Lineup 2018

[dentalplan]

54 minutes ago, Mattymooz said:

Paramore I'm not sure about. Like I believe their tour is with Live Nation, so they can't wont do BST (as it is AEG). So that kinda only leaves Reading? Don't get me wrong I'd love to see them but atm I'm not sure they'd be a very popular booking (considering most of the longtime fans didn't like their recent album that much). Guess it would work with Royal Blood tho (though it may end up being like a Biffy/FOB situation where Paramore closes both sites?)

The tour doesn’t really matter. I mean it’d be easier for them to do a LN/FR festival but if they don’t want Paramore to play any of their festivals then it wouldn’t stop them doing BST. I think if they don’t do R+L they’ll probably not be in Europe at all over summer.

Also why would Paramore be after them at both sites? If it’s because it’s a disproportionate pairing then you’ve got it twisted - Royal Blood are bigger nowadays.

[R Shah]

Literally everything points towards foo fighters at reading this year.

1)They are the most popular current rock band in the UK at this moment 

2)They only announced 3 UK shows and added no more despite instant sell outs  and their summer north American tours mean they cant play TRNSMT or BST Hyde Park

3) With the absence of Glastonbury they need HUGE headliners therefore foos (biggest rock band) arctics  (biggest indie band ) maiden (biggest metal band) Kendrick (biggest rapper who is suited to reading ) are extremely likely 

4) They have a break with no tour dates the whole of August and yet they have a full schedule in July and September which means theyd miss the majority of UK and European festivals which take place in June and July - except reading . 

5) They haven't played in 6 years and that's a normal amount of time for a gap. 

6) They've been overempahsising how much they love the UK with Dave writing letters and stuff on Twitter and it's by far their favourite country to play in they've admitted it so many times 

They are so likely right now id put money on it . Whole range of other possibilities but they are by far top of the list. Bring it on. First line-up announcement will be in the first week of December as usual. They'll either be announced first or last. 

Edited November 14, 2017 by R Shah

[TheWaters]

5 minutes ago, R Shah said:

Literally everything points towards foo fighters at reading this year.

1)They are the most popular current rock band in the UK at this moment 

2)They only announced 3 UK shows and added no more despite instant sell outs  and their summer north American tours mean they cant play TRNSMT or BST Hyde Park

3) With the absence of Glastonbury they need HUGE headliners therefore foos (biggest rock band) arctics  (biggest indie band ) maiden (biggest metal band) Kendrick (biggest rapper who is suited to reading ) are extremely likely 

4) They have a break with no tour dates the whole of August and yet they have a full schedule in July and September which means theyd miss the majority of UK and European festivals which take place in June and July - except reading . 

5) They haven't played in 6 years and that's a normal amount of time for a gap. 

6) They've been overempahsising how much they love the UK with Dave writing letters and stuff on Twitter and it's by far their favourite country to play in they've admitted it so many times 

They are so likely right now id put money on it . Whole range of other possibilities but they are by far top of the list. Bring it on. First line-up announcement will be in the first week of December as usual. They'll either be announced first or last. 

Literally just reading posts like these gets me so excited.

[Gucci Piggy]

1 hour ago, Mattymooz said:

TBH I'd be more suprised if RB were a coheadliner, it makes more sense for the future of the festival but no doubt they'd sell more tickets just getting a better act (dunno if I trust FR to make the right decision)

Agreed on Kendrick, no way he wouldnt solo headline.

Paramore I'm not sure about. Like I believe their tour is with Live Nation, so they can't wont do BST (as it is AEG). So that kinda only leaves Reading? Don't get me wrong I'd love to see them but atm I'm not sure they'd be a very popular booking (considering most of the longtime fans didn't like their recent album that much). Guess it would work with Royal Blood tho (though it may end up being like a Biffy/FOB situation where Paramore closes both sites?)

Well they'd also sell more tickets having Led Zeppelin, Oasis and The Rolling Stones with Kendrick, Royal Blood and Paramore subbing but they have a budget and acts have demands. Royal Blood would probably be a more expensive sub than anyone they've had recently and could easily not accept it.

[Mattymooz]

15 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

The tour doesn’t really matter. I mean it’d be easier for them to do a LN/FR festival but if they don’t want Paramore to play any of their festivals then it wouldn’t stop them doing BST. I think if they don’t do R+L they’ll probably not be in Europe at all over summer.

Also why would Paramore be after them at both sites? If it’s because it’s a disproportionate pairing then you’ve got it twisted - Royal Blood are bigger nowadays.

