My oh my, isn’t this looking wonderful
Yes, the weather outside is frightful, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look forward to things. After all, we’ve got a hell of a lot to look forward to. The impending shitstorm that is the Tory leadership contest? The prospect of a new Declan McKenna album at some point this year? Oh, and lest we forget, the release of Toy Story 4 in less than one week? These truly are the best of times.
Most importantly, though, we’ve got the bulk of our favourite season left to look forward to. No, not summer – don’t be daft. We are referring, of course, to festival season. Y’know, the one stretch of the year when it’s not only acceptable, but actively encouraged, to go and stand in a field with a bunch of your best mates, watch a load of your favourite bands, and get inappropriately day-drunk at an even-more-inappropriate hour?
If you ask us, though, the trickiest thing about festival season is picking who to see; and, seeing as we know exactly how stressful that can be, we figured we’d make your lives easier and do it for you. So, with that in mind, we’ve taken the liberty of going through the (seriously stacked) line-up for this year’s Reading and Leeds Festivals and picking out a handful of acts that you seriously, majorly, and indisputably cannot afford to miss.
We’re nice like that. (Sometimes).
The 1975 – Main Stage (!!!)
Friday @ Reading / Saturday @ Leeds
They’re one of the biggest bands in the country and they’ve been gearing up for this headline slot their entire lives: make a note of where you were when The 1975 headline Reading and Leeds because we’re not sure that the world will ever be the same again.
AJ Tracey – Main Stage
Saturday @ Reading / Sunday @ Leeds
He’s come so far, he’s come so far: and now, he’s coming to Reading & Leeds. Expect energy, lyrical wizardry, and the kind of singalongs that end up deafening everyone in the vicinity before the afternoon’s even had a chance to get going; for, isn’t that precisely what a festival is for?
Billie Eilish – BBC Radio 1 Stage
Saturday @ Reading / Sunday @ Leeds
Let’s not pretend that Billie Eilish requires any introduction. After all, not only is every single track on her just-released debut album currently a viable contender for the title of Song Of The Summer, but her incendiary live shows have been lighting up stages from Coachella to the Big Weekend since the start of the year. You’d be daft to miss her.
Camelphat
Friday @ Reading / Saturday @ Leeds
They’re the current darlings of the dance-pop world and their radio-friendly bangers have concurrently propelled them into mainstream consciousness: if anybody’s going to give you a mid-festival boost, it’s going to be Camelphat.
Charli XCX
Friday @ Reading / Saturday @ Leeds
She’s spent the last five years staking a solid claim to the title of ‘UK’s Underground Pop Queen’ and has already amassed a back catalog that’s packed full of more pop classics than a Max Martin megamix – expect fireworks, punkish pop, and future chart-toppers aplenty when Charli XCX hits the Main Stage of Reading and Leeds this summer.
Tickets for Reading and Leeds Festival 2019 are available here.