in 2009, catch this very special act on their return to the UK this August.

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.myspace.com/bmth

Since they muscled their way onto the Orange County metal scene in 1998, ATREYU have sold over a million albums by constantly challenging themselves and their audiences with charged music and acrobatic performances that both have pushed the boundaries of catharsis and emotional exorcism. But even those who have grown used to the unexpected from Atreyu will be blown away by the musical growth, determination and depth of the band’s new album Lead Sails Paper Anchor.

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.atreyurock.com/

Sunday 30th August at The Reading Festival / Saturday 29th August at The Leeds Festival

At the end of 2008 21 year old Elly Jackson, aka LA ROUX, arrived with a whirlwind of excitement surrounding her. Confirming all the hype - she bagged a top 5 single, the support slot on Lily Allen’s national tour, has been part of the biggest remix of this year (Skream’s Let’s Get Ravey Remix) and has everyone from Franz Ferdinand to Daft Punk hailing her as a talent to watch. With her number 2 single In For The Kill still in the Top Ten 12 weeks after its release, the iconic redheaded Brixton girl unleashes her highly anticipated debut album on June 29th and is sure to be a massive draw for these two shows.

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.laroux.co.uk/

Currently resident in the USA, Dev Hynes, aka LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION is one of the brightest and most intriguing talents to emerge from the UK in recent years. With debut album Falling Off The Lavender Bridge last year Hynes received critical acclaim form across the board with NME declaring that ‘when Dev Hynes picked up an acoustic guitar, the nation of indie felt its heart murmur’ in a celebratory 9/10 review. With new material in process for a forthcomingalbum, these shows are an early opportunity to hear what comes next from LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION.

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.lightspeedchampion.com/

Working with producer Mark Ronson on Welcome To The Walk Alone, their second album, has seen THE RUMBLE STRIPS expand their musical template to incorporate Phil Spector and Scott Walker, 1940's wartime melodies and early 1960s European soul with the rousing brass and stampeding drums of their critically acclaimed debut, Girls and Weather. With Ronson regarding the title track as “his proudest achievement”, and the album due for release on 13th July expect THE RUMBLE STRIPS to deliver one of those iconic Festival Republic Stage moments.

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.therumblestrips.com/

THE REST OF THE BILL

As ever, the bill for the stage is a mix styles and genres with one defining characteristic, they are all bands and artists that you have read about this year and are the talk of any discerning music fan. Across the three days the stage will play host to US rock bands, English Indie types, Northern social commentators and Deep South scuzz poppers. If you have been told to look out for a band this year then the betting is that somewhere amongst the bill you will find them.

The resurgence of British music has plenty of representatives this year of all shades and styles. THE BIG PINK have been acclaimed by the NME, who handed them the prestigious Philip Hall Radar Award for Best New Band at the start of the year and Steve Lamacq, who has nailed his colours firmly to their debut single for 4AD, ‘Velvet’. Scots and Big Pink labelmates BROKEN RECORDS, have been touted by The Guardian as ‘the UK’s answer to Arcade Fire’ with good cause amidst rave reviews for their Until The Earth Begins To Part debut album whilst BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB have finished their studies and retained the critical acclaim that greeted their debut single, The Hill in 2007 leaving them free to pursue their music full time with debut album, I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, due on July 6th. Marina And The Diamonds will be brightening up the stage as Marina Diamond and her band bring what Popjustice arrestingly described as a ‘Siouxsie-fueled cross between Personal Jesus and [Girls Aloud's] Biology’ to the twin sites whilst Wakefield’s Skint And Demoralised are sure of a hearty welcome for their ‘Streets style blend of poetry and grooves’ (THE INDEPENDENT).

