Lineup 2020

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

I remember saying last year that I could see them ditching a lot of US rappers in favour of UK based artists because the former are notorious for pulling out and that is definitely reflected in this year’s Main Stage lineup.

Also the UK rap scene has really popped off in the last year or so. Think it’s happened semi naturally, but they were probably wary of booking US rappers after everything that’s happened, like you say.

[Matt42]

Isn’t it because reading usually clashes with the MTV awards or some other US events?

 

[alf13]

13 hours ago, Andre91 said:

R&L has always been the school leavers festival and that was glaring obvious on Friday when loads of Year 11s and 10s at my school were talking about the lineup and planning on buying tickets (or asking parents for a ticket for their birthdays). 

I was asking them about who on the lineup they were most wanting to see and the acts that drove the conversation were Migos (who they were really excited about), D-Block Europe, Aitch, M Huncho, AJ Tracey, Headie One and MK. Lewis Capaldi got a few mentions too. 

Barely any of them (and there was a good group of 30-35 kids here) mentioned Stormzy, who they said was boring (along with Skepta, because we looked at the Wireless lineup too). Some other comments included: 

- Liam Gallagher is crap but would be alright for ‘the Oasis tunes’ 

- the Sunday at Reading ‘is full of heavy metal bands isn’t it?’ 

We spend a lot of time on here talking about how R&L is a zeitgeist festival and how they book what is popular and it was interesting to hear first hand exactly what on this lineup is drumming up interest in young people.

They definitely talk about Reading with reverence and it’s something they really want to be a part of, which was the same when I was their age so nothing has changed there. It’s just that what is popular with them has changed. 

I feel as though Stormzy is almost a gateway into grime and UK rap for the slightly older generations as he is the main name that is associated with UK rap but I don’t think he really appeals to the younger GCSE/A Level students as much as he used to a few years back. I’m 17 and I know for a fact none of my friends who like grime will go to watch Stormzy as he’s lost his appeal recently in their eyes and is ‘a bit boring and too pop music ish’ now whereas Dave is much more preferred by everyone I know. I know Stormzy headlined Glasto and his audience is huge in the UK atm (and his tour dates show that) and I’m definitely not underestimating the scale of how big of an artist he is but I don’t think as many youngsters actually listen to him as people  on this forum may think (In comparison to AJ Tracey, Dave , D Block Europe, Aitch etc.) I can imagine his crowd will probably be more 18-24 year olds than 16 year olds.

[biggest032]

10 hours ago, defender4 said:

i’m still surprised sunday tickets aren’t gone yet

makes me wonder how big a crowd rage will actually pull in 

rage fans dont want to go reading really  . The nme will be heaving for aj tracey . Alot of people seem to go home on sunday . It'll be a smallish crowd but would have thought at least  20,000 or so will go just for them .

[defender4]

1 hour ago, biggest032 said:

rage fans dont want to go reading really  . The nme will be heaving for aj tracey . Alot of people seem to go home on sunday . It'll be a smallish crowd but would have thought at least  20,000 or so will go just for them .

probably

i reckon it’ll be quite a big crowd ngl, i mean maybe not as big as it could be, but still decent sized

a lot of people will probably go just for that one song everyone knows (((killing in the name))) but end up moshing anyway

guess we’ll see 

[Andre91]

Those who were expecting Rage to be this all-conquering, day ticket shifting juggernaut booking are in for a rude awakening. Come August, I reckon they will pull the smallest crowd of all three headliners and by some way. With options elsewhere including AJ Tracey, M Huncho and even Wilkinson, Rage will play to a modest crowd to say the least. The way they have booked the rest of the day is the biggest issue. 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Andre91

[defender4]

1 hour ago, Andre91 said:

Those who were expecting Rage to be this all-conquering, day ticket shifting juggernaut booking are in for a rude awakening. Come August, I reckon they will pull the smallest crowd of all three headliners and by some way. With options elsewhere including AJ Tracey, M Huncho and even Wilkinson, Rage will play to a modest crowd to say the least. The way they have booked the rest of the day is the biggest issue. 

“those” including festival republic maybe lmao

i mean i WANT it to be packed, but ehhhh yeah i guess you’re right 

[Matt42]

1 hour ago, Andre91 said:

Those who were expecting Rage to be this all-conquering, day ticket shifting juggernaut booking are in for a rude awakening. Come August, I reckon they will pull the smallest crowd of all three headliners and by some way. With options elsewhere including AJ Tracey, M Huncho and even Wilkinson, Rage will play to a modest crowd to say the least. The way they have booked the rest of the day is the biggest issue. 

I guess it is just a complete and utter wake up call that R&L just ain’t the same anymore lol

[defender4]

5 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

I guess it is just a complete and utter wake up call that R&L just ain’t the same anymore lol

i still feel like a fair few will go, if not just for killing in the name

i guess we’ll see

im disappointed in my generation though, even if that makes me sound like an utter boomer

[dum surfer]

not sure if this would ever happen, but Tiny Meat Gang for alternative stage!

[metallimuse]

3 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Those who were expecting Rage to be this all-conquering, day ticket shifting juggernaut booking are in for a rude awakening. Come August, I reckon they will pull the smallest crowd of all three headliners and by some way. With options elsewhere including AJ Tracey, M Huncho and even Wilkinson, Rage will play to a modest crowd to say the least. The way they have booked the rest of the day is the biggest issue. 

