2023 Festival

[Will b]

As a 19 nearly 20 year old from Exeter the done thing for people I knew was boardies after GCSEs and year 12, then reading after a levels - I recon nearly 50% of my secondary and 6th form ended up following thay pattern. If you live in London or Leeds or nearer one of the festival sites I can imagine you also do r&l after GCSEs instead. 
however this year (just finished year one of uni) I only know about 10 people my age who went to a festival, myself included. Seems to me like there’s a decline in festival going as a whole when uni hits 

however this is just my perspective ofc, not necessarily to be applied across the whole county 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Will b

[Will b]

2 minutes ago, Will b said:

As a 19 nearly 20 year old from Exeter the done thing for people I knew was boardies after GCSEs and year 12, then reading after a levels - I recon nearly 50% of my secondary and 6th form ended up following thay pattern. If you live in London or Leeds or nearer one of the festival sites I can imagine you also do r&l after GCSEs instead. 
however this year (just finished year one of uni) I only know about 10 people my age who went to a festival, myself included. Seems to me like there’s a decline in festival going as a whole when uni hits 

however this is just my perspective ofc, not necessarily to be applied across the whole county 

Adding onto this: it seems like if people my age go to festivals, it’s more genre specific stuff: I went to y not cause I like my indie rock, I know a small group that went to creamfields, and some that went boomtown. The multi-genre festivals seem to appeal less  

[she bangs the drums]

21 minutes ago, SomeoneListeningIn said:

That's a reflection of the clientele of this forum.

Agreed, which means the festival is missing out on this type of clientele attending.

A few people above have said that the festival has always attracted a younger audience which is true, however people 21 years and upwards do not seem to be attending and this has gradually reduced over the past 10 years with changes to the line up and stage choice.

It was obvious the direction the festival was going into when they introduced the Radio One Xtra Stage which the youth were most interested in. 

I would probably have still attended this year if the NME tent and the Lock Up / Pit had provided a viable alternative to the Main Stages which I had little interest in as a 49 year old. 

[andyrhodes24]

4 minutes ago, she bangs the drums said:

Agreed, which means the festival is missing out on this type of clientele attending.

A few people above have said that the festival has always attracted a younger audience which is true, however people 21 years and upwards do not seem to be attending and this has gradually reduced over the past 10 years with changes to the line up and stage choice.

It was obvious the direction the festival was going into when they introduced the Radio One Xtra Stage which the youth were most interested in. 

I would probably have still attended this year if the NME tent and the Lock Up / Pit had provided a viable alternative to the Main Stages which I had little interest in as a 49 year old. 

I went into the pit stage for two bands: Soft Play and Games We Play. There just wasn’t anything else for me.

Games We Play was a good example. Great set but poor attendance, then he played Mr Brightside and it filled up. He then asked he came in because he played it and most of the crowd stuck their hands up.

[WhoOdyssey]

Anyone know what the crowd size for Imagine Dragons was like?

[Andre91]

I’m going to try and articulate this as best as I can because in struggling to put it into the correct words:

I think that Reading and Leeds and it’s lineups/attendance is a reflection of how young people consume music and their relationship with music in general. 
 

Music is almost throwaway to young people now. It is an almost free commodity to them. They aren’t ‘into’ music in the same way as previous generations. The album is dead with younger people and the playlist is dominant, eclectic playlists at that. It’s why you see so many sets where large swathes of the crowd will sing along to a handful of songs but not react to others. The idea of sifting through your favourite artists albums and seeing them as a whole body of music is so alien to most young people now. I work in a secondary school and when I talk about listening to whole albums I get confused looks and comments like ‘Why would I sit and listen to 50 minutes of the same thing when I can put the songs I like into my playlist.’ 
 

