The line up

[kaosmark2]

Someone hold me back for f*cks sake

Is there anyone more up their own arse than Radiohead fans?

[Role Model]

I'll be f**ked off if Offspring or Weezer clash with Radiohead, but that seems highly unlikely.

[Calm Like A Bomb]

I love Radiohead. They were one of the best bands I saw last year, and I was really really psyched about the idea of seeing them at Reading this year, but there's no other bands I want to see on that day, and I can't justify £80 just for Radiohead, especially as I reckon there's a decent chance they'll tour.

I'm almost certainly going to go to Download this year. For the first time since 2006 the line-up is looking genuinely strong throughout, with a large number of bands each day I want to see. Prodigy included.

I like Deftones, and would really love to see them, but a 20-30 minute slot between Fall out Boy and Funeral For A Friend isn't good enough IMO. OK, they were never going to get a high position, but I was hoping them to be adjacent to another band I liked.

I want to see Placebo, and this pretty much rules them out of Sonisphere, but they're not exactly a band that are never around here. I'm sure they'll tour the new album and I'll see them on that.

EoDM disappointed me when I saw them and I've never been a fan of pop-punk.

No. Sonisphere's line-up isn't the best ever, but it's the last NIN festival date in the UK in who knows how long, so there's no way I can miss out on that. Metallica and the Sword are both seriously good, despite how many times I've seen them now. Also, there's various bands Neil has confirmed. Placebo and JA are seemingly falling through, but Primal Scream are a good catch that I'd like to see, and from the general launch it looks like they're prepared to focus on quality.

So yeah. I'm disappointed with the line-up. 4 bands doesn't justify a festival. I could do 5 or 6 gigs at the same cost. I've given considered, justified reasons as to why the line-up is poor objectively as well as subjectively. It's poor.

Edited March 30, 2009 by Calm Like A Bomb

[Haydn]

Looks like I'm one of the only people actually pretty pleased with the lineup.

[Lithium05]

Metalheads. If you believed a number of people on this forum (not pointed at anyone), then you'd think that 'not heavy' is the same as bad. It isn't. It's just most of the stuff at R+L is bad.

[Kris W]

Prodigy > Arctic Monkeys.

Pure sex.

[kennyabis]

This line-up is pish. I mean I knew it was going to be bad but didn't think it would be quite THAT SHOCKINGLY BAD. Not really a single band I want to see!!

Severe lack of diversity, a whole load of generically bland bands. And as someone else pointed out like 15 of them have already played in the past couple of years, some of them several times!! It's like they took all the bands I have avoided at the Festival the past few years and went and gave them their own festival!! I've been to Reading every year for like the past 8 years but nothing could bring me back this year. It's a shame really but the atmosphere has slowly deteriorated the past couple of years and the line-up has now came crashing down with it. Maybe the festival will turn itself around in a few years if it becomes no longer the popular thing for all the trendies to go to on mummy and daddys money. Well I (and Lithium ) surely can but hope.

PS What's all this crap about a large price hike due to the weakness of the pound against the dollar. A.) Download did not require such a price hike and they are adding a whole new stage this year. B.) At first count something like 20 out of the 28 bands announced are all British!!! Yeah sure pull the other one Melvin you lying scumbag!!

Edited March 30, 2009 by kennyabis

[JameSemajj]

I really despair about the fact that music magazines still have such an influence on our culture. They should be completely irrelevant given modern technology, where you can use lastfm/blogs/forums to find out what virtually any person could possibly listen to, and which acts a person with near-identical taste listens to, for hardly any effort at all. But some people seem to want to be told what to think, what to like, despite the wealth of opportunities available now that weren't available in the days when NME had credibility.

[Lithium05]

Prodigy > Arctic Monkeys.

Pure sex.

[Benj]

Its alright, loads I'll watch and still masses to be added. I can see why the metal crowd are pissed off, I think Sonisphere has probbaly forced their hand a bit though.

So we're assuming that Offspring/ Weezer and Lost Prophets are the other tent headliners??

[kaosmark2]

Download is looking fantastic, no dobut - especially Friday, it's going to be difficult to hold back when day tickets are released. Faith No More is the biggest coup this year UK festival wise in my opinion, along with Pixies at IoW.

I'm pretty sure NIN will do a couple of headline UK dates before Trent decides to call it a day for them, and I'll be the first in line for those tickets when they pop up.

All in all I can see where you're coming from, but I think Sonisphere is being over-hyped by a lot of people because of NIN and NIN alone really. Reading just seems to suit me down to the ground most years, and this year doesn't look like it will be an exception

EDIT: I think a lot of this stems from me loving bands like Fall Out Boy aswell as bands like Deftones, which I'm quite happy to admit!

[candy_cane_boy]

yeah, Prodigy followed by Arctic Monkeys would be pretty special, with Ian Brown as a warm-up too!

Sunday's pretty decent too, Vampire Weekend, YYY's and Radiohead

Rest is a bit meh, Placebo would be good but they're nothing we haven't seen 4 times already...

[kaosmark2]

Its alright, loads I'll watch and still masses to be added. I can see why the metal crowd are pissed off, I think Sonisphere has probbaly forced their hand a bit though.

So we're assuming that Offspring/ Weezer and Lost Prophets are the other tent headliners??

[pigshair123]

WHERE'S THE SUBWAYS!!

[vegetable]

any chance of a truly 'special' guest? MBV?

[Role Model]

Need some Hip-Hop. Wu-Tang Clan please.

[kaosmark2]

any chance of a truly 'special' guest? MBV?

[Tony Carter]

One of the NME headliners will surprise everyone when it gets announced - and it wont be for a while. And it will totally embarass another festival. And it will please the rock fans who are disappointed. Go figure.

[funkymp]

lineup - ok, but pretty much everyone one of the bands has played other festivals in the last couple of years or so, that or toured the uk alot (or will be) by the time reading has come around.

nothing that screams out 'wow' like when they managed to book ratm and pearl jam, both of which were huge coups at the time.

don't get why people are moaning about metal, it's bloody obvious that metal bands will play sonisphere or download, it's the same every year.

[yutre]

radiohead is a massive coup

[Role Model]

Even if you're not a fan of Radiohead, it really is a pretty impressive booking, I don't know why people aren't counting that as a huge coup for the festival.

[jonny005]

Anyone know when the next announcements are made? If memory serves me correctly last year it was in three installments.

[jammy2211]

Next announcement in a week according to NME.

[beLIEveR]

If I wanted to go to a metal festival every year I would go to Download or Sonisphere.

If I wanted to go to an indie festival every year I would go to V.

If I didn't give a monkeys about any of the bands, knowing there would be some huge acts and the festival experience would be great, I'd go Glasto.

I simply want to go to a balanced festival, with a wide variety of genres catered for (not simply being paid lip service to), and a good atmosphere. Reading this year is not providing the musical part of that, and the atmosphere is a subject of much debate.

[Flobadobalob]

One of the NME headliners will surprise everyone when it gets announced - and it wont be for a while. And it will totally embarass another festival. And it will please the rock fans who are disappointed. Go figure.