Outside of the UK the hotly tipped THE TEMPER TRAP, one of the BBC Sound of 2009 acts are already making great strides prior to the release of debut album with their NME approved ‘big brash guitars and anthemic songs’ and the US’s Hockey arrive with similar plaudits for their ‘Witty, literate songs you can dance to’ (THE GUARDIAN). THE SOFT PACK are another NME approved US band who, according to the title ‘are a band who are secure in their talent and prowess’ and look all set to light up the remainder of 2009 whilst WHITE DENIM have already gained a deserved reputation for their almost unhinged live shows, in the words of one NME reviewer, nothing short of a ‘muddle of caustic chaos that’s totally captivating’. With a sound that incorporates ‘psych, folk, prog, funk and pop elements without it being a horrible mish-mash of opposites’ (THE GUARDIAN) AMAZING BABY are more Americans getting the UK hot under the collar and more Wesleyan University graduates will be alongside them in the shape of BEAR HANDS, proving that MGMT were no one off from this seemingly endless font of musical talent. All will have fierce competition from Brooklynites A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, renowned for their ear splitting performances and sonically over driven sound which made them one of NME’s highlights of 2008’s South By South West.

The volume will no doubt be raised for a clutch of bands bringing a hard edged sound to the stage. Regarded by ABSOLUTE PUNK as ‘Victory’s next big band’, Florida’s A DAY TO REMEMBER are gaining fans in all the right places whilst the return of former Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Tory Van Leeuwen with singer Serrina Sims with SWEETHEAD is already getting US tipsters hot under the collar and has all the hallmarks of a big moment on the Festival Republic Stage. Ireland’s FIGHT LIKE APES are sure to create a storm as the band that US Mag Spin accurately described as ‘a deliriously combustible post-punk outfit Courtney Love may well wish to adopt’ continue to gain notices either side of the Atlantic. Back on the US side of the Atlantic, TITUS ANDRONICUS are there for all that may have “Forgotten what it feels like to be thrilled and beaten up by music at the same time? This New Jersey pop-punk will remind you” according to THE SUNDAY TIMES but will be pushed all the way by the ‘epic noise alchemists’ (NME) that are MIDDLE CLASS RUT and newcomers SINGLE FILE.

JACK’S MANNEQUIN have so far played a solitary London show in the UK but are already all over radio with their single ‘Swim’, ‘magical stuff’, according to THE FLY, and are another one to watch for this year. Local Leeds lads PULLED APART BY HORSES and GRAMMATICS can look forward to a hero’s welcome at their home site but don’t be surprised at similar sized crowds in Reading whilst the likes of THE CHAPMAN FAMILY and DETROIT SOCIAL CLUB will be cheered on by sizeable contingents from their North East homeland. The eccentricities of GOLDEN SILVERS are well documented but it is live where the column inches really translate into a gloriously bizarre sense whilst both BADDIES and GO AUDIO will be providing more straightforward, but no less compelling, choruses to holler along to. Extremes return with the loud / quiet dynamics of THE JOY FORMIDABLE whilst the hotly tipped MAGISTRATES come to the stage fresh from the NME New Noise Tour with headliner La Roux and great reviews. A special moment on the stage will be the performances of THE HOT RATS, the duo that consist of Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey, better known to all as two thirds of Supergrass.

ADDITIONS ON THE MAIN STAGE

Saturday 29th August at The Reading Festival / Friday 28th August at The Leeds Festival

The members of MARIACHI EL BRONX may well be familiar to those looking forward to seeing The Bronx on the Lock Up Stage for they are one and the same. The mariachi alter ego of the Los Angeles outfit, this opening set will be a perfect way to begin the day’s entertainment with their debut album in this guise on August 17th.

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.thebronxxx.com/

Sunday 30th August at The Reading Festival / Saturday 29th August at The Leeds Festival

With second album, Which Bitch THE VIEW made the jump from successful newcomers, debut album Hats Off To The Buskers went straight in at Number One, to established act. Demonstrating a wider influence than their debut and delivering a record described by the News Of The World as ‘a masterpiece’ THE VIEW come to the twin sites with a well earned reputation for raucous live performances and a fervent fanbase sure to make these sets ones to remember.

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.theview.tv/

With a heavier, edgier direction to new album, White Noise, Australia’s THE LIVING END will be suitably loud opening to the Main Stage for the day. Over four studio albums, the band amassed platinum sales awards, magazine covers and shelves of awards but critics are agreed that White Noise is their best yet. See for yourself over the weekend.