I'm 36 so probably the target audience for the Rage booking but I have zero interest in seeing them. 

Seen them before and I would far rather see newer bands/artists/bookings. 

[Benj]

18 minutes ago, metallimuse said:

I'm 36 so probably the target audience for the Rage booking but I have zero interest in seeing them. 

Seen them before and I would far rather see newer bands/artists/bookings. 

I’m 42 and while I’d rather see them than RHCP, Foo Fighters etc (simply as I’ve seen them far less and far less recently), I’d have rather seen someone who was at least still making interesting new music top the bill. 

I agree that their crowd won’t be that big and many of the kids will have little interest, I didn’t in lots of the older bands when I went to Reading as a teen. It’s how it should be, otherwise we’d still all be listening to The Beatles and Buddy Holly

[LazyDavid]

Got my Sunday ticket as I've never got to see Rage, love a bit of Run the Jewels and Idles so hopefully neither overlap too much. 

 

Addition of The Subways has given me something to watch as I'm really struggling to find anything appealing to see between them and RTJ. Would like to see Creeper and Fever 333 but think they'll be clashing with RTJ and Idles. 

 

 

[biggest032]

5 hours ago, Andre91 said:

Those who were expecting Rage to be this all-conquering, day ticket shifting juggernaut booking are in for a rude awakening. Come August, I reckon they will pull the smallest crowd of all three headliners and by some way. With options elsewhere including AJ Tracey, M Huncho and even Wilkinson, Rage will play to a modest crowd to say the least. The way they have booked the rest of the day is the biggest issue. 

Thing is I think if they booked a strong day on mainstage for them with say turnstile knocked loose , a couple of mid size older acts for them , then rtj , idles , bring me , ratm I'm fairly sure it would have sold incredibly strongly with at least reading selling out.

[Dales]

I saw Rage headlining Reading in 1996 and also playing Feile in Ireland back in 1994. They were full of energy but still rather dull. Maybe, they are a lot slicker now but the two times I saw them I was very underwhelmed. I wold be surprised if the younger crowd at Reading would have any interest in them and those of my age who may want to see them are unlikely to be impressed with the general booking policy of Reading/Leeds these days.

[CG31]

5 hours ago, defender4 said:

i still feel like a fair few will go, if not just for killing in the name

i guess we’ll see

im disappointed in my generation though, even if that makes me sound like an utter boomer

Me too very disappointed 

[Pottsy2913]

51 minutes ago, Gerard the Fab said:

Me too very disappointed 

The fact that people were in uproar over them being announced on Twitter was a disgrace. Fair enough if you don't know them, but bashing them purely over that was so wrong. At least the majority of that crowd will be off to the Radio 1 tent I suppose.

Definitely going to try and get as close to the front as possible for Rage, feel like the atmosphere will be dead at the back.

[TKOCF]

I don’t feel disappointed about the lack of care that people my age have for Rage. 
 

Times move on, music changes. There’ll always be new music that’s being made that rock fans love. In fact, I think it’s an excellent time for guitar music, with bands like Fontaines, Foals, 1975 (yeah I know), black Midi, Idles, Bring me the Horizon, Don Broco just to name a few.

[Sam Y]

I’m 17 and personally like them. It’s just a lot of people my age had no clue who they were. 

[defender4]

ah fuck it even if it’s just 5 people it’ll still be mental

[biggest032]

7 hours ago, defender4 said:

i still feel like a fair few will go, if not just for killing in the name

i guess we’ll see

im disappointed in my generation though, even if that makes me sound like an utter boomer

To be fair i should think there are still plenty of people of your generation who actually like rock music and would happily see Rage , but they just dont tend to go to reading anymore especially with a lineup like this . There is  download and trees for the rock kids  and in particular you see plenty of youngsters at slam dunk .  Reading used to attract the socially awkward kids (stereotype but true ) who liked heavy and alternative acts like NIN , Deftones and Rage . Those days are gone .  But dont worry get yourself down the front and it will be awesome there easily big enough to fill the front  with people super excited to see them . 

[thetime]

Majority on here would of moaned that RATM was not booked, if they didn't book them up.

 

[Ferda]

28 minutes ago, defender4 said:

ah fuck it even if it’s just 5 people it’ll still be mental

I am sure it will be better than that 😉

The least attended headline show I experienced was The Cure at Novarock last year, good example of misplaced booking. They were on against Slayer and ended up playing to 5k people at best. This was a disgrace, given Novarock main stage is the same size as Reading... RATM will do just fine

[CG31]

41 minutes ago, biggest032 said:

To be fair i should think there are still plenty of people of your generation who actually like rock music and would happily see Rage , but they just dont tend to go to reading anymore especially with a lineup like this . There is  download and trees for the rock kids  and in particular you see plenty of youngsters at slam dunk .  Reading used to attract the socially awkward kids (stereotype but true ) who liked heavy and alternative acts like NIN , Deftones and Rage . Those days are gone .  But dont worry get yourself down the front and it will be awesome there easily big enough to fill the front  with people super excited to see them . 

i like rock music, but then i like Indie as well and i live in Reading hence why r&l is the best option

[defender4]

yeah i like the idea of reading honestly, its just a big fat mix of everything

i think no matter what it’ll be fun

 

that's if it doesn’t get cancelled because of the coronavirus (joking.....kinda)