The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm on Richfield Avenue in central Reading, near Caversham Bridge. The Leeds event is held in Bramham Park, near Wetherby, the grounds of a historic house. Headliners and most supporting acts typically play at both sites, with Reading's Friday line up becoming Leeds' Saturday line-up, Reading's Saturday line-up playing at Leeds on Sunday, and Leeds' Friday line-up attending Reading on Sunday. Campsites are available at both sites and weekend tickets include camping. Day tickets are also sold. The Reading Festival, the older of the two festivals, is the world's oldest popular music festival still in existence. Many of the biggest bands in the UK and internationally have played at the festival over five decades. The festival has had various musical phases over the years, but since the current two-site format was adopted in 1999, rock, alternative, indie, punk, and

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typi ...

have been the main genres featured in the line-up. More recently hip hop has comprised an increasing proportion of the lineup, including headline sets by artists such as

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

and

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hi ...

. The festivals are run by Festival Republic, which was divested from Mean Fiddler Music Group. From 1998 to 2007, the festivals were known as the ''Carling Weekend: Reading'' and the ''Carling Weekend: Leeds'' for promotional purposes. In November 2007, the sponsored title was abolished after nine years and the Reading Festival reclaimed its original name. In 2011, the capacity of the Reading site was 87,000, and the Leeds site was 75,000, an increase of several thousand on previous years.

History

The Reading Festival was originally known as the National Jazz Festival, which was conceived by Harold Pendleton (founder of the

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed wh ...

in London in 1958) and first held at Richmond Athletic Ground in 1961. Throughout the 1960s, the festival moved between several London and Home Counties sites, being held at Windsor Racecourse, Kempton Park, Sunbury and Plumpton, before reaching its permanent home at Reading in 1971. Since 1964, when the festival added a Friday evening session to the original Saturday and Sunday format, it has been staged over three days, with the sole exception of 1970 when a fourth day was added, running from Thursday 6 to Sunday 9 August.

1960s

The National Jazz Federation (NJF) Festival was established at the height of the trad jazz boom, as a successor to the Beaulieu Jazz Festival, initially as a two-day event held at Richmond Athletic Ground. The line-up for the first two years was made up exclusively of jazz performers, but in 1963, several rhythm & blues acts were added to the bill, including the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

, Georgie Fame, and

Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including ...

, and by 1965, such acts were in the majority, with jazz sessions reduced to Saturday and Sunday afternoons only. This format continued until 1967 when jazz was limited to just the Saturday afternoon session. By 1969, jazz had disappeared entirely from the line-up. In 1964, a Friday evening session was added to the existing weekend format. In 1966, the NJF Festival moved to the larger Windsor Racecourse. The following year a second stage (the Marquee Stage) was added, but when the festival was moved to Sunbury in 1968 it reverted to a single-stage format. The festival was held at Plumpton Racecourse in 1969 and 1970.

1970s

After moving to Reading, the festival's line-up became primarily composed of

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

, blues, and hard rock during the early and mid 1970s, and then became the first music festival to incorporate punk rock and new wave in the late 1970s, when The Jam,

Sham 69 Sham 69 are an English punk rock band that formed in Hersham in Surrey in 1975. They were one of the most successful punk bands in the United Kingdom, achieving five top 20 singles, including " If the Kids Are United" and " Hurry Up Harry". ...

, and

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origin ...

were among the headline acts. The festival's attempts to cater for both traditional rock acts and punk and new wave bands occasionally led to clashes between the two sets of fans at the end of the 1970s, though the festival gradually became known for focusing on heavy metal and rock acts.

1980s

During the 1980s, the festival followed a similar format to that established in the late 1970s, with leading rock and heavy metal acts performing on the last two days, and a more varied line-up including punk and new wave bands on the opening day.

