25 replies to this topic

[teenageriot]

So, with the recent release of Melvin saying the headliners are "staggering" and won't be playing at any other festivals, this kind of rules out a lot of bands which could have potentially headlining this year (such as Foo Fighters, Kasabian, Linkin Park, SOAD). After seeing this, the first band which came to mind was Pixies. I met Melvin at last years Leeds and he said a lot of people at Reading had said they'd love to see Pixies headline this year, so they had quite a high demand. They headlined back in 05 but I think the buzz of them having just reformed gave them the opportunity, I still think they'd be able to pull it off now though even if a lot of the Leeds goers might not really know/appreciate them, if not, then it'd be a sub spot, no less.

I would love/hate this because they're my favourite band and it'd be fantastic to see them again, however I don't really want to have to go back to Leeds again but this will make me, even if just for the day. What do people think?

[jump]

Nah, Melvin said a while ago he would like to book them again but not as headliners. Possible sub/NME headliner.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

teenageriot, on 24 January 2011 - 02:40 PM, said:

even if a lot of the Leeds goers might not really know/appreciate them

Pixies won't headline. They just won't.

[teenageriot]

I think they COULD, whether they will or not is different, but they have enough material and history to pull off a headline slot again. Too many people would complain though, and I doubt they'd have the biggest of crowds.

[jump]

teenageriot, on 24 January 2011 - 02:50 PM, said:

I think they COULD, whether they will or not is different, but they have enough material and history to pull off a headline slot again. Too many people would complain though, and I doubt they'd have the biggest of crowds.

Why? They didn't even headline Isle Of Wright a few years ago.

Edited by jump, 24 January 2011 - 02:58 PM.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

teenageriot, on 24 January 2011 - 02:50 PM, said:

I think they COULD, whether they will or not is different, but they have enough material and history to pull off a headline slot again. Too many people would complain though, and I doubt they'd have the biggest of crowds.

Oh there's no doubt about whether they could headline. Sonic Youth could headline with the amount of critical support and history they have, but they're not going to. Let's face the fact Reading and Leeds are strictly commercial festivals now, and if they have the foresight to know when a band will bring in the punters, they won't book a band like Pixies. People will go and see them just because they're the headliners more than because they're actual fans of the band. 20 years ago would have been a different story but today with this fickle audience of music fans, you're more likely to find a band like My Chemical Romance filling a slot.

[VCK]

I'd love them as NME headliners, by all accounts they drew a small crowd in 2005 so surely there wouldn't be health and safety issues if they were placed in the tent. It wasn't bad for the Manics who have headlined before and have more "hits" your casual listener would know of than Pixies.

As long as they don't clash with The Strokes then I'll take that.

[sjp_121]

As outrageous it is
Could they sub headline to MCR?

If they do play... that's probably the only position I can see them in depressingly.
Unless they have another headliner up their sleeves ( I had an odd dream that Smashing Pupkins headlined this years... I could see Pixies underneath them)

[Dave The Hedgehog]

sjp_121, on 24 January 2011 - 03:52 PM, said:

Unless they have another headliner up their sleeves ( I had an odd dream that Smashing Pupkins headlined this years... I could see Pixies underneath them)

Personally, from all instincts, I believe Reading and Leeds this year won't have a very good line-up, and if it does, the smaller tents will get the better bands and the main stage will only attract people there to see who the headliners are rather than because they actually like the music.

[jump]

sjp_121, on 24 January 2011 - 03:52 PM, said:

As outrageous it is
Could they sub headline to MCR?

If they do play... that's probably the only position I can see them in depressingly.
Unless they have another headliner up their sleeves ( I had an odd dream that Smashing Pupkins headlined this years... I could see Pixies underneath them)

They could sub to Strokes and have Pulp under Muse.

But why is it certain that Strokes & MCR are headliners, I don't see either as bonna fide headliners and with Strokes rumoured for Glasto too they might subs.

[hazzamid11]

jump, on 24 January 2011 - 04:02 PM, said:

They could sub to Strokes and have Pulp under Muse.

But why is it certain that Strokes & MCR are headliners, I don't see either as bonna fide headliners and with Strokes rumoured for Glasto too they might subs.

