VCK

I think Sam Fender will headline MSE when he next plays R&L. They've been in need of a guitar act to bump up for a while, and there have been other acts who have been booked to headline who have never been as huge as he is right now. I reckon it will likely be 2024 though, as I can see him taking a break next year or in the studio.

Very surprised they haven't had Foals back yet, despite them having three albums out since 2016 and not being exclusives elsewhere. R&L have a habit of getting Glasto's sloppy seconds the following year (Arctic Monkeys, Metallica, Muse, Stormzy) so wouldn't be too surprising if Billie Eilish happened next year.

I don't know if the average person who listens to YUNGBLUD would give bands like The Offspring and Rancid a second thought.

The Pistols were always industry plants, I thought this was common knowledge. Good band, but not on the level of their contemporaries like The Clash, The Jam and The Specials.

The Great Horde in the Kingdom of Mercia. Make it happen.

Download need to book these guys.

I'm sure Yungblud is a nice guy but good lord, if he isn't immensely irritating.

Arctics were atrocious that night. When you're headlining a festival there's more expectation to deliver than if you're playing a daytime main stage slot and Arctics failed to meet those expectations. Slow, boring and unlively. Yeah but it was that performance that led them to decide to call it a day. There is a video of a press conference a few hours before they took to the stage where they spoke about the plans they had for the future of the band.

I know that, I was just mentioning that even during the Roses glorious comeback, his vocals were still poor.

The Stone Roses at Heaton Park still remains the greatest live performance I've ever seen by any act, but he was definitely the weak link that night. Being surrounded by three absolutely immense musicians and a loud crowd singing along to every word, and him being a confident frontman/showman, got him off the hook really. I mean, him being a terrible singer live was the straw that broke the camel's back that led to the Roses splitting to begin with - at Reading no less.

Ian Brown was pretty dull that year and would have been much better headlining the tent rather than playing the Main Stage in broad daylight. However, he wasn't even the worst act on that stage on that day. Arctic Monkeys were dogshit. RHCP 2007, QOTSA 2008 and Kings of Leon 2009 were all poor too.

Metallica in 2008 and Radiohead in 2009 are the two that stand out the most in my memory banks.

He's not, he's 3rd down on that poster.

SAM FENDER / IDLES / Aitch / Rex Orange County / Lady Leshurr TYLER, THE CREATOR / KSI / The Vaccines DUA LIPA / Dababy / Anne Marie / Sea Girls / Jxdn FOALS / London Grammar / 100gecs THE KILLERS / Yungblud / Dermott Kennedy / Beabadoobee / Creeper ROYAL BLOOD / Architects / Tyga

Sam Fender / SZA Dua Lipa / Foals The Killers / Royal Blood

Indeed. Like I said, he's very marketable to the young 'uns. Though I'm surprised there aren't many people complaining about him being Yet Another White Male With A Guitar™️ .

Musically he's not bad, his music does feel authentic, and it is always nice to see the young 'uns get really into an artist who started from the ground up instead of the usual industry plants they love so much. But he's yet another hyped up, safe sounding radio friendly artist. Also the message in his songs has been done to death thousands of times throughout music. There's plenty of great rock artists around at the moment who the media are overlooking in favour of the likes of Sam Fender and there's a reason for that - because he's simply more marketable.

Circle pits at a Sam Fender concert 😆

I know success is also measured by streams on Spotify nowadays, but scoring a number one album, which followed an album that charted at number 2, is hardly a sign of an obscure underground artist.

Last album was number one here in the UK so I guess they're not that obscure. They've always been one of the bigger names in 21st Century rock. And re: Foals and Royal Blood. I'm amazed the festival haven't bothered to ask the former to return considering how many chances they've had since their 2016 set which went down an absolute storm, and surely the latter are long overdue a headline slot?

You reckon? They've been the epitome of safe mainstream friendly guitar music for about 25 years now.

I think Metallica will return to Download before they return to R&L.

Let's agree to disagree.

The 1975 / Yungblud Sam Fender / Beabadoobee The Weeknd / Tyler, The Creator Foals / All Time Low The Killers / Courteeners Doja Cat / Anderson .Paak

The Killers are a good shout actually. Long, long overdue a return and they're always a real crowd pleaser. Them with one of The 1975, My Chemical Romance, The Weeknd, Billie Eilish or Muse is a very solid set of MSE headliners.