Council ban

In 1984 and 1985, the Conservative-run local council effectively banned the festival by designating the festival site for development and refusing to grant licences for any alternative sites in the Reading area. In 1984, many acts were already booked and tickets were on sale, with Marillion due to headline. The promoters tried in vain to find a new site but a proposed move to Lilford Hall in Northamptonshire failed. The proposed line-up was published in ''Soundcheck'' free music paper issue 12 as: Friday 24 August –

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including ha ...

, Boomtown Rats, Snowy White, The Playn Jayn,

Dumpy's Rusty Nuts Dumpy's Rusty Nuts were a British rock band founded in 1981 by the lead singer Graham "Dumpy" Dunnell (born July 1949, London, England). Though unsuccessful as recording artists the band have been a successful and popular live act for decades. T ...

, Wildfire, Chelsea Eloy, Tracy Lamb, New Torpedoes; Saturday 25th – Jethro Tull, Hanoi Rocks, Steve Hackett, Club Karlsson, Nazareth,

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins V ...

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing ...

, Silent Running,

New Model Army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Thr ...

, IQ, The Roaring Boys,

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; Sunday 26th – Marillion, Grand Slam, The Bluebells,

Helix A helix () is a shape like a corkscrew or spiral staircase. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is formed as two intertwined hel ...

, Clannad, The Opposition, The Enid, Young Blood, Scorched Earth, and Terraplane). After Labour regained control of the council in 1986, permission was given for fields adjacent to the original festival site to be used, and a line-up was put together at short notice. The following year saw a record attendance, headlined by The Mission,

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

and Status Quo.

Late 1980s / early 1990s slump

1988 saw an attempt to take the festival in a mainstream commercial pop direction, featuring acts including

Starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 188 ...

, Squeeze, Hothouse Flowers,

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh people, Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album ''The World Start ...

and

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

(who was bottled off stage), and the subsequent disputes led to the ousting of original festival promoter Harold Pendleton by the Mean Fiddler Music Group organisation. Pendleton attempted to relocate the festival to a new site near Newbury using the name "Redding Festival", but threats of legal action by the new promoters of the original festival, as well as a reluctance by Newbury District Council to issue a licence for the proposed Newbury Showground venue blocked Pendleton's plans. Meanwhile, the official Reading Festival, now managed by Mean Fiddler, continued at the Thames-side site in Reading, with a predominantly goth and indie music policy that alienated much of the traditional fan base and saw attendances plummet. Attendances continued to fall between 1989 and 1991, but began to recover from 1992, when new organisers took over from the Mean Fiddler group, broadening the festival's musical policy.

1990s

In 1991,

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. ...

made the first of their two appearances at Reading, midway down the bill. The following year, in 1992, they played what would be their last UK concert, which was released as a live album/DVD '' Live at Reading'' in November 2009. The band's singer Kurt Cobain came onstage in a wheelchair pushed by music journalist Everett True and wearing a medical gown, parodying speculations about his mental health. The 1992 festival was hit by extreme weather, with a thunderstorm on the Saturday drenching the site, leaving it ankle-deep in mud, and blowing away the Comedy Tent.

Festival expansion

By the mid-1990s, the festival had begun to regain its former status as the popularity of UK outdoor festivals increased. Britpop and indie began to appear on the bill alongside the traditional rock and metal acts, and rap acts such as Ice Cube began to appear regularly on the main stage, to mixed receptions.

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

headlined the second day of the 1992 festival. Beastie Boys were about halfway down the bill for day three. In 1996, The Stone Roses played the last gig before their break-up at the festival. In 1998, the Reading Festival absorbed the failed Phoenix Festival, resulting in an on-stage dispute between Beastie Boys and The Prodigy over the song "Smack My Bitch Up". In 1999, the festival added a second venue at Temple Newsam in

, the site of V Festival in 1997 and 1998, due to increasing demand. In the first year, all bands performed at the Leeds site the day after they played Reading, with the Reading Festival running from Friday to Sunday and the Leeds Festival running from Saturday to Monday. However, in 2001, the festival moved to the current format, wherein the Reading line-up plays at Leeds the following day, with the opening day line-up from Leeds playing the final day in Reading (with the exceptions of 2009 and 2010 when the bands playing Leeds played Reading the following day, and the bands on the opening day of Reading closed Leeds).

