Green Day To Headline Reading And Leeds Festival 2013 Plus Many More Acts Added To Line-Up
Monday, 11 March 2013
Written by Jon Stickler
Green Day have just been confirmed as the third and final Main Stage headliners for Reading and Leeds Festivals 2013, playing Friday at Reading and Saturday at Leeds. Following their surprise Reading festival performance last year, which saw thousands of revellers heading to the NME/Radio 1 Stage and thousands more watching on screens in the arena, the punk-pop trio return to perform a full headline sets!
Green Day are integral to the identity of Reading and Leeds Festivals, with their performances among the greatest in the Festivals' history. In 2004, their triumphant headline set featured covers of 'Blitzkreig Bop', 'Ever Fallen In Love?', and fittingly, 'We Are The Champions' and in past performances some lucky fans have had the chance to get up on stage with the band.
Performing on the Main Stage prior to Green Day will be System Of A Down and Deftones, both UK festival exclusives, plus Bring Me The Horizon. In addition to Green Day, Frank Turner returns to Reading and Leeds for the seventh consecutive year. Frank's he Festivals “hold a special place in his heart” and his set will be a showstopper as he plays tracks from his forthcoming album ‘Tape Deck Heart’ as well as playing his big hits.
Over at the NME/Radio 1 Stage, Skrillex will be giving a UK festival exclusive performance for 2013. The DJ and producer has become one of the most famous faces in dance and is credited with taking dubstep to the US and across the globe.
Also taking to this stage will be the most talked about rapper in the world today, A$AP Rocky, playing the festival for the first time, plus Diplo's dancehall supergroup Major Lazer bringing the carnival spirit to Reading and Leeds.
Also performing over at the NME/Radio 1 Stage will be South London indie quartet Bastille. They'll be brining with them an armful of songs from their debut album ‘Bad Blood’, including their recent Number Two single ‘Pompeii’. 'Sound of 2013' nominees Birmingham four-piece, Peace, will also be performing. Their Stones Roses inspired rock gained them a ‘Best New Band’ nomination at the recent NME Awards and won them a big slot on the NME Awards tour. Another name just announced is explosive LA rock duo