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Official Reading & Leeds 2026


Chad888

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People who can't sell in England can't sell here either. Unless you're a bigger Scottish act. Even then, there's no guarantees. 

 

Plenty of half empty or less outdoor shows happen here. The acts that sell out here will sell out down south. 

 

Oh, and 70k tickets sold is easily enough. Especially since they were instant sellouts. 

 

And ALL of that aside, her popularity should never be in question in the first place. 

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26 minutes ago, DomDom1984 said:

People who can't sell in England can't sell here either. Unless you're a bigger Scottish act. Even then, there's no guarantees. 

 

Plenty of half empty or less outdoor shows happen here. The acts that sell out here will sell out down south. 

 

Oh, and 70k tickets sold is easily enough. Especially since they were instant sellouts. 

 

And ALL of that aside, her popularity should never be in question in the first place. 

Ah I'm not questioning her popularity, just that 70k is a big leap.

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On 06/05/2025 at 21:22, andyrhodes24 said:

Does Glasto having a year off have any impact on the strength of R&L? Biggest UK festival next year.

I know I'm late in replying. But I think the look is that it does and doesn't. 2018 was a Glasto year off yet Reading that year was pretty insipid. I admit part of that may have been that June/July 2018 was so loaded with big hitters that late summer kinda didn't have the same spark, but still.

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On 14/06/2025 at 15:17, charlierc said:

I know I'm late in replying. But I think the look is that it does and doesn't. 2018 was a Glasto year off yet Reading that year was pretty insipid. I admit part of that may have been that June/July 2018 was so loaded with big hitters that late summer kinda didn't have the same spark, but still.

Reading Kendrick day 2018 was one of my favourite festival days there but not due to Kendrick haha. The rest and with Papa Roach after Pendulum was great.

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On 14/06/2025 at 15:17, charlierc said:

I know I'm late in replying. But I think the look is that it does and doesn't. 2018 was a Glasto year off yet Reading that year was pretty insipid. I admit part of that may have been that June/July 2018 was so loaded with big hitters that late summer kinda didn't have the same spark, but still.

I wouldn't imagine so, I believe Glasto has a cap on artist budget that other festivals will happily exceed should the right artist be around.
I guess it's just the prestige of playing the festival that pulls bands to it?

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4 hours ago, nathanh said:

interesting that they are putting Doechii down as a headliner

Honestly can’t see it myself just yet, even as a co-headliner. The fact she’s only doing 45 minutes headlining West Holts at Glasto is more than enough to make me think not yet until a couple of years down the line I reckon.

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17 hours ago, RandomEnglishPerson said:

where is the survey

Came up as an app notification and didnt give me a link, its been there for months seemingly because the competition closed in May so sorry i cant really help

Edited by nathanh
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Andy Copping, lead booker of Download Festival, has just claimed that Sleep Token have received 8 offers to headline festivals across Europe next year on a podcast. Wouldn't be surprised if Reading and Leeds is one of them since they have that "mainstream" appeal that the festival typically looks for

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8 hours ago, DuckyMcQuacks said:

Andy Copping, lead booker of Download Festival, has just claimed that Sleep Token have received 8 offers to headline festivals across Europe next year on a podcast. Wouldn't be surprised if Reading and Leeds is one of them since they have that "mainstream" appeal that the festival typically looks for

I don’t think it’ll be R&L. I don’t think they’d go down well at R&L. Look at 2023 when they were on the TMBTE cycle when they were blowing up and they subbed the FR tent; they played to a two thirds full tent. 
 

I think it’s a bit of a misnomer that Sleep Token have massive appeal with people who wouldn’t usually listen to heavy music. They’re not a heavy band for pop fans; they’re a poppier band for heavy music fans. Sleep Token fans are far more likely to also like bands like Architects, Spiritbox etc. than they are whatever is going on in the charts. 
 

If they were to play R&L, it would be to a crowd full of day ticket holders there specifically for them; they wouldn’t be appealing to the masses already at the festival for the weekend. They were contentious enough at Download and that’s a festival far more likely to have their fans already there. 
 

If they do headline R&L, I’ll happily concede I was wrong but I really can’t see it myself. 

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8 hours ago, DuckyMcQuacks said:

Andy Copping, lead booker of Download Festival, has just claimed that Sleep Token have received 8 offers to headline festivals across Europe next year on a podcast. Wouldn't be surprised if Reading and Leeds is one of them since they have that "mainstream" appeal that the festival typically looks for

I don’t think it’ll be R&L. I don’t think they’d go down well at R&L. Look at 2023 when they were on the TMBTE cycle when they were blowing up and they subbed the FR tent; they played to a two thirds full tent. 
 

I think it’s a bit of a misnomer that Sleep Token have massive appeal with people who wouldn’t usually listen to heavy music. They’re not a heavy band for pop fans; they’re a poppier band for heavy music fans. Sleep Token fans are far more likely to also like bands like Architects, Bad Omens, Spiritbox etc. than they are whatever is going on in the charts. 
 