2000s

After a successful first year in Leeds, the increasing popularity of outdoor music festivals led to the Reading Festival selling out quicker every year. However, the Leeds Festival was plagued by riots and violence, which led to problems in retaining its licence. The worst incidents occurred in 2002, following which the festival was moved to Bramham Park north-east of Leeds. Since then, security at both sites has increased and problems have been reduced. The early 2000s saw a varied but predominantly rock line-up, though as the decade progressed the Main Stage and Radio 1 Stage featured many indie bands. Despite being predominantly a rock festival, several hip-hop artists have appeared at the festival over the years, including

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

, Ice Cube, Beastie Boys,

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

, Xzibit, Jay-Z,

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. D ...

, and

The Streets The Streets are an English music project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner. The project has released six studio albums: '' Original Pirate Material'' (2002), ''A Grand Don't Come for Free'' (2004), '' The Hardest Way to ...

. In 2005, the main stages at both Reading and Leeds were made larger, featuring cantilevered video screens. The same year the Reading Fringe Festival was established in Reading, with venues in the town hosting acts hoping to draw crowds and industry figures from the larger festival. The Reading Fringe has run annually since then.

Banning of flags and banners

Flags were banned from both festival sites in 2009, with the organisers citing health and safety concerns. Flags and banners had been a traditional part of the Reading Festival since the early 1970s, originally used to enable motorcycle groups and others to identify themselves and find each other inside the main arena.

2010s

Reading Festival continued to expand through the early 2010s, with a new record capacity of 105,000 recorded in 2019. In the same year, 200 artists played at both festivals. The festival typically has the following stages: *Main Stage – major rock, indie, metal and alternative acts. *'' NME''/ Radio 1 stage – less well-known acts, building up to an alternative headline act. *Dance tent – dance music acts, previously sharing a day with the Lock Up stage, now a stand-alone 3-day stage. *Lock Up Stage (also known as Pit Stage) – underground punk and hardcore acts. Due to demand, from 2006 this stage took up two days rather than previous years where it was only one day. * Festival Republic stage – acts with less popular appeal and breakthrough acts. *1Xtra Stage – new stage for 2013 that stages Hip-Hop, RnB and Rap artists. *Alternative tent – comedy and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

acts plus DJs. * BBC Introducing Stage – Typically unsigned/not well known acts. (Formerly known as the Topman Unsigned Stage at the Leeds site).

2020s

On 12 May 2020 it was announced that the year's festivals were cancelled due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. The festivals were due to host Rage Against the Machine's first UK show in 10 years, along with

Stormzy Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter. In 2014, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his ''Wicked Skengman'' series of f ...

and Liam Gallagher's first appearances as headliners. The 2021 festival included two main stages with six headliners, among them Stormzy and Liam Gallagher from the previous year's line up. In 2022, Festival Republic came under fire following multiple incidents at both festival sites. At Reading, multiple fires were reported as well as mugs, chairs, cups and other objects being thrown. Stabbings were also reported. At Leeds, 16-year-old David Celino died after it was suspected he had taken

ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...

List of headliners

*2023: Sam Fender,

Foals A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal i ...

The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drum ...

, Lewis Capaldi,

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with who ...

, Imagine Dragons *2022:

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

, Megan Thee Stallion,

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...

Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan ...

The 1975 The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in 2002 in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Now based in Manchester, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matthew "Matty" Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer ...

(replacing Rage Against the Machine), Halsey *2021: Liam Gallagher,

Biffy Clyro Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), James Johnston (bass, vocals), and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals). Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have ...

(replacing

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line ...

, Catfish and the Bottlemen,

, Disclosure *2020 (cancelled): Liam Gallagher, Rage Against the Machine,

*2019:

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the Foo Fighters (album), epony ...

