Hooray! The wait is finally over!
The three headliners for Leeds and Reading festival have finally been announced.
Well, one announced himself months ago…
…And one leaked yesterday..
But one headliner has been announced today!
And, as fun as the jokes were about the lack of information…
We can finally see exactly who is playing the festival and we can all shout about our own opinions of it.
Basics
The three headliners for Reading and Leeds festival 2020 are:
1. Liam Gallagher
Brother to Noel, and former member of Oasis, Liam Gallagher has made a career as a solo artist in the years since the break-up of Oasis.
2. Stormzy
One of the most famous and influential grime/rap artists around at the moment. Let’s be honest, Stormzy is pretty obviously a good choice of headliner.
3. Rage Against The Machine
The outlier of the announcement, RATM are a rap/metal band from California, formed in 1991. Famous for their political, anti-governmental stance, RATM are more of a throwback to the festivals years as more of a rock festival.
Quick Opinion
Leeds and Reading has been moving to a more mainstream style for several years. While the 90s and early 2000’s saw bands like Foo Fighters, Green Day and Red Hot Chilli Peppers headline.
In more recent years however, we’ve seen more rap and hip-hop artists like Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.
Mostly, I think that this year’s line-up follows suit, with popular bands that fit the general demographic the festival now aims for.
The outlier is clearly Rage Against The machine: a distinctly metal band who share very few traits with other bands on this year’s line-up.
But let’s dive deeper into each of these bands before we make any judgements.
The Headliners
Liam Gallagher
Probably the weakest of the three headliners this year (which may be why he wanted to self-announce himself back in November, to get some of the attention before Stormzy and RATM stole his thunder).
Liam is a fantastic solo artist, still with a huge fan-base from his days with Oasis. His first solo album, ‘As You Were’ from 2017 went platinum in less than 6 months!
Known for his abrasive personality and being in the band that wrote Wonderwall, Liam Gallagher is a great choice.
Except…
He already played Reading and Leeds festival back in 2017.
He may not have been headlining, but he was only second to Muse. The fact that this was only a few years ago hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Stormy
I have actually seen some people online complaining about Stormy headlining this year.
And I Do. Not. Understand.
This man is one of the biggest artists around at the moment. After his set at Glastonbury last year, his 2017 album ‘Gang Signs and Prayer‘, and his mis-quoted statement about racism in the UK, stormy is massive.
He is a very popular artist who makes grime/rap music, which I would have thought exactly fit the Reading & Leeds demographic.
Rage Against The Machine
The anti-government, political rap/metal band, RATM formed in 1991 and have been a very popular band ever since, even getting the Christmas Number One back in 2009.
Despite the band going on hiatus twice in that time (for a total 14 years out of the 29 the band has existed), the band still have a huge fan base and general popularity.
They have also played Reading and Leeds 4 times before, making 2020 their 5th appearance over 3 decades.
The most recent hiatus (2012-2018) has meant the band has fallen away from public consciousness somewhat, and since reforming in 2019, there hasn’t been a whole lot of time to build up public support again.
That being said, people know who this band is! Wherever they performed they will get a huge audience!
Why RATM?
As mentioned, this band is still huge and will attract fans.
The real question of course is why Leeds and Reading? A festival currently more known for pop and indie bands.
Even just looking at the rest of the line-up, RATM totally stands out as different.
I suspect that Reading and Leeds festivals have done this so that they can expand their demographic this year to also include metal-heads. I think they did this a few years ago in 2013, when System of a Down played.
(Which I also went to, and you can read about that here)
It’s frustrating that they haven’t put on many other metal/rock bands , but I will still be getting a Sunday ticket for it to be honest.
Wrap Up
Reading and Leeds festival has been moving away from its rock roots and more into contemporary music for a few years now, and this year’s line-up just confirms that.
The appearance of Rage Against the Machine as a headliner is odd, but makes sense from a business point of view. It would be nice to see more rock/metal bands as well, but we make do with what we have.
I will still be attending this year (likely on a day ticket) to see Rage, but I am interested in what this will do to the ticket numbers this year.
