Reading / Leeds Headliners Announced

[The Chief]

ok, i heard that the three headliners this year are Pearl Jam, Muse & Franz Ferdinand. How fucking gay. i never heard pearl jam, muse are too whiny and im not going to start with franz 'one hit wonder take me out' ferdinand and their whole indie nerk fanbase.

[TheCrippler]

ok, i heard that the three headliners this year are Pearl Jam, Muse & Franz Ferdinand. How fucking gay. i never heard pearl jam, muse are too whiny and im not going to start with franz 'one hit wonder take me out' ferdinand and their whole indie nerk fanbase.

[NobBe Nobbs]

You haven't heard of Pearl Jam? Damn...I have to agree with the Crippler, go listen to SOMETHING by them before you start bitching. And saying FF have had one hit is a) just stupid and b) disprovable by facts.

[Pander Opiate]

Has this actually been reported somewhere reliable?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Pearl Jam are a very good group.

Muse are brilliant live (I've seen 'em).

Franz Ferdinand I like but are probably the weakest of the three but have a large fanbase.

[Cactus Drags]

Pearl Jam are awesome. Ten is one of my favourite albums.

Muse really aren't my thing, quite whiny and mopey, they've had a couple of good ones, namely New Born, which is utterly fantastic, but they're not really my bag. bit indie for Reading I'd have thought too.

Same for FF, bit indie. Not keen on them either, they were a breath of fresh air when they first came out, but they've really driven that sound into the ground, they're not doing anything new. Definitely not one-hit wonders though.

[K]

Muse and Franz are shit. I've never listened to Pearl Jam either.

[Johnny Drama]

its not bad but there has been better headliners the last few years

[Liam]

None of the headliners have even been confirmed yet. so it's all just rumours at the moment.

Rumoured so far:

Alice Cooper - strong rumour

Arctic Monkeys - strong rumour

Flaming Lips - rumour

Franz Ferdinand - strong rumour

Kaiser Chiefs - strong rumour

Muse - strong rumour

New Order - rumour

Pearl Jam - rumour

The Strokes - strong rumour

Boy Kill Boy - strong rumour

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - strong rumour

Dirty Pretty Things - strong rumour

Gogol Bordellos - strong rumour

Maximo Park - strong rumour

Secret Machines - strong rumour

Sunshine Underground - strong rumour

The Deadbeats - rumour

The Raconteurs - strong rumour

The Rakes - strong rumour

The Used - strong rumour

The Wrens - strong rumour

Wolfmother - strong rumour

¡Forward, Russia! - rumour

So Muse aren't even rumoured yet....

EDIT: Dragsy.....how is a band "too indie" for Reading when that's generally what the Reading festival focuses on? The heavier acts play the Concrete Jungle stage, you have the DJ's and Comedians in the tents, and aside from the odd big metal act, it's all rock and indie.

Edited March 2, 2006 by rvdwannabe

[Colly]

Friday Leeds and I believe Saturday Reading are generally heavy on the main stage, Maiden last year and GnR in 02. Can't remember in between, didn't go. I've seen Muse headline two second stages over the years, they aren't big enough to headline a main in my opinion, really can't see it.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I don't think Muse have a huge enough following or recent "chart success" or NME-loving to headline main either though a second stage headline would definitely do it. I'd see 'em over pretty much whoever was on the other stage...

Edited March 3, 2006 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[Liam]

Friday Leeds and I believe Saturday Reading are generally heavy on the main stage, Maiden last year and GnR in 02. Can't remember in between, didn't go. I've seen Muse headline two second stages over the years, they aren't big enough to headline a main in my opinion, really can't see it.

Yeah, they always have the one or two odd heavy bands, and it's usually the Sunday at Reading at least. They had SOAD and Metallica for the 2003 one, which I went to. However, the in between is usually a mix of indie and rock acts, nothing overly heavy. The Concrete Jungle gets all the punk/emo/hardcore/metal acts on the Saturday, though it has started to verge more towards emo and punk rock from the last couple of line-ups.

