2022 Festival

[OnlyRevolutions]

Tyler, The Creator x Doja Cat would be my guess for the main two for Parklife

[NoBuses]

could Shame headline the FR?

[Benj]

17 minutes ago, NoBuses said:

could Shame headline the FR?

Would be decent programming vs RATM

[TKOCF]

Could see something like
 

Shame - FR

Fever 333 - Pit

Waterparks - Lock Up

 

I’m still annoyed they’ve separated it like this

 

[Andre91]

1 minute ago, TKOCF said:

Could see something like
 

Shame - FR

Fever 333 - Pit

Waterparks - Lock Up

 

I’m still annoyed they’ve separated it like this

 

Can’t see Waterparks coming back after filling in last year in that slot. I think Creeper might return and headline it after having to cancel last minute last year. Either that or Sleep Token. 

[foolee]

1 hour ago, TKOCF said:

Could see something like
 

Shame - FR

Fever 333 - Pit

Waterparks - Lock Up

 

I’m still annoyed they’ve separated it like this

 

I’d prefer them to get rid of the alternative stage as I’ve never attended and make it an FR so that can be 3 days and then the Pit/Lock Up can be 3 days as well. 

[Andre91]

35 minutes ago, foolee said:

I’d prefer them to get rid of the alternative stage as I’ve never attended and make it an FR so that can be 3 days and then the Pit/Lock Up can be 3 days as well. 

I’ve also never been into the Alt stage despite there being comedians I want to see (there’s always music I want to see at the same time). I walked past a couple of times last year early evening and there was genuinely about 20 people in there. I’m sure the performers still smashed it and ripped those 20 people to shit but yeah, I think it’s on its arse at a modern R&L. I still think it’s a cool stage to have, however. 
 

What they need to do is sort out the Dance Stage. It’s always busy later on but they have a habit of putting guitar acts on there who are well out of place. KennyHoopla was on there this year and he would have made way more sense on the Pit/Lock Up. His crowd was awesome all the same but if it was in the Pit/LU, it would have been busier than the massive Dance tent. 

Edited January 9 by Andre91

[gfa]

I reckon if they got rid of the alt stage a second dance tent is more likely than restoring pit/festival republic in all honesty

[Benj]

33 minutes ago, gfa said:

I reckon if they got rid of the alt stage a second dance tent is more likely than restoring pit/festival republic in all honesty

On what basis? They don’t even fill the single dance stage with dance acts anymore. It’s a quasi FR at times now….

I think they should bring back 3 days of the FR, which can genre hop a fair bit itself and as there is so much ‘urban’ music now, represented elsewhere on the lineup, rebrand the 1extra tent as a second alternative stage that features new/ more niche urban stuff alongside heavier/ punk guitar music. 
 

…or as Foolee above says just bin off the Alternative stage as I’m not interested in it 😝

Edited January 9 by Benj

[gfa]

59 minutes ago, Benj said:

On what basis? They don’t even fill the single dance stage with dance acts anymore. It’s a quasi FR at times now….

I think they should bring back 3 days of the FR, which can genre hop a fair bit itself and as there is so much ‘urban’ music now, represented elsewhere on the lineup, rebrand the 1extra tent as a second alternative stage that features new/ more niche urban stuff alongside heavier/ punk guitar music. 
 

…or as Foolee above says just bin off the Alternative stage as I’m not interested in it 😝

I could see it just getting binned off altogether. Interest in dance music is increasing current vs rock/indie so having more of it would draw people away from smaller dance festivals. Maybe make the main dance tent house then dnb in the smaller one for instance. Was definitely just an idea and can't see it happening really - just don't think its going to be turned into an indie/rock tent either.

Unbranding the dance tent would actually be a good idea mind you, just have it as a big tent so we can get some more bigger guitar acts playing in the evening against the headliners.

Edited January 9 by gfa

[Aech]

24 minutes ago, gfa said:

I could see it just getting binned off altogether. Interest in dance music is increasing current vs rock/indie so having more of it would draw people away from smaller dance festivals. Maybe make the main dance tent house then dnb in the smaller one for instance. Was definitely just an idea and can't see it happening really - just don't think its going to be turned into an indie/rock tent either.

Unbranding the dance tent would actually be a good idea mind you, just have it as a big tent so we can get some more bigger guitar acts playing in the evening against the headliners.

I think R&L would do well to cut back the number of stages and focus on quality over quantity. 2 main stages, combine dance and 1xtra in the dance tent and then have an equally large indoor stage for guitar music in general: rock, indie, metal, alternative etc. Then get rid of the rest of the stages bar Introducing. The alternative is useless, it's either empty or far too small to accommodate the big comedians or late night dj sets, and no need to have a stage with just indie or just rock/metal depending on the day like they're doing now.

