It's that time of year again – the time when we have to decide which of this year's countless music festivals to spend our hard-earned pounds on. No doubt many of you have already splashed out on one of the few summer events that have recently released tickets, such as T in the Park and the V Festivals. However, there are still plenty to choose from and, with all the speculation surrounding the bands that are still to be announced for the various line-ups, it could prove to be a difficult choice. With the Reading and Leeds line-up soon to be revealed, more artists being confirmed for Glastonbury and tons of bands still to be added to the host of other festivals, we decided to find out what your hopes and predictions are for 2011's summer of music. So we asked you for your dream festival performances and here are the results. We've compiled a virtual line-up of some of your expectations, over-optimistic or otherwise, as well as a few of our own for this year's Stereoboard Fantasy Festival.
ARCADE FIRE
After last year's impressive performances at Reading and Leeds, when the Canadian octet stole the show from co-headliners The Libertines, it seems that many of you are ready for more. After taking home several prizes from this year's Brit and Grammy ceremonies for their third album 'The Suburbs', Arcade Fire are set to return to the UK in June for a massive show in London's Hyde Park, followed by gigs in Manchester and Edinburgh later in the year. Although there have been no UK festival confirmations from the band yet, there's always hope that an announcement is still to come. Another Reading and Leeds set seems unlikely, but with the Hyde Park show being so close to Glastonbury, an appearance at Worthy Farm is still a possibility.
ARCTIC MONKEYS
Headlining slots at T in the Park and V are already in the bag for the Sheffield-based rockers and the band's return to the UK festival circuit looks likely to be one of the favourites of the summer. After the mixed reaction to their last album, 2009's Josh Homme-produced 'Humbug', Arctic Monkeys will soon be making their return with fourth album 'Suck It and See', which is produced by James Ford, who has worked with the band on their last two albums. Let's just see how the album fares when the band introduce it to this year's festival crowds.
THE BLACK KEYS
After walking away from this year's Grammy Awards with an armful of gongs for their 2010 album 'Brothers', blues-rock duo The Black Keys appear to be a lot of people's big hope for the summer. At last year's Glasto, the pair were joined onstage by a full band for a number of their tracks, making it an unusually collective performance for the duo. The Black Keys have not yet been confirmed for any of this year's UK festivals so far, but with many more announcements still to come, there's a pretty good chance they could end up being one of the most hotly-anticipated festival sets of the year.
COLDPLAY
Apparently, people haven't yet had enough of Chris Martin and his crew of lesser-known, world-dominating cronies. Indeed, many of you have expressed your delight at Coldplay's eagerly-awaited headlining appearances at this year's Glastonbury and T in the Park festivals. After a long break following 2008's 'Viva la Vida', Coldplay are back for their first live dates in a while and are expected to reveal their fifth album at some point this year. While the band have never been to everyone's liking, they are sure to be one of the front-runners of the festival season.
FOO FIGHTERS
It's already been confirmed that Dave Grohl's bunch are going to be the festival band of the summer. With slots at T in the Park and Isle of Wight already in their calendar, along with numerous European festivals and their own Milton Keynes shows, it looks set to be Foo Fighters' year. Their seventh album 'Wasting Light' is due out next month with Nirvana producer Butch Vig at the controls and former member Pat Smear back on the guitar. You can bet your bottom dollar that the album will be one of the favourites of the year before festival season even rolls around.
GREEN DAY
Everyone's favourite concept album-making punk rock trio haven't been confirmed for any festival appearances yet this year, but with new live album 'Awesome as Fuck' due out in the next couple of weeks, it seems only fair that they accompany it with some actual live shows. Although most of the summer's headlining slots have already been filled, leaving little room for Green Day, the Reading and Leeds line-ups are still a possibility and the Californian punk rockers have always proved to be a favourite when they have appeared there in the past.
GUNS N’ ROSES (ORIGINAL LINE-UP)
OK, so maybe we're wandering into fantasy territory here, but what the hell, we can always dream. And anyway, this is a fantasy festival after all. Despite numerous rumours suggesting that Axl, Slash and co are in talks about performing at the next Super Bowl half-time show, various members have already taken the time to quash such reports. A reunion of the original line-up would be a wonderful thing and far improved on any half-arsed incarnation that Axl could ever come up with. Unfortunately though, this probably won't happen while Hell is still thawed. But you never know, Slash might bring his solo show over for a few British festivals again, which wouldn't be bad.
PEARL JAM
Despite the original Seattle grungers rare appearances at any UK festivals, anyone who witnessed their performances at Reading and Leeds in 2006 will be able to confirm that they are surprisingly suited to it. Any return from Pearl Jam to our festival circuit would be a welcome one. So here's hoping.
SOUNDGARDEN
Talking of Seattle grungers, you may have heard that one band in particular decided to make their long-awaited return early last year. However, despite numerous appearances stateside and reports of work on new material, Soundgarden have yet to grace us with their presence over here. After mixed reviews relating to Chris Cornell’s solo work – particularly 2009’s Timbaland-produced ‘Scream’ – and the sadly short-lived Audioslave, the reformation of Soundgarden was almost inevitable. Even in his solo performances, Cornell could never quite leave alone what was arguably his best work to date – including the classic ‘Black Hole Sun’. A return to Reading Festival after sixteen years? Fingers crossed.
STEREOPHONICS
Despite their last album, 2009’s ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, being their first to miss out on the Top 10 – their previous five albums had all reached Number One – South Wales’ finest Stereophonics are proving to be one of the big hopes for the 2011 festival season. Having just announced that they are currently working on their eighth album, the summer festivals would be a great way to road-test some of their new material. Revisiting some of their earlier work on the festival circuit would also be a fitting tribute to original drummer Stuart Cable, who tragically passed away last year.
Have we missed anyone? If there is anyone you’re hoping to see at any of this summer’s festivals or if you have any predictions for the bands that are yet to be revealed, please let us know below.
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