If they were to play R&L, it would be to a crowd full of day ticket holders there specifically for them; they wouldn’t be appealing to the masses already at the festival for the weekend. They were contentious enough at Download and that’s a festival far more likely to have their fans already there. 
 

If they do headline R&L, I’ll happily concede I was wrong but I really can’t see it myself. 

Edited by Andre91
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11 hours ago, DuckyMcQuacks said:

Andy Copping, lead booker of Download Festival, has just claimed that Sleep Token have received 8 offers to headline festivals across Europe next year on a podcast. Wouldn't be surprised if Reading and Leeds is one of them since they have that "mainstream" appeal that the festival typically looks for

I dont think they'll do Reading and Leeds either, not for them in my opinion for likely similar day ticket only reasons and not Reading weekend general vibes broad appeal. But not due to playing second in the FR tent when they only played second 3 years ago at Download too. That point is just down to the fact they were given the bump too quick and sold less tickets for their day that both the others and the overall picture with people leaving too it showed. 

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3 minutes ago, LazyDavid said:

It does feel like in the UK, Download is the only one they'd headline

 

Wonder if they'd ever headline say The Other Stage at Glastonbury as an alternative one day?

They’re going to be in the same boat as Avenged, for example, where Download is realistically the only festival who will book them to headline. 

 

 

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Sleep Token weren’t rushed as a DL headliner. It’s one of the most proactive, bold bookings the festival has ever made; striking whilst the band is truly hot and not making them jump through endless hoops. 120,000+ tickets sold out almost instantly? That’s a headliner and I’m so glad they actually did it and got them to headline when they did, even though I didn’t think it was an amazing set in its entirety.
 

It’s the one booking they’ve made since it became ‘Download 2.0’ that I think truly epitomises the hopeful shift in booking when it comes to headline bands, something that has been long needed. 
 

They pulled a perfectly respectable headline crowd, too. Yes, people left but it wasn’t as en masse as some social media posts have made out. Some people were never going to give them a chance, some did and didn’t like it so left; it happens with every headliner. People were leaving two thirds the way through Green Day as well. I left Sleep Token about two thirds the way through and, walking back up towards the exit, they still had a big crowd, bigger than a decent number of headliners I’ve seen at DL before. They went down well enough with enough people that they absolutely will be booked to headline again in the future; the issue is, however, like I’ve said above; much like Avenged, they’re just too niche to headline anywhere else in the country and will only really have DL as a realistic option to take when headlining. 
 

I’m a very casual Sleep Token fan, btw. I’ve not not great feeling towards them either way; the handful of songs I like, I really enjoy, but I’m not fussed on the vast majority of their material, so I’m not coming from a place of fanaticism. 

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1 hour ago, Andre91 said:

Sleep Token weren’t rushed as a DL headliner. It’s one of the most proactive, bold bookings the festival has ever made; striking whilst the band is truly hot and not making them jump through endless hoops. 120,000+ tickets sold out almost instantly? That’s a headliner and I’m so glad they actually did it and got them to headline when they did, even though I didn’t think it was an amazing set in its entirety.
 

It’s the one booking they’ve made since it became ‘Download 2.0’ that I think truly epitomises the hopeful shift in booking when it comes to headline bands, something that has been long needed. 
 

They pulled a perfectly respectable headline crowd, too. Yes, people left but it wasn’t as en masse as some social media posts have made out. Some people were never going to give them a chance, some did and didn’t like it so left; it happens with every headliner. People were leaving two thirds the way through Green Day as well. I left Sleep Token about two thirds the way through and, walking back up towards the exit, they still had a big crowd, bigger than a decent number of headliners I’ve seen at DL before. They went down well enough with enough people that they absolutely will be booked to headline again in the future; the issue is, however, like I’ve said above; much like Avenged, they’re just too niche to headline anywhere else in the country and will only really have DL as a realistic option to take when headlining. 
 

I’m a very casual Sleep Token fan, btw. I’ve not not great feeling towards them either way; the handful of songs I like, I really enjoy, but I’m not fussed on the vast majority of their material, so I’m not coming from a place of fanaticism. 

Festival crowds and tour crowds are different. That's been discussed, agreed and accepted widely so selling that many tickets on their own tours doesn't mean anything really when it comes to a festival. So how many of the 75k left Green Day?, or 90k as Andy and the team would let you believe? I believe Paul TM personally. 

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1 hour ago, nathanh said:

Ok I dont know how this would go down but is Lorde in the picture for 2026, new album out, I know theres been no HIT off it but she has a sold out arena tour back end of this year.


if Hozier can headline surely Lorde can. Not that I think either is a "great" booking 

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47 minutes ago, thatTFBguy said:


if Hozier can headline surely Lorde can. Not that I think either is a "great" booking 

Oh no dont think it would be that great of a booking either, but just a thought i had whilst watching her secret set at Glasto

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