Edited January 9 by Aech

[gfa]

7 minutes ago, Aech said:

I think R&L would do well to cut back the number of stages and focus on quality over quantity. 2 main stages, combine dance and 1xtra in the dance tent and then have an equally large indoor stage for guitar music in general: rock, indie, metal, alternative etc. Then get rid of the rest of the stages bar Introducing. The alternative is useless, it's either empty or far too small to accommodate the big comedians or late night dj sets, and no need to have a stage with just indie or just rock/metal depending on the day like they're doing now.

I think 1xtra and Dance should stay, they can't be merged as they are too different imo and both popular as it is. A bigger indie/rock stage would be great though to get some bigger acts in with the money saved from scrapping alternative.

[Benj]

2 hours ago, Aech said:

I think R&L would do well to cut back the number of stages and focus on quality over quantity. 2 main stages, combine dance and 1xtra in the dance tent and then have an equally large indoor stage for guitar music in general: rock, indie, metal, alternative etc. Then get rid of the rest of the stages bar Introducing. The alternative is useless, it's either empty or far too small to accommodate the big comedians or late night dj sets, and no need to have a stage with just indie or just rock/metal depending on the day like they're doing now.

I disagree on the lack of quantity thing. Obv you want quality, you don’t just want 10 big acts and no alternative elsewhere
 

I think it was pretty much perfect before the change to the second main stage, I can’t think of many occasions in the last 10-15 years where there was not a single act I wasn’t interesting in seeing on one of the 4 stages, geared towards me.

Theres now basically 12-15 less acts a day to choose from, more so when you consider the 2 main stages offer no actual alternative choice at all, so if you’d don’t like what’s on on the main stage, while you previously had 3 other options, you now have one…it’s shit. 
 

There needs to be a place for new bands to play. I don’t want to see just established acts, it’s not what I go to Reading for

[foolee]

5 hours ago, Benj said:

I disagree on the lack of quantity thing. Obv you want quality, you don’t just want 10 big acts and no alternative elsewhere
 

I think it was pretty much perfect before the change to the second main stage, I can’t think of many occasions in the last 10-15 years where there was not a single act I wasn’t interesting in seeing on one of the 4 stages, geared towards me.

Theres now basically 12-15 less acts a day to choose from, more so when you consider the 2 main stages offer no actual alternative choice at all, so if you’d don’t like what’s on on the main stage, while you previously had 3 other options, you now have one…it’s shit. 
 

There needs to be a place for new bands to play. I don’t want to see just established acts, it’s not what I go to Reading for

But then this 2 main stage thing has worked much better sales wise as they’ve sold out pretty much instantly for the last two years. Obviously Covid last year and AM this year are big factors as well but it’ll be interesting to see how it goes next year because maybe for the average R&L festival goer it’s about bigger acts and not having alternatives in other stages therefore reducing the need for loads of options. 

[gfa]

8 hours ago, Benj said:

I disagree on the lack of quantity thing. Obv you want quality, you don’t just want 10 big acts and no alternative elsewhere
 

I think it was pretty much perfect before the change to the second main stage, I can’t think of many occasions in the last 10-15 years where there was not a single act I wasn’t interesting in seeing on one of the 4 stages, geared towards me.

Theres now basically 12-15 less acts a day to choose from, more so when you consider the 2 main stages offer no actual alternative choice at all, so if you’d don’t like what’s on on the main stage, while you previously had 3 other options, you now have one…it’s shit. 
 

There needs to be a place for new bands to play. I don’t want to see just established acts, it’s not what I go to Reading for

While the introducing will certainly stay, i think in general in the UK the rise of festivals like Truck just down the road is the future really + like Slam Dunk too. Scary as Reading is really on its way to becoming V Festival when I put it like that but I think if you want to see tons of new artists the only way is to do both.

[Benj]

4 hours ago, foolee said:

But then this 2 main stage thing has worked much better sales wise as they’ve sold out pretty much instantly for the last two years. Obviously Covid last year and AM this year are big factors as well but it’ll be interesting to see how it goes next year because maybe for the average R&L festival goer it’s about bigger acts and not having alternatives in other stages therefore reducing the need for loads of options. 

I’m not saying it won’t shift tickets. On paper it definitely looks stronger and to be fair to the casual fan it may well be what they’re after. 
 

Ultimately though a lessening of choice is never a good thing, I’m not a huge Arctic Monkeys fan and would like a choice of who else to see instead, if I’m not feeling it. In this case the ‘Quality’ for most is ‘meh’ for me and the beauty of a Festival, as opposed to just a big live gig, is that it should offer choices for all. My choices at Modern Reading have been cut by 2/3rds, which is not a good thing. 

…and will be the same for the kids with zero internet in RATM

[OnlyRevolutions]

Do think the festival will benefit from bringing the R1 back, would even be happy with them merging some of the smaller stages together into one big stage which is able to cover all genres just like the R1 did (would also allow for bigger acts to go up against the headliners again) losing the Lockup / Pit / FR and 1Xtra wouldn't be a huge loss for me if R1 is what we gained from it

[Dukey]

Combine the dance tent with the Radio 1 tent - they basically did that this year with Alfie Templeman and KennyHoopla playing in there 

Get 3 decent headliners - 2 dance headliners like Camelphat and Bicep & then a more indie based headliner vs Dave such as The Vaccines 

[gfa]

20 minutes ago, Dukey said:

Combine the dance tent with the Radio 1 tent - they basically did that this year with Alfie Templeman and KennyHoopla playing in there 

Get 3 decent headliners - 2 dance headliners like Camelphat and Bicep & then a more indie based headliner vs Dave such as The Vaccines 

Bicep have outgrown the dance tent without a doubt. I can't see there not being a dedicated dance tent.