Reading and Leeds isn’t a festival for music lovers anymore, it’s a festival for people who love going to festivals. I don’t even know if the festivals caters to the tastes of younger people because I think it’s so hard to pinpoint what young people are into because of their listening habits and the ways in which they consume music. It isn’t even just a ‘they don’t book rock bands’ anymore kind of thing, but the fact that some acts that you would think would be popular pull modest crowds (Rina Sawayama, Mimi Webb, even Foals from what I’ve heard this weekend) across all genres, whether it is rock, indie, hip hop or dance. And then you have other acts pulling big crowds playing a type of music who you wouldn’t really think young people would be into. Steve Lacey (who is excellent), for example, who plays this really soulful, almost throwback type of R&B - would you really think young people would be into that sort of thing on paper? It’s very unpredictable, just like their listening habits and tastes. We’ve said it before with 1Xtra and Dance tent being half empty for half of the day, even though you would expect younger people to be into that sort of thing. 

Does R&L book what is popular with young people or do they just book acts that they know are going to be popular with someone? Do they just book people who they know are big and are about because they know someone will turn up for them? 
 

I don’t think I’ve been very clear reading this back but I know the point I’m trying to make. I think 😂

Edited August 28, 2023 by Andre91

[andyrhodes24]

15 minutes ago, WhoOdyssey said:

Anyone know what the crowd size for Imagine Dragons was like?

As big a crowd as most MSW headliners I’d say. The only MSW headline sets I’ve missed in the three years have been Disclosure and MTS and, across those sets, Catfish was the only one where I’ve struggled the move about where we stand by the sound tower.

[Andre91]

1 minute ago, andyrhodes24 said:

As big a crowd as most MSW headliners I’d say. The only MSW headline sets I’ve missed in the three years have been Disclosure and MTS and, across those sets, Catfish was the only one where I’ve struggled the move about where we stand by the sound tower.

Catfish is the only genuinely massive crowd I’ve seen on that stage too. 

[Benj]

2 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

Catfish is the only genuinely massive crowd I’ve seen on that stage too. 

I’d say MTS was bigger, was definitely  the biggest last year, by a long, long way

[Andre91]

1 minute ago, Benj said:

I’d say MTS was bigger, was definitely  the biggest last year, by a long, long way

Yeah tbf she was really busy too. 

[andyrhodes24]

8 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

Reading and Leeds isn’t a festival for music lovers anymore, it’s a festival for people who love going to festivals.

This is exactly it. R&L draws in so many people who just want to go to say they’ve been but couldn’t care less about the music beyond one or two current acts.

These days it’s a starter festival and not much else.

[andyrhodes24]

8 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

Catfish is the only genuinely massive crowd I’ve seen on that stage too. 

Even The 1975 was quiet towards the back. Plenty of space to move around from the sound tower backwards to the food stalls, shocked me did that

[Hirstys 12th Pint]

6 minutes ago, andyrhodes24 said:

This is exactly it. R&L draws in so many people who just want to go to say they’ve been but couldn’t care less about the music beyond one or two current acts.

These days it’s a starter festival and not much else.

Couple in my Sons group of friends only saw about 3 bands all weekend and stayed round camp then off to the raves in the early hours.

[Andre91]

11 minutes ago, andyrhodes24 said:

Even The 1975 was quiet towards the back. Plenty of space to move around from the sound tower backwards to the food stalls, shocked me did that

That’s crazy. If acts like The 1975, Foals and Halsey aren’t pulling massive crowds as acts you would expect to be hugely popular, I don’t think it matters too much who they book. Enough people will buy tickets for it to be an overall success regardless. 
 

Get The Strokes, or MCR, or Blink or Paramore. It doesn’t matter if they don’t ‘fit’ as well with what R&L has to offer these days. They are popular with someone so people will turn up still. Or, conversely, people won’t bother watching them and will go and get pissed up in their tents. It doesn’t matter who plays, the crowd habits will stay the same. 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Andre91

[andyrhodes24]

Top and bottom five from this year FWIW:

Top: Billie Eilish, NBT, Games We Play, Yard Act, Inhaler

Bottom: Central Cee (genuinely baffling), Muna, Declan McKenna, Hot Milk, Steve Lacy

Special mentions to Soft Play (love them but sound quality was shocking, guitar sounded like it was being played though a pocket amp) and Wet Leg (like them but a completely forgettable performance, Radio 6 da’s need to stay off the sherry) 

[charlierc]

I will say tbf I know some people in my early 30s demographic who went for a day trip for Killers day, didn't feel like the oldest people there (something I would've) and had a great time.