Maybe not neccesairily more popular but they have a lot more material to draw from. I think RB would be pushing to fill like an 18 song set or whatever, like I know their tour setlist is 17 songs long but at that point they're basically just playing most of the songs they've put out.

Paramore could do a lot more rounded set with more hits that people know the words to (Plus I think they would be better in the Dark and RB be better during the sunset imo)

That and Paramore tickets are still way more expensive than Royal Blood and they play in the UK a lot less (like they've both done arena tours over the past year but RB did way more stops and do it more frequently, especially as Paramore I dont think has played a UK fest since they last played Reading?)

[Mattymooz]

Just now, Will-2609 said:

Well they'd also sell more tickets having Led Zeppelin, Oasis and The Rolling Stones with Kendrick, Royal Blood and Paramore subbing but they have a budget and acts have demands. Royal Blood would probably be a more expensive sub than anyone they've had recently and could easily not accept it.

I dunno I think you may be overestimating how expensive Royal Blood are, didnt they play like 3rd down at Glasto? (I get Glasto is a bigger fest but The XX were higher than them and there is no way they're headlining Reading off this album).

Yes they would probably be an expensive sub, but I doubt they're that much different to Kendrick & BMTH when they subbed, and if they have a cheaper headliner (like Paramore or Florence) then they could probs afford the more money on the sub. I doubt they'd be that much difference in price to 21P nowadays.

[dentalplan]

6 minutes ago, Will-2609 said:

Well they'd also sell more tickets having Led Zeppelin, Oasis and The Rolling Stones with Kendrick, Royal Blood and Paramore subbing but they have a budget and acts have demands. Royal Blood would probably be a more expensive sub than anyone they've had recently and could easily not accept it.

Biggest thing suggesting they’re headlining to me is why wait until fifteen months after the album just to have them sub - one higher than they last did? They probably booked it in 2015.

6 minutes ago, Mattymooz said:

Maybe not neccesairily more popular but they have a lot more material to draw from. I think RB would be pushing to fill like an 18 song set or whatever, like I know their tour setlist is 17 songs long but at that point they're basically just playing most of the songs they've put out.

Paramore could do a lot more rounded set with more hits that people know the words to (Plus I think they would be better in the Dark and RB be better during the sunset imo)

That and Paramore tickets are still way more expensive than Royal Blood and they play in the UK a lot less (like they've both done arena tours over the past year but RB did way more stops and do it more frequently, especially as Paramore I dont think has played a UK fest since they last played Reading?)

So cos Paramore charge £9 more and they can’t get on a bill anywhere else in the UK they’re gonna close a night at each site?

I imagine Biffy had the privilege of headlining both sites despite the coheadline pairing because they had more of a light and pyrotechnic show. I don’t think that’s true of Paramore.

[Mattymooz]

52 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

Biggest thing suggesting they’re headlining to me is why wait until fifteen months after the album just to have them sub - one higher than they last did? They probably booked it in 2015.

I assumed it was because they had already played everywhere last year and didn't wanna be overexposed (especially when they had a tour coming up). I wouldn't be suprised if they get announced as the Community headliner and left as TBC on the Reading lineup as a sub like alt-j in 2015 till after July either.

51 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

So cos Paramore charge £9 more and they can’t get on a bill anywhere else in the UK they’re gonna close a night at each site?

I mean, thats like 25% of a ticket to a royal blood show to begin with (and just one of the reasons).....

55 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

I imagine Biffy had the privilege of headlining both sites despite the coheadline pairing because they had more of a light and pyrotechnic show. I don’t think that’s true of Paramore.

I assumed it was because Biffy was a lot bigger than FoB (say maybe, 25% bigger?) so it made more sense for them to end the night

[dentalplan]

36 minutes ago, Mattymooz said:

I assumed it was because they had already played everywhere last year and didn't wanna be overexposed (especially when they had a tour coming up). I wouldn't be suprised if they get announced as the Community headliner and left as TBC on the Reading lineup as a sub like alt-j in 2015 till after July either.

I mean, thats like 25% of a ticket to a royal blood show to begin with (and just one of the reasons).....

I assumed it was because Biffy was a lot bigger than FoB (say maybe, 25% bigger?) so it made more sense for them to end the night

Whut. Even if they were subbing R+L, they'd already be too big for Community. And they didn't play anywhere last year - they've played two UK festivals since the year their first album came out.

