Who will you see?

[DavidWM]

I'm guessing (and hoping) you bought an early bird ticket since you seem to hate the lineup an awful lot, but what exactly were you expecting? They've got three headliners who have all played the festival before, and who aren't dissimilar to a lot of previous headliners.

[Asdaprice]

last year they had the cure,

year before that The Strokes and Pulp

year before that Arcade Fire

and before that they had Radiohead and the Arctics

would have any one of those over the dross headlining this year

R/L is slowly becoming the slightly rockier V Festival

[LondonTom]

last year they had the cure,

year before that The Strokes and Pulp

year before that Arcade Fire

and before that they had Radiohead and the Arctics

would have any one of those over the dross headlining this year

R/L is slowly becoming the slightly rockier V Festival

[lightning1000]

last year they had the cure,

year before that The Strokes and Pulp

year before that Arcade Fire

and before that they had Radiohead and the Arctics

would have any one of those over the dross headlining this year

R/L is slowly becoming the slightly rockier V Festival

[the wonderwhy]

A majority of the NNE looks like it belongs at V, in fairness.

[lightning1000]

True, I was talking more about the high mainstage acts though.

[kaosmark2]

You are insane. Saying bands like NIN, Biffy, System and Green Day are like a rockier v fest, when pretty much everyone you said would be booked by v itself

[sjseabass]

I agree that it's insane to use 'Reading is becoming like a rockier V Fest' as an insult if the bands you'd prefer Reading to book are Pulp, Arctics and the like.

However, what is Reading if not a rockier V Fest? They are both festivals which are similar in almost every way, apart from Reading books heavier acts V doesn't at the expense of (almost all) mainstream pop, with indie the crossover in the middle. Seems accurate to me.

[mrtourette]

I agree that it's insane to use 'Reading is becoming like a rockier V Fest' as an insult if the bands you'd prefer Reading to book are Pulp, Arctics and the like.

However, what is Reading if not a rockier V Fest? They are both festivals which are similar in almost every way, apart from Reading books heavier acts V doesn't at the expense of (almost all) mainstream pop, with indie the crossover in the middle. Seems accurate to me.

[thesecretingredientiscrime]

Haha I agree on the hoping part. When people complain but buy early tickets I say HA. To me it seems too many people rely on reading to bring them their dose of indie again and again, and what do they expect!? They run out eventually kids, and reading is a rock fest, so can have it's share of "other" rock

Edited April 23, 2013 by thesecretingredientiscrime

[sjseabass]

Reading is less money-grabbing and puts more back into the community than V.

[mrtourette]

True, and I do like it for that.

I'm not sure that's what commenters on this topic were getting at, though.

[the wonderwhy]

The acts mentioned were the small minority of 'decent' acts V tends to book, the rest of its line-up is often full of pop shite. R&L on the other hand will usually do a good job of filling the line-up with decent rock/indie/alternative acts when it books Arctics etc.

This year, however, they have filled the NME with dance/pop that wouldn't look out of place at V. They've also added two new stages that could be decent, but will most likely be full of similar stuff (although its probably best to wait until after the announcement before really judging that ) So I can see where the comparison has come from. Okay, it may not be the festivals fault, but its still depressing to see it a lot more V-like than, say, last year. As I've said before, hopefully that was just them getting the hype/pop bands out of the way & they'll turn it round with the next announcements.

And yeah, 'tried to please everyone, but failed' is pretty accurate.

[mrtourette]

Except it's not really done that has it? If it had I could understand that, but it's booked a handful of bands from that type of genre. (Reading's actually a Blues fest btw )

[jump]

R&L has finally given up pretending to be butter as it was really margarine all along.

[kev1664]

The acts mentioned were the small minority of 'decent' acts V tends to book, the rest of its line-up is often full of pop shite. R&L on the other hand will usually do a good job of filling the line-up with decent rock/indie/alternative acts when it books Arctics etc.

This year, however, they have filled the NME with dance/pop that wouldn't look out of place at V. They've also added two new stages that could be decent, but will most likely be full of similar stuff (although its probably best to wait until after the announcement before really judging that ) So I can see where the comparison has come from. Okay, it may not be the festivals fault, but its still depressing to see it a lot more V-like than, say, last year. As I've said before, hopefully that was just them getting the hype/pop bands out of the way & they'll turn it round with the next announcements.

And yeah, 'tried to please everyone, but failed' is pretty accurate.

[the wonderwhy]

Who would you have realistically had on the NME? Remember they have a new booker this year, and they are trying to make the festival sell out again. It did that 5-10 years ago because that indie stuff that they seemed to have got rid of this year was popular back then, now it's not as popular and they are trying once again to reach out to the popular culture, which in turn is why it seems so poppy just like V.

The organisers are hardly stupid and aren't gonna sit back and be stubborn with their booking of dated acts just to keep a small part of its identity, they are here to make money after all.

A lot may not like that they are doing that, but that's the reality of it. They have still catered to their core audience via the main stage, it's just a little heavier again this year, next year with the acts available the heavier followers will probably be disappointed when arctic monkeys and mumfords are announced.

[Com Truise]

This year, however, they have filled the NME with dance/pop that wouldn't look out of place at V. They've also added two new stages that could be decent, but will most likely be full of similar stuff (although its probably best to wait until after the announcement before really judging that )

[DavidWM]

Are the people talking up Green Day listening to the same band as me?

Saying they wouldn't be booked by V festival, but Radiohead or Arcade Fire would? wow.

Green Day are 3 chord shite and I've never met anyone over the age of 18 who still listens to them.

bashing the previous years' lineups has nothing to do with nostalgia, it's just really, really bad this year. clearly aimed to cater for the younger, V fest type audiences, who only know about a band if they've had a hit single out recently

Edited April 24, 2013 by DavidWM

[lharris92]

Are the people talking up Green Day listening to the same band as me?

Saying they wouldn't be booked by V festival, but Radiohead or Arcade Fire would? wow.

Green Day are 3 chord shite and I've never met anyone over the age of 18 who still listens to them.

bashing the previous years' lineups has nothing to do with nostalgia, it's just really, really bad this year. clearly aimed to cater for the younger, V fest type audiences, who only know about a band if they've had a hit single out recently

[Dead throne]

Are the people talking up Green Day listening to the same band as me?

Saying they wouldn't be booked by V festival, but Radiohead or Arcade Fire would? wow.

Green Day are 3 chord shite and I've never met anyone over the age of 18 who still listens to them.

bashing the previous years' lineups has nothing to do with nostalgia, it's just really, really bad this year. clearly aimed to cater for the younger, V fest type audiences, who only know about a band if they've had a hit single out recently

[mrtourette]

Green Day will be a massive draw and predominently for those over 25 (maybe even over 30). They're the only band currently announced that would sell a ticket to me and most of the people I usually go with are only getting a day ticket this year just to see Green Day. They're all in their thirties.

[thesecretingredientiscrime]

R&L has finally given up pretending to be butter as it was really margarine all along.

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Green Day are awful. They're the band for part time 'punk' fans who dust off the leathers & eye make up at the weekend & profess to rebel against everything, but really stand for nothing. They haven't made a decent tune in years & Billie Joe is about as cringe worthy as Billy Joel, with a bit less street cred.

[mrtourette]

Green Day are awful. They're the band for part time 'punk' fans who dust off the leathers & eye make up at the weekend & profess to rebel against everything, but really stand for nothing. They haven't made a decent tune in years & Billie Joe is about as cringe worthy as Billy Joel, with a bit less street cred.