I don't think Muse have a huge enough following or recent "chart success" or NME-loving to headline main either though a second stage headline would definitely do it. I'd see 'em over pretty much whoever was on the other stage...

You underestimate how big Muse are, I feel. Muse are probably one of the biggest, most consistent UK bands going, have mainstream and niche appeal, have chart success often and are big across the pond as well. Muse are a perfect fit for the main at a big festival like Reading, especially when they've had acts like the Darkness headline in the past. Remember, they have 6 headline slots, so Muse could easily go into one, even as the 6th main headliner, if it came down to it.

I agree that they don't have the pulling power of a band like, say, Metallica....in such that people would buy tickets JUST to see Metallica, but not a lot of bands do have that, really.

Edited March 3, 2006 by rvdwannabe

[Skummy]

Also, are they working on a new album at the moment? My Muse-loving brother is at uni at the moment, so I don't know what's going on in that respect lately, but if they've got a new product to sell, that'll give them a good enough reason as any to be a headliner.

[Liam]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they have new stuff that's due out this year.

[Colly]

Friday Leeds and I believe Saturday Reading are generally heavy on the main stage, Maiden last year and GnR in 02. Can't remember in between, didn't go. I've seen Muse headline two second stages over the years, they aren't big enough to headline a main in my opinion, really can't see it.

Yeah, they always have the one or two odd heavy bands, and it's usually the Sunday at Reading at least. They had SOAD and Metallica for the 2003 one, which I went to. However, the in between is usually a mix of indie and rock acts, nothing overly heavy. The Concrete Jungle gets all the punk/emo/hardcore/metal acts on the Saturday, though it has started to verge more towards emo and punk rock from the last couple of line-ups.

I don't think Muse have a huge enough following or recent "chart success" or NME-loving to headline main either though a second stage headline would definitely do it. I'd see 'em over pretty much whoever was on the other stage...

[Liam]

They have 6 headline slots, actually. There are two main headliners on each day, with obviously one being a little more "main" than the other one. They usually release those 6 names first when it comes to selling tickets (after the initial batch they always release without ANY acts announced......for example, 2004 was sold initially on Darkness/Offspring, White Stripes/Morrissey and Green Day/50 Cent) . This is shown a lot in thier set times, which are pretty much the same in length, with the main headliner probably getting 10-15 minutes more, if that. I know it's arguable as to whether a second slot can count as "headlining", but other festivals do it, and when you can have "Triple Main Events" in wrestling, that's good enough for me

And Absolution was a huge album, bigger than any of thier albums before. With that, they actually broke through to a lot more of a mainstream audience, and got a bigger following by a long way with it. So of course they are above Second Stage Headliner status. And with new music coming out soon (which is usually a big deal to the fesitval bands/planners), Muse make perfect sense as a second headline slot on one of the days.

Edited March 3, 2006 by rvdwannabe

[Herr Matzat]

CROWD SURFING

Ever had someone's boot in your face while trying to watch your favourite band? Not much fun is it? Please don't crowd surf at this year's festival. Not only could you hurt yourself but you may injure someone else and ruin their weekend too. You will be ejected from the festival if you're found to be persistently crowd surfing.

[The Chief]

just to get something straight i have heard OF pearl jam, just i havent listened to any of their songs.

franz ferdinand - take me out. thats probably the one song they have, they dont seem like a headlining band.

and i dont like muse at all but their much more of a headline band than franz.

i have no idea who i'd like to headline actually im not a festival person either, just i was tempted to go this year. meh. fuck it

[Liam]

If you aren't sold on the Headliners, there are still 100+ over bands/acts to go see, so shouldn't stop you going.

[TheCrippler]

just to get something straight i have heard OF pearl jam, just i havent listened to any of their songs.

franz ferdinand - take me out. thats probably the one song they have, they dont seem like a headlining band.

and i dont like muse at all but their much more of a headline band than franz.

i have no idea who i'd like to headline actually im not a festival person either, just i was tempted to go this year. meh. fuck it