[TKOCF]

1 hour ago, gfa said:

Bicep have outgrown the dance tent without a doubt. I can't see there not being a dedicated dance tent.

Acts like Bicep and Camelphat would easily headline the Radio 1 stage if it was still a thing. They’re kind of stuck in a weird limbo state between the two.

[gfa]

5 minutes ago, TKOCF said:

Acts like Bicep and Camelphat would easily headline the Radio 1 stage if it was still a thing. They’re kind of stuck in a weird limbo state between the two.

I’d honesty say Bicep would be pretty big for that - they have been headlining big festivals this year. Would be a huge get for R&L and would be rammed 

[Chad888]

The problem with renaming the R1 tent as Main Stage West is that they need to  spend bigger on headliners in comparison but then they have to sacrifice lower down acts.

Polo G, Bastille, Glass Animals, Wolf Alice, Run the Jewels, Enter Shikari subbing is absolute dogshit in all honesty. If they had 1 main stage they could afford far better pedigree of acts, whilst the R1 stage could be lesser acts that cost cheaper.

 

A main stage of:

Fri // Dave > Megan Thee Stalion > Polo G > Little Simz

Sat // Arctic Monkeys > Wolf Alice > Enter Shikari > Fontaines DC

Sun // Rage Against the Machine > Bring me the Horizon > Run the Jewels > Maneskin

 

With Bastille, Halsey, and 1 other headlining R1 would be infinitely better, combine the R1 stage with the NME/Festival Republic stage.

 

It seems they book the same main stage and then spread it over 2 and add filler and dross, we end up with acts bumped up that have no right to be there in any other reality.

Keep the dance. Combine 1xtra with more r&b acts rather than heavy focus on UK drill sound. Keep the introducing stage, fuck off the alt sstage. Keep Pit/lockup as they are.

 

In summary - Mainstage, Radio 1 (FR/NME/R1), Dance, Urban and R&B, Pit/Lockup, Introducing

 

6 stages with 170 acts over the weekend.

 

[Andre91]

30 minutes ago, Chad888 said:

The problem with renaming the R1 tent as Main Stage West is that they need to  spend bigger on headliners in comparison but then they have to sacrifice lower down acts.

Polo G, Bastille, Glass Animals, Wolf Alice, Run the Jewels, Enter Shikari subbing is absolute dogshit in all honesty. If they had 1 main stage they could afford far better pedigree of acts, whilst the R1 stage could be lesser acts that cost cheaper.

 

A main stage of:

Fri // Dave > Megan Thee Stalion > Polo G > Little Simz

Sat // Arctic Monkeys > Wolf Alice > Enter Shikari > Fontaines DC

Sun // Rage Against the Machine > Bring me the Horizon > Run the Jewels > Maneskin

 

With Bastille, Halsey, and 1 other headlining R1 would be infinitely better, combine the R1 stage with the NME/Festival Republic stage.

 

It seems they book the same main stage and then spread it over 2 and add filler and dross, we end up with acts bumped up that have no right to be there in any other reality.

Keep the dance. Combine 1xtra with more r&b acts rather than heavy focus on UK drill sound. Keep the introducing stage, fuck off the alt sstage. Keep Pit/lockup as they are.

 

In summary - Mainstage, Radio 1 (FR/NME/R1), Dance, Urban and R&B, Pit/Lockup, Introducing

 

6 stages with 170 acts over the weekend.

 

They haven’t renamed the R1 Stage Main Stage West. The R1 Stage was canned and a second, identical Main Stage was added. It’s a whole new stage. There’s literally nothing comparable about them. 
 

How don’t Wolf Alice, Bastille and Enter Shikari, just as three examples, not deserve to sub? All have history with the festival and are certainly big enough. Look at the tickets those three have shifted for their most recent tours. 
 

Halsey’s way too big for the old R1 and you’ve shoved acts down to slots they’re bigger than; Little Simz, for example. She shifted a tonne of tickets for her last tour and absolutely justifies a third down slot. 
 

Why would the phase out Drill in the 1Xtra in favour of R&B when Drill is one of the most popular genres at the festival, with those acts routinely pulling big crowds? 
 

I think you’re way off the mark with most of these comments. 

Edited January 10 by Andre91

[charlierc]

I'm guessing the possibility of extra day tickets for AM day is, at best, remote.

[rivalschools.price]

4 minutes ago, charlierc said:

I'm guessing the possibility of extra day tickets for AM day is, at best, remote.

Remote is one way of describing the chances, ‘Not a ****ing hope’ is another.