Twenty One Pilots Twenty One Pilots (stylized in all lowercase or as twenty øne piløts) are an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who b ...

(Co-headline) *2018: Fall Out Boy,

/Panic! At The Disco (Co-headline), Kings Of Leon *2017:

, Muse (band), Muse, Kasabian *2016:

/ Disclosure (Co-headline), Red Hot Chili Peppers,

/Fall Out Boy (Co-headline) *2015: Mumford & Sons, Metallica, The Libertines *2014:

/Paramore (Co-headline),

, Blink-182 *2013: Green Day,

*2012: The Cure, Kasabian, Foo Fighters (band), Foo Fighters *2011: My Chemical Romance, The Strokes/Pulp (band), Pulp (Co-headline), Muse (band), Muse *2010: Guns N' Roses, Arcade Fire, Blink-182 *2009: Kings of Leon,

, Radiohead *2008: Rage Against the Machine, The Killers, Metallica *2007: Razorlight, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins *2006: Franz Ferdinand (band), Franz Ferdinand, Muse (band), Muse, Pearl Jam *2005: Pixies (band), Pixies,

, Iron Maiden *2004: The Darkness (band), The Darkness, The White Stripes, Green Day *2003: Linkin Park, Blur (band), Blur, Metallica *2002: The Strokes,

, Guns N' Roses (Leeds), The Prodigy *2001: Travis (band), Travis, Manic Street Preachers,

*2000: Oasis (band), Oasis, Pulp (band), Pulp, Stereophonics *1999: The Charlatans (English band), The Charlatans, Blur (band), Blur, Red Hot Chili Peppers *1998: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, Beastie Boys, Garbage (band), Garbage *1997: Suede (band), Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Metallica *1996: The Prodigy, Black Grape, The Stone Roses *1995: Smashing Pumpkins, Björk, Neil Young *1994:

, Primal Scream, Red Hot Chili Peppers *1993: Porno For Pyros, The The, New Order (band), New Order *1992:

, The Wonder Stuff,

*1991: Iggy Pop, James (band), James, The Sisters of Mercy *1990: The Cramps, Inspiral Carpets, Pixies (band), Pixies *1989: New Order (band), New Order, The Pogues, The Mission * 1988: Ramones,

, Squeeze * 1987: The Mission, Status Quo,

* 1986: Killing Joke, Saxon (band), Saxon,

* 1985: No festival held * 1984 (cancelled):

, Jethro Tull, Marillion * 1983:

, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy * 1982: Budgie (band), Budgie, Iron Maiden, The Michael Schenker Group * 1981: Girlschool, Gillan (band), Gillan, The Kinks * 1980: Rory Gallagher, UFO (band), UFO, Whitesnake * 1979: The Police, Scorpions (band), Scorpions (replacing Thin Lizzy), Peter Gabriel * 1978: The Jam, Status Quo, Patti Smith * 1977: Golden Earring, Thin Lizzy, Alex Harvey (musician), Alex Harvey * 1976: Gong (band), Gong, Rory Gallagher, Osibisa * 1975:

, Yes (band), Yes, Wishbone Ash, Supertramp * 1974: The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Traffic (band), Traffic, Focus (band), Focus * 1973: Rory Gallagher, Faces (band), Faces, Genesis (band), Genesis * 1972: Curved Air, Faces (band), Faces, Quintessence (English band), Quintessence * 1971: Arthur Brown (musician), Arthur Brown, East of Eden (rock band), East of Eden, Colosseum (band), Colosseum * 1970: Family (band), Family, Taste (Irish band), Taste, Deep Purple * 1969: Pink Floyd, The Who, The Nice * 1968: The Herd (UK band), The Herd, The Nice, Traffic (band), Traffic * 1967: Small Faces, The Nice, Cream (band), Cream * 1966: Small Faces, The Who, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames * 1965: The Yardbirds, Manfred Mann, The Animals * 1964: The Rolling Stones, Chris Barber Band, Kenny Ball , Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen * 1963: Chris Barber , Chris Barber's Jazz Band, Acker Bilk , Acker Bilk's Paramount Jazz Band * 1962: Chris Barber , Chris Barber's Jazz Band, Kenny Ball , Kenny Ball's Jazzmen * 1961: Chris Barber , Chris Barber's Jazz Band, Ken Colyer , Ken Colyer's Jazzmen