FOR MORE INFORMATION – http://www.thelivingend.com/

Still To Come

The BBC Introducing Stage returns to both sites to give unsigned bands their first taste of playing the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll weekend.
The Alternative Stage delivers more late night entertainment, films, comedy, unique collaborations and unexpected surprises.
The Dance Stage delivers a day of the best the scene has to offer.

HIGHLIGHTS TO BE BROADCAST ON:

Radio 1 will be returning to Reading and Leeds festival to feature live performances from one of the summer's biggest festival line-ups. Radio 1 will be broadcasting live from both sites with the latest news, the biggest live acts and all the backstage gossip.

BBC introducing returns to Reading & Leeds in 2009.After its first triumphant year at Reading & Leeds last year we are pleased to announce it will be back at both sites in 2009. BBC Introducing supports unsigned, undiscovered and under the radar music, artists and DJ's from across the UK across the BBC. It gives up and coming artists broadcast opportunities on BBC radio, television and online as well as opportunities to perform at major festivals. • Over 250 artists have played for BBC Introducing at major UK festivals since its launch in 2007 and all sets are filmed for broadcast across BBC Radio, TV and online. Watch out this year for all the new talent - and the best bit is, you can watch it all again online when you get home! Visit: www.bbc.co.uk/introducing/

THIS YEAR’S PRINT MEDIA PARTNER

The NME signing tent is now part of Reading and Leeds folklore. Every year thousands of music fans get the chance to meet their heroes, and this year will be no different, with all the biggest and best bands dropping by to greet their public at both sites. NME magazine and NME.com will have unparalleled coverage of both festivals, in the lead up to the event, right afterwards and all the way through. If something happens, NME is the place to hear about it.

THIS YEAR’S SPONSORS

Official Beer Partner

Available at the best parties in over 100 countries, Tuborg is the light and refreshing lager that has fun and music at the heart of everything it does. Tuborg is the official beer of several of the largest festivals in Europe, and this love affair with all things music continues with Tuborg proudly being the official beer of Reading and Leeds festivals.

It's with great delight that Tuborg can continue the fun with Festival Republic as the official beer of the best rock ‘n’ roll festivals in the world. To find out more about Tuborg, visit Tuborg.co.uk

Official Cider Partner

Gaymers cider is the official cider of Reading and Leeds festivals and will be the only cider on tap at both events. Gaymers cider will bring the Gaymers Cider Garden to festival fans in Leeds. As well as being a great space to soak up the atmosphere, and enjoy a refreshing Gaymers original and Gaymers pear cider, the Gaymers Cider Garden will give festival goers the chance to have a go and be part of a live music experience. Gaymers Cider Garden will be hosting Rockaoke, the ultimate live band version of karaoke, and Vinyl Corner - where festival goers can choose from a host of records and have the DJ play their favourite tunes.

Over 400,000 pints of Gaymers cider are expected to be enjoyed at Reading and Leeds over the course of the weekend.

Official Energy Drink Partner

Relentless are proud to be the official energy drink sponsor for the Reading and Leeds Festivals for the third year running. As a brand deeply involved with cutting edge live music, band development and innovative events, it is a perfect fit to partner up with a festival that sees eye to eye with the brand. Relentless Energy will be served across all festival bars, and look out for a new eye popping activation that will give you an insight into the Relentless ethos and attitude.

Official Gaming Partner of Leeds Festival

Guitar Hero is thrilled to be part of the Leeds Festival after a successful presence at Reading Festival last year. Currently in its fourth instalment with Guitar Hero World Tour, the franchise has become a cultural phenomenon, becoming extremely popular as party games and revolutionizing the modern music industry. What other brand better fit in with this world renowned rock festival! Guitar Hero will be available to play at the dedicated Guitar Hero stand - festival goers of all ages are invited to come and have a go!

Official Travel Partner

CrossCountry, one of Britain’s largest train operators, is proud to be an Official Travel Partner for the Reading and Leeds summer music festivals. CrossCountry is a major operator of train services into both Reading and Leeds and will be working in partnership with Reading & Leeds to encourage as many festival goers as possible to use public transport, and contributing to further growth by providing reliable and frequent train services.