With the Strokes new album out this year i dont expect them to do anything other than headline any festival apart from glasto, in which case would be under someone huge, the stevie wonder slot of last year.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

hazzamid11, on 24 January 2011 - 04:16 PM, said:

With the Strokes new album out this year i dont expect them to do anything other than headline any festival apart from glasto, in which case would be under someone huge, the stevie wonder slot of last year.

By definition, a headliner band would be somebody who'd end the day's festivities. With Glastonbury looking increasingly like Coldplay, U2 and Prince, I don't think the folks down on Worthy Farm would even bother putting a band like The Strokes on as headliners. They might put them as headliners on a smaller stage but I can't see them playing out the festival on the Pyramid Stage, which favours Reading and Leeds all the more.

[jump]

hazzamid11, on 24 January 2011 - 04:16 PM, said:

With the Strokes new album out this year i dont expect them to do anything other than headline any festival apart from glasto, in which case would be under someone huge, the stevie wonder slot of last year.

Why? They haven't been in demand for festival for years. They were lucky to be IOW headliners and are no where near as big as when they headline R&L last time.

If they want max exposure for their new album then it would be in their best intrests to play as many fests as possible and if Glasto have made an offer for them to play it would mean they can't play R&L as headliner but could sub.

[hazzamid11]

jump, on 24 January 2011 - 04:36 PM, said:

Why? They haven't been in demand for festival for years. They were lucky to be IOW headliners and are no where near as big as when they headline R&L last time.

If they want max exposure for their new album then it would be in their best intrests to play as many fests as possible and if Glasto have made an offer for them to play it would mean they can't play R&L as headliner but could sub.

They were definately worthy IOW headliners and were fantastic in my opinion. The Strokes are still a huge band and will be bigger when the nme is ramming the new album down the throats of the public. Similar slot to Arcade Fire last year in terms of type of band, yet the strokes are bigger id say, and would draw a much larger crowd. I think they are much bigger than you give them credit for.

[harderfaster]

jump, on 24 January 2011 - 04:36 PM, said:

Why? They haven't been in demand for festival for years. They were lucky to be IOW headliners and are no where near as big as when they headline R&L last time.

I know what you mean, it did surprise me a bit at first when everybody was talking about Strokes assuming they'd definitely headline. But they've got the comeback factor, the NME factor and a new album. And people went bat shit mental for tickets when they played that Venison gig last year.

[jonwl89]

hazzamid11, on 24 January 2011 - 05:42 PM, said:

The Strokes name is still a huge brand

Probably closer to the truth


Lets face it, they made one excellent album then two decent halves of albums.  They Oasis'd

Edited by jonwl89, 24 January 2011 - 06:51 PM.

[rexclark]

Pixies got a terrible crowd last time the played in 05 so there's no chance they'd headline again. They were excellent though.

[jump]

hazzamid11, on 24 January 2011 - 05:42 PM, said:

They were definately worthy IOW headliners and were fantastic in my opinion. The Strokes are still a huge band and will be bigger when the nme is ramming the new album down the throats of the public. Similar slot to Arcade Fire last year in terms of type of band, yet the strokes are bigger id say, and would draw a much larger crowd. I think they are much bigger than you give them credit for.

You can't compare them to Arcade Fire, they are a band on the up and Strokes are a band on the down. The first festival I ever went to was headlined by Strokes at their peak and there was huge gaps in crowd and I thought that was normal, the next 2 nights was Foos & Prodigy which were packed out.

harderfaster, on 24 January 2011 - 05:48 PM, said:

I know what you mean, it did surprise me a bit at first when everybody was talking about Strokes assuming they'd definitely headline. But they've got the comeback factor, the NME factor and a new album. And people went bat shit mental for tickets when they played that Venison gig last year.

What comeback? They headlined Rockness & Isle Of Wright last year.

[rexclark]

jump, on 24 January 2011 - 07:59 PM, said:

What comeback? They headlined Rockness & Isle Of Wright last year.

Exactly, there's been a few times I've read here that they've been away for so long when really they played two massive gigs last year.

[Leyser]

Strokes I am unsure about, but they are a million times more likely to headline than the Pixies. There is no doubt they have the history, and legendary factor, they are one of the most influential alternative rock bands of the last 30 years. From what I hear their crowd was like in 05 I think they would be great headlining NME, but main stage there really is no chance they would get the crowd.

If they subbed to MCR like someone said I would f**king lose it