On the subject of TK, I watched some of the BBC livestream and felt the guitars were too low in the mix. Saving aside my bemusement the iPlayer version is only half an hour (and cuts out the kid who came on for drums), it was odd hearing a few songs of it being all synth.

[andyrhodes24]

3 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

That’s crazy. If acts like The 1975, Foals and Halsey aren’t pulling massive crowds as acts you would expect to be hugely popular, I don’t think it matters too much who they book. Enough people will buy tickets for it to be an overall success regardless. 
 

Get The Strokes, or MCR, or Blink or Paramore. It doesn’t matter if they don’t ‘fit’ as well with what R&L has to offer these days. They are popular with someone so people will turn up still. Or, conversely, people won’t bother watching them and will go and get pissed up in their tents. It doesn’t matter who plays, the crowd habits will stay the same. 

Poor undercards are half the problem, didn’t see many Sunday wristbands about about probably because Central Cee and Knucks were subbing. If they’d done something like The Killers > The 1975 > Courteeners > Blossoms it would’ve done miles better, even if it is uninspiring.

What business does Central Cee have subbing The Killers? It was a proper shambles this year.

[Andre91]

6 minutes ago, andyrhodes24 said:

Poor undercards are half the problem, didn’t see many Sunday wristbands about about probably because Central Cee and Knucks were subbing. If they’d done something like The Killers > The 1975 > Courteeners > Blossoms it would’ve done miles better, even if it is uninspiring.

What business does Central Cee have subbing The Killers? It was a proper shambles this year.

There’s no rhyme or reason for how they organise the card these days. It’s like hitting shuffle on a playlist and I think it’s as I’ve mentioned above, it’s supposed to be a reflection of younger peoples listening habits. I think it hurts the lineup far more than it strengthens it. 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Andre91

[gfa]

2 hours ago, andyrhodes24 said:

Okay so Leeds thoughts 2023.

1. It was really quiet. There was so much space even in red and blue camps, no one camping next to the path by the shops. The arena was also quiet for the headliners. Plenty of space last night for the Killers. I left at about 22:10 and there weren’t many people hanging round the campsites either, just no one about.

2. Nice to see five solid bands headline. Imagine Dragons weren’t as shite as expected.

3. Stop putting acts like Muna, Mimi Webb, Baby Queen on the main stage, they’re all the same and all shite. Pathetic crowds.

4. Give the FR tent some love, especially when clashing with pop/rap main stage acts. It was packed for Soft Play and Sleep Token and more decent bands would bring it back to life.

5. Banning disposable vapes was pointless. Instead people just chucked the packaging of the reusable ones all over the place alongside the disposables that got through. There was tonnes of it.

6. Way too many people happily paid £10.50 a Four Loko.

2024:

Travis Scott, Liam Gallagher, Dua Lipa, Machine Gun Kelly, Kasabian, Olivia Rodrigo.

4 - they don't have the budget to do this, these 2 acts you stated would have been high R1 if they still had it .. they can't book the whole stage like that!

48 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

Reading and Leeds isn’t a festival for music lovers anymore, it’s a festival for people who love going to festivals. I don’t even know if the festivals caters to the tastes of younger people because I think it’s so hard to pinpoint what young people are into because of their listening habits and the ways in which they consume music.