Bottling incidents

Bottling (concert abuse), Bottling acts off stage (being forced off stage by a barrage of audience-thrown bottles and cans) is a frequent occurrence at the festival. During the 1970s and 1980s, there were often mass-participation can and bottle fights, and unpopular bands have been bottled offstage throughout the festival's history since the first large-scale "cannings" of 1973 and 1974. Examples include: *Punk band Brian James (guitarist), The Hellions, featuring ex-The Damned (band), Damned guitarist Brian James (guitarist), Brian James, were booked on an otherwise 100% Heavy metal music, heavy metal line-up on the Friday of the 1980 Festival and left the stage in less than a minute following an assault of cans, bottles and pork pies. "I Canned The Hellions at Reading" T-shirts were on sale at souvenir stands within the hour. *In 1983, reggae act Steel Pulse left within moments of arriving on stage under an avalanche of missiles launched by punks and rockers waiting to see

. *John Waite and the No Brakes Band quit the stage on the Saturday of the 1986 festival when their drummer was hit in the head by a 12" vinyl disc. *In 1988,

completed her set despite being pelted with bottles and turf. The same day's headliner

left 20 minutes into his set after being hit by a full two-litre cider bottle. After an initially positive reception Meat Loaf angered the audience by berating them for their treatment of his friend Bonnie Tyler earlier in the day, then stormed off stage when met with a volley of burgers and bottles. He eventually returned shouting "Do you wanna rock 'n' roll or do you wanna throw stuff?" Ten seconds later the cider bottle struck him in the face, at which point he left the stage permanently. *In 2000, Daphne and Celeste were scheduled on the main stage for a short two song set and were bottled throughout. *In 2003, Good Charlotte stopped their set 20 minutes short and encouraged the crowd to throw bottles all at the same time after a count of three after being pelted by bottles throughout their set. *In 2004,

was pelted with bottles, mud and an inflatable paddling pool during his set. 50 Cent was on stage for just under 20 minutes before throwing his microphone into the crowd in anger. The Rasmus were also bottled off after one song. *In 2006 at Reading, Panic! at the Disco lead singer Brendon Urie was struck in the face with a plastic bottle and fell unconscious, forcing the rest of the band to stop mid-song as he lay on the floor. Urie received medical treatment from his road crew for several minutes before regaining consciousness, and the band subsequently continued the song from the point at which it was interrupted. The same year, My Chemical Romance were heckled by a small group of angry audience members. Lead singer Gerard Way encouraged the crowd to throw bottles at them instead, and the band were pelted with golf balls and bottles of urine, among other items. *In 2008, a crowd of approximately 3,000 people attended the "BBC Introducing" Stage at Reading to see unsigned band 'The FF'ers' following rumours that it would actually be a secret

gig, and the band were subjected to a large amount of abuse from the audience, including several bottles launched at the band. *In 2016, Tyler Joseph of

was attacked and robbed as he attempted to crowd-surf in the Radio One Tent. Reacting unfavourably to his behaviour, the hostile audience threw him to the ground, ripped off various items of his clothing and stole his ski-mask. Joseph was eventually rescued by security guards, who carried him to an elevated platform where he announced that the band's set was over.

References

External links

Reading Festival official website

Leeds Festival official website

Reading & Leeds
at the BBC
Reading Festival official ticket agent

Leeds Festival official ticket agent
{{Authority control Reading and Leeds Festivals, Music festivals in Berkshire Music festivals in Leeds Rock festivals in England Music festivals established in 1961