Reading & Leeds asked The Libertines to reform

frontman Peter Doherty says the band were offered headline slot

• This Event
• Line-up
• News
• Reviews
• Photos
• Interviews
• Forum
• Event Home

Reading Festival 2009

Friday 28th to Sunday 30th August 2009
Little Johns Farm, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 8EQ, England MAP
£175 for a weekend ticket, £70 a day ticket - SOLD OUT

Daily capacity: 55,000

Festival Republic, the promoters of the Reading and Leeds Festival, have made an offer to Peter Doherty, and Carl Barat, to reform The Libertines according to an article on the NME (here).

According to an interview with the ex-frontman, Peter Doherty, the promoter made him and Carl Barat an offer of the chance to headline the Reading and Leeds Festivals this August, but the pair turned it down because Barat wasn't happy to go ahead with a Libertines reunion.

In an interview with the magazine published tomorrow, the frontman says, "We had some ridiculous offers to headline Reading. Like £2 million to headline this festival, £1 million to headline that festival. I said, 'Why don't we just do it? Let's get the old band back together."

Doherty continues that, "He (Barat) said, 'We have to be friends, we can't just do it for the money'. I said, 'OK, let's be friends! Friends who go and make lots of money', because I haven't got any money and I know he's skint. He said I had to go and see an energy consultant, some new age guru who is going to measure my energy levels and see if I'm surrounded by darkness. If I am I'm not allowed to go near Carl because I'll tap into his good energy and I'll sap all the good energy and bring nothing but darkness into his life."

The interview implies that Reading and Leeds organisers are still searching for headliners. Green Day who are rumoured by lots of sites to be possible headliners, are, eFestivals has understood for a month, very unlikely to play.

There are no acts confirmed yet for 2009. For rumours of who might play the festival, please click For rumours of who might play the festival, please click here.

Reading and Leeds Festivals which take place on the bank holiday weekend, from Friday 28th to Sunday 30th August. Reading Festival takes place at Little Johns Farm, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, and Leeds Festival takes place at Bramham Park, Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Line-up and ticketing details for the events will be announced in due course and when they are on sale, ticket buyers can rest assured that eFestivals will NOT be offering our readers links to buy tickets from unreliable sources.

discuss this news on the Festival Forums