Also are you really gonna give me that Paramore are 25% bigger than Royal Blood cos they charge that much more?  Limp Bizkit are 11% bigger than Paramore then, maybe Limp Bizkit can play after them at both sites. What I was getting at was they both charge relatively little so they're not exactly gonna be highballing the headline slot but I think the light show makes more sense than ticket prices personally.

Edited November 14, 2017 by dentalplan

[thewayiam]

Always got to be some arsehole that laughs at another's suggestion just because they see no point in that argument......it's usually the same arsehole....!

[rfc_478]

I don’t think there’s much difference between the two in terms of size or light show- if it’s is a Royal Blood/ Paramore co-headline then I’d expect one to close Reading and the other to close Leeds (like every other co-headline there’s been except Biffy/FoB) 

[dentalplan]

1 minute ago, rfc_478 said:

I don’t think there’s much difference between the two in terms of size or light show- if it’s is a Royal Blood/ Paramore co-headline then I’d expect one to close Reading and the other to close Leeds (like every other co-headline there’s been except Biffy/FoB) 

Yah exactly. We don't need to create another classification of headliner. Headliner and coheadliner debates are stressful enough without being 'close at both'/'close at one'/'close at neither' differentiators.

5 minutes ago, thewayiam said:

Always got to be some arsehole that laughs at another's suggestion just because they see no point in that argument......it's usually the same arsehole....!

Make no mistake dude, I respect what Matty has to say even if I don't agree with what he's saying - which is very different to my thoughts on anything you have to say.

[Guest]

I reckon R&L didn't book RB last year because they wanted to gauge how well the album was received so they knew how much they could push them the next year (i.e. sub, coheadline or outright headliners). That, and they're potentially gonna be able to get them as exclusives this year where as they couldn't have done that last year.

Would seem silly for R&L to miss the most successful new rock band in the UK on their second album tour. Almost certain they'll be booked, and if they are I really think they'll be nothing less than a coheadliner.

Edited November 14, 2017 by SomeoneListeningIn

[Guest]

They need to book Royal Blood while they can, when they are potentially at their peak in popularity/success. They never have to worry about Arctics, they're always gonna be big enough now and so long as they're touring and still together, there'll be numerous opportunities to book them in the future.

Also, if they don't get Arctics on this album cycle and have to wait for the next, it'll be a much stronger, more exciting booking than having them again 4 years later, having only released one album since their last headline (an album that will likely be very new if at all released by the summer).

Edited November 14, 2017 by SomeoneListeningIn

[Mattymooz]

EDIT: Fuck this turned into a bit of an essay... tl;dr: Think its up to arctics basically whether they wanna play R+L or if they are gonna skip it (and leave the slot open for RB to coheadline in it). + some more of me bullshitting about Paramore

 

Oh don't get me wrong, I definitely think Royal Blood will be booked, I just don't think they'll solo headline (imo defo not big enough) and could coheadline or be a really strong sub. After watching Catfish I think 2 albums is too little to fill a headline slot with. Unless you're a big fan of a band, you just dont have enough material and have to play too many deep cuts (though saying that the only experience I've had of a band with 2 albums out headlining was Catfish and all their songs sound the same which doesnt help particularly). I still think this album was good enough that their next one will still sell well (no matter how good it is just based off the hype) and then they can probably solo headline in like 2020 when there won't be as much competition as Glasto will be having their big anniversary so all the big bands will probs wanna be there for that.

2 hours ago, dentalplan said:

Whut. Even if they were subbing R+L, they'd already be too big for Community. And they didn't play anywhere last year - they've played two UK festivals since the year their first album came out.

I feel like they're gonna try and make Community a bigger event though. If they are hosting Liam a couple of days before, then if they are aiming for a similar sized event I dont think RB are that much bigger than him. And mb about the fests then lol, it seems like I haven't been able to get away from hearing about them doing gigs this year, did they do an academy tour earlier in the year too?

2 hours ago, dentalplan said:

Also are you really gonna give me that Paramore are 25% bigger than Royal Blood cos they charge that much more?  Limp Bizkit are 11% bigger than Paramore then, maybe Limp Bizkit can play after them at both sites. What I was getting at was they both charge relatively little so they're not exactly gonna be highballing the headline slot but I think the light show makes more sense than ticket prices personally.

Ofc not I just felt like you'd kinda glazed over my other points and focussed on that one so was being a bit pedantic  IMO coheadlining is where they don't think having just one act as the headliner will draw in enough punters (either for a day ticket or a weekend). Ideally though, they still want the biggest one to be last (so that the act doesnt get too offended, people anticipate the bigger one more etc.). Like in 2014 where QOTSA and Paramore were pretty similarlly sized it made sense for them to switch as you couldnt really rank them. However in 2016, imo both you could easily rank as one being bigger than the other.