This is quite a mad take, i get what your going for but 2 things i'd flag

1. reading is probably most people's first fest and most repeat goers likely go as they know it well already / are still in the reading age bracket before going elsewhere - not really people who love going to fests

2. plenty of fests cater to the tastes of younger people more specifically - the superstruct fests like Truck do this well, as does say Community or even like Creamfields. Reading is just so genre diverse now that its hard to. its difficult to sell 200k tickets for £300 while having to cater for such wide tastes + leeds vs reading differences make it harder eg where to book courteeners etc

19 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

That’s crazy. If acts like The 1975, Foals and Halsey aren’t pulling massive crowds as acts you would expect to be hugely popular, I don’t think it matters too much who they book. Enough people will buy tickets for it to be an overall success regardless. 
 

Get The Strokes, or MCR, or Blink or Paramore. It doesn’t matter if they don’t ‘fit’ as well with what R&L has to offer these days. They are popular with someone so people will turn up still. Or, conversely, people won’t bother watching them and will go and get pissed up in their tents. It doesn’t matter who plays, the crowd habits will stay the same. 

Complacency like this is worrying. If they booked 4 headliners like the ones you listed the fest would become 'uncool' and stop selling quickly. 1-2 is fine, theres ones like these 4 every year but that many.. no chance

think the poor hip hop selection really hit them this year

[Benj]

25 minutes ago, Andre91 said:

That’s crazy. If acts like The 1975, Foals and Halsey aren’t pulling massive crowds as acts you would expect to be hugely popular, I don’t think it matters too much who they book. Enough people will buy tickets for it to be an overall success regardless. 
 

Clearly not to the extent it used to, given ticket sales this year and tales of loads more space than usual

They may as well book a load of bands that will sell to music lovers of the rest will be filled in by those who go regardless

its where they ballsed up this year

[andyrhodes24]

1 minute ago, Andre91 said:

There’s no rhyme or reason for how they organise the card these days. It’s like hitting shuffle on a playlist and I think it’s as I’ve mentioned above, it’s supposed to be a reflection of younger peoples listening habits. I think it hurts the lineup far more than it strengthens it. 

Yeah it just doesn’t work - what’s the point in having mixed genre days if it can’t do it’s job of enticing people into the arena for longer than half an hour.

It’s trying to be too many things and failing at all of them with this set up (bar the headliners which turned out to be a solid bunch). Clearly pre-2019 Melvin had near heard the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

[Andre91]

10 minutes ago, gfa said:

4 - they don't have the budget to do this, these 2 acts you stated would have been high R1 if they still had it .. they can't book the whole stage like that!

This is quite a mad take, i get what your going for but 2 things i'd flag

1. reading is probably most people's first fest and most repeat goers likely go as they know it well already / are still in the reading age bracket before going elsewhere - not really people who love going to fests

2. plenty of fests cater to the tastes of younger people more specifically - the superstruct fests like Truck do this well, as does say Community or even like Creamfields. Reading is just so genre diverse now that its hard to. its difficult to sell 200k tickets for £300 while having to cater for such wide tastes + leeds vs reading differences make it harder eg where to book courteeners etc

Complacency like this is worrying. If they booked 4 headliners like the ones you listed the fest would become 'uncool' and stop selling quickly. 1-2 is fine, theres ones like these 4 every year but that many.. no chance

think the poor hip hop selection really hit them this year

I’m not saying book all of those acts in one year 🙂 

[Benj]

7 minutes ago, andyrhodes24 said:

Yeah it just doesn’t work - what’s the point in having mixed genre days if it can’t do it’s job of enticing people into the arena for longer than half an hour.

It’s trying to be too many things and failing at all of them with this set up (bar the headliners which turned out to be a solid bunch). Clearly pre-2019 Melvin had near heard the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

Big question is, has the pandemic Tiktok boom created the mess, or is it solely the two main stage format?

[wro_lap]

Had a bloody incredible weekend. I love this festival and coming here to talk about it during the other 360 days of the year. Roll on 2024 already.

[Andre91]

It’s the undercard that has become the problem, I think. It’s just so scattergun now that it makes it hard for people to justify a day ticket to see whichever headliner they fancy.