Green Day, Muse and Soundgarden

[thejimbola]

Arcade Fire had a great crowd this year. After The Libertines finished, almost the entire crowd vanished and pissed off to the NME stage. It was astonishing watching it. You'd have to go to somewhere like Mecca to see as many people move as fast as that away from one place to another. But about 10 minutes before Arcade Fire came on, people from the smaller stages flocked to see them on the main stage and packed the place.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

Somewhere like Mecca... or Sonisphere with it's 2 alternating main stages at either end of the arena. Mental!

[rexclark]

The crowd for Mumford and Sons was the most hostile crowd I've been in for years - I didn't enjoy their gig at all. It's fine to like both bands; that's not what I'm getting at.

What I'm getting at is - with popular "current" bands, you're more likely to get people who go to see them because it's the fashionable thing to do rather than because they're actually fans of their music. If you take away the popular appeal, you take away the fans of popular culture, and when you take away the fans of popular culture you eventually discover fans of music. Mumford and Sons - most people who stepped inside the NME tent this year were there just to update their Facebook status' and tell their idiot friends how they were seeing a band Zane Lowe raved about, and in the meantime all of the decent fans (who were there for the music) were getting lost and literally stamped on and crushed in the deluge of arseholes.

Having current bands on may be good for business but then money isn't usually a substitute for taste.

Arcade Fire had a great crowd this year. After The Libertines finished, almost the entire crowd vanished and pissed off to the NME stage. It was astonishing watching it. You'd have to go to somewhere like Mecca to see as many people move as fast as that away from one place to another. But about 10 minutes before Arcade Fire came on, people from the smaller stages flocked to see them on the main stage and packed the place.

That's what it'd be like for Soundgarden. It'd be a clearout of all the w*nkers and a good place to actually enjoy seeing a great band.

[Leyser]

"Current"... you sound just like Simon Cowell. I'm being dismissive.

If nobody has heard of Soundgarden before then at least putting them on as headliners will wake ignorant people up to a time when something was actually happening in music. That's not dusty nostalgia either. I grew up with Soundgarden and there were maybe 5 or 6 people in my school who'd heard of them, alongside me - most casually knew them as the default band featured on the 'Grunge' page of Encarta '97 - but those 5 or 6 people I knew were cool, and frankly I'd rather be in a crowd of 10,000 cool people than an NME stage packed to the brim with 30,000 w*nkers like at Mumford and Sons this year.

With Soundgarden, Festival Republic have to take into account and consider the element of risk. Either there will be a massive crowd or a relatively small (and poor) crowd - whatever happens; whether it's a big or small crowd; whoever goes to see them will enjoy themselves and at the end of the day that's all that matters.

Besides which, I'm sure if they DO have Soundgarden as headliners then there will be plenty other bands on at the same time for people to enjoy instead if they don't want to see them. That's the nature of a good festival - variety.

[Messi30]

Soundgarden werent ever big? sold over 5m of superunkown alone saying that they only sub headlined in their heyday so wouldnt think they would headline now, audience at Reading/Leeds wouldn't be in to it these days. That's says more about the audience than the band imo

[Matticus]

If i was to pick the line up, id personally have

Friday

Neil Young - new album out, obviosuly will never headline reading in todays world.

Soundgarden - probs not relevent enough to headline nowdays

Sat

Foo Fighters - probably wont play, but put on a good show and are a good festival band

Qotsa - enough said,

Sun

The Cure - Epic end to the fest - havnt seen them before

Pixies - fav band of all time probably

plop weezer, yeah yeah yeahs, the mars volta and zz top in there and you got yourselfs a cracking festival.

the nme stage can cater to all the radio friendley teeny bop dross whilst the real music fans can take a slice of music pie on the main stage

[Dave The Hedgehog]

Most of the kids these days are at Reading for the wrong reasons (as stated above).

[Leyser]

If i was to pick the line up, id personally have

Friday

Neil Young - new album out, obviosuly will never headline reading in todays world.

Soundgarden - probs not relevent enough to headline nowdays

Sat

Foo Fighters - probably wont play, but put on a good show and are a good festival band

Qotsa - enough said,

Sun

The Cure - Epic end to the fest - havnt seen them before

Pixies - fav band of all time probably

plop weezer, yeah yeah yeahs, the mars volta and zz top in there and you got yourselfs a cracking festival.

the nme stage can cater to all the radio friendley teeny bop dross whilst the real music fans can take a slice of music pie on the main stage

[Vieuphoria]

Neil Young subbed by Soundgarden would be dream lineup stuff. Shame it would never happen at Reading Festival. Not ever.... oh wait. f**k. What happened to this festival. Jeeeeze.

Edited November 18, 2010 by Vieuphoria

[Leyser]

There's no Rock band in the mainstream now who could sell 10,000,000 albums and still kick ass

Do you know what I think Reading and Leeds should do? Follow the example of ATP - pick a great Rock band from the past - anybody from 4AD, Touch & Go, Rough Trade, Creation, Sub Pop, etc - and give them complete creative control over the musical output of the festival.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

It's is practically an oxymoron in this day and age. Rock producing at such a high level (and quality)along with selling that many albums is so contradictory now, that it's just ridiculous.

[Vieuphoria]

can i suggest Radiohead? and i'm sure there are a few others?

[Leyser]

Well, that's partly my point.

Talking about diminishing album sales is a whole other can of worms. The point I'm making is - disregard the 10,000,000 album sales number for a second and just take into account any popular mainstream Rock band at the minute; a band that could potentially headline Reading or Leeds. It's completely subjective but how many modern 00's/10's mainstream bands can you think of that are actually decent or on par with a band like, say, Nirvana in terms of musical quality and still retain decent album sales?

I, personally, can only think of Arcade Fire off the top of my head.

There's just nothing really going on in music at the minute and that's when we end up with shit bands like My Chemical Romance and Muse headlining. When something good starts happening, then the festivals can start having some great headliners. Otherwise it's either older bands (like Guns N Roses this year and hopefully Soundgarden next year) or mundane bands that don't grab you by the scruff of the neck, push you up against a wall and tell you to wake up. And I don't want that for nearly £200 a ticket.

[Leyser]

can i suggest Radiohead? and i'm sure there are a few others?

[Vieuphoria]

I don't like Arcade Fire. I just don't "get" it.

Plus they aren't on Spotify so they obviously aren't good

[Vieuphoria]

Arcade Fire in my opinion hands down the future of mainstream alternative/rock music. Not saying they are the highest quality band the world has to offer, but of course the point is in terms of main stream success with a quality sound. The last band to do that was Radiohead (with their success in the 00's)as being one of the biggest bands in the world well still maintaining a relatively unique sound in terms of what the mainstream had to offer. I believe Arcade Fire are progressing towards success at Radiohead's level, as they are only getting bigger.

Seeing as AF clearly played Reading this year I also think the only good (sub)headlining will be oldies, hopefully Soundgarden, The Pixies, and of course Neil Young will be there next year.... Please??

[Leyser]

I don't like Arcade Fire. I just don't "get" it.

Plus they aren't on Spotify so they obviously aren't good

[Vieuphoria]

Fair enough. I have a special place for Arcade Fire, so too say because I have been listening to them from the beginning of their careers when I was at the peak of my musical interest. I can see how people wouldn't like them, especially if they hopped on board more recently (not saying that is your case). I listen to plenty of different music and its hard to find something I absolutely hate but I guess I can respect your opinion on AF...and the Pixies haha.

Personally I would like to see someone like Mogwai or the Lips headlining NME when a lesser headliner is up on the main stage

[Dave The Hedgehog]

I don't like Arcade Fire. I just don't "get" it.

Plus they aren't on Spotify so they obviously aren't good

[Vieuphoria]

What don't you get about them?

[Dave The Hedgehog]

I use the word "get" to mean that i just do not see what everyone else see's in them. Sure they are good, but i don't see the Wow-factor everyone else does.

[Joe-]

Well, when it comes to Arcade Fire not many bands are doing what they’re doing and producing the same sort of sound as they do. Not many bands reach a commercial and artistic peak at the same time – being commercial usually proves detrimental for bands that thrive on their artsy pretentions.

Radiohead come quite close, as mentioned, but what I think a lot of people appreciates is the seemingly relentless ambition a band like Arcade Fire has to find new ways of expressing themselves. They develop and mature their sound but somehow they always seem to manage to sound the same – a bit like The Fall always did; always different and yet always the same. They’re a band that we can appreciate on a level of artistic integrity but they’re also a band who can sell out Madison Square Garden. They make incredibly insular and challenging music and yet somehow, in some way or another, they’re one of the biggest bands on the planet and that’s mainly due to the fact that a lot of people can probably relate to them on a human level. They give hope to fans of real music that grow increasingly more cynical and despondent to the world of popular culture when everything else shoved down our throats with such brute force either sounds the same or is basically the same thing wrapped in a different package – they are different, and they stand out.

Also, lyrically, not many bands nowadays deal with the same sort of themes as they do. Their lyrics are honest and genuine, and they are all about longing for some understanding in a world that otherwise doesn’t seem to make much sense; trying to find some humanity in a world that doesn’t seem to have much of it these days. Heartbreak, fear of being alone, facing the reality that we’re only getting older, loss of childhood, coming of age, but most of all, I don’t think anybody can truly relate to Arcade Fire unless they have experienced the pain of losing something or somebody they love. Their music offers some clarity for your soul when it otherwise feels overwhelmed and clouded with some sort of unexplainable grief.

I mean to be honest a song like ‘Wake Up’ is just so f**king relevant today that it’s not even funny. They’re screaming and shouting about something but they probably don’t even know why – they just scream because that’s what their heart tells them to do. Words can’t justify the pain and anger people feel sometimes so all they can do is scream. I get like that sometimes and I can only imagine that one of the reasons why Arcade Fire are so popular is because millions of other people feel like that too. You just have to look at the world and feel it; and if you don’t feel it when you listen to a song like ‘Wake Up’ then you’re not human.

That’s why I like Arcade Fire. Because they speak to me as an individual when no other new band on the planet at the minute does. Bit deep. Bit long-winded. But it's true.

[Dave The Hedgehog]

You should save that. That was awesome to read.

[ilikethefestivals]

Honestly though, I hadn't listened to Arcade Fire until about 2 months before Leeds but when I listened to 'Wake Up' for the first time I burst into tears - not because it's a sad song but because it's something I really needed, and the power of the song penetrated my mind so deeply that it did actually wake something up inside me to the point of realisation where I thought to myself, "suddenly things don't seem as shit anymore."

[Dave The Hedgehog]

I laughed - sorry