I definitely think the lightshow thing is wrong. Disclosure used way more lights than foals iirc, and (I didnt stay for Biffy) but I think FoB probably did more considering they had all the fireworks, pyrotechnics and the girls angle grinding their crotches (ya know like the thing they do to make sparks)

2 hours ago, SomeoneListeningIn said:

Also, if they don't get Arctics on this album cycle and have to wait for the next, it'll be a much stronger, more exciting booking than having them again 4 years later, having only released one album since their last headline (an album that will likely be very new if at all released by the summer).

I'm not sure that factors much into FR's plan. I would guess that they'd rather have Arctics on every tour they do than once every 8 years or whatever as Arctics is still gonna sell a day out better than someone like Blink or whatever. I reckon it's probably more down to Arctics touring schedule and whether they are doing Coachella and other fests next year (in which case a slot at R+L would help with album promo so why wouldn't they want to do it) or if they hold off till 2019

Edited November 15, 2017 by Mattymooz

[Guest]

Personally, I don't think Arctics are gonna play in 2018. I'd be more surprised if Royal Blood sub than headline outright, but think they'd be best suited to coheadline.

[dentalplan]

I didn’t realise FOB had fireworks too. I suppose I am wrong about that then.

While it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them pick up Arctic Monkeys, I think the uncertainty around the album release will have had them looking elsewhere as they can’t headline twice on the same album that’d be dumb as hell lol. Glasto 2019 gets mentioned as a reason why they might bite the bullet without an album but for all we know Glastonbury might not have approached them or they did for 2019 and Arctics were already in place for R+L. 

[dentalplan]

Taubertal in Germany (mid-August) just did its first lineup announcement: among a bunch of German bands they have The Menzingers, Cypress Hill, Silverstein, Hot Water Music, Creeper and SWMRS. I guess it doesn’t mean anything to see Creeper around Europe at that time but for the rest, mainly SWMRS and Menzingers, it might be indicative.

Edited November 15, 2017 by dentalplan

[Stuielooie]

Fall out Boy have announced 4 arena dates with their new album coming out. I assume that puts them in place to potentially play 3rd down or sub to a very strong three headliners.

[MIchael_scarn]

2 minutes ago, Stuielooie said:

Fall out Boy have announced 4 arena dates with their new album coming out. I assume that puts them in place to potentially play 3rd down or sub to a very strong three headliners.

Just saw that. The shows are in March which doesn't really suggest they're gonna do R+L plus I doubt they'd want any less than 2016 which was a co headline. Also 2 years seems a bit soon for them to come back.

[Guest]

Frank Turner is playing some Mongol Horde gigs in January. Guess he could turn up with them?

Edited November 15, 2017 by SomeoneListeningIn

[KingPin]

Foo Fighters
???

Paramore
All Time Low

Royal Blood/Kendrick Lamar (co-headliners)
Stormzy

My thoughts atm, could easily just have Kendrick headline outright and have Royal Blood sub Paramore (strengthens the day and day tickets) and ATL sub Foos.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, KingPin said:

Foo Fighters
???

Paramore
All Time Low

Royal Blood/Kendrick Lamar (co-headliners)
Stormzy

My thoughts atm, could easily just have Kendrick headline outright and have Royal Blood sub Paramore (strengthens the day and day tickets) and ATL sub Foos.

No way Kendrick would coheadline. Paramore/Royal Blood coheadline is much more likely. Also All Time Low wouldn't sub.

[KingPin]

Just now, SomeoneListeningIn said:

No way Kendrick would coheadline. Paramore/Royal Blood coheadline is much more likely. Also All Time Low wouldn't sub.

Nah next time Pararmore headline they'll be doing it outright. ATL are on their second arena tour, they're a sub sized band now.

[Guest]

Just now, KingPin said:

Nah next time Pararmore headline they'll be doing it outright. ATL are on their second arena tour, they're a sub sized band now.

I wouldn't be so sure. Paramore's new album hasn't done as successfully as expected - they've certainly not grown in popularity since their last headline. I'm not saying they couldn't headline outright - I think it is very possible. But if Royal Blood are gonna coheadline with anyone in your prediction it'll be with Paramore, not Kendrick.

Regarding All Time Low, they're third main stage or NME headliner I reckon. Not got a big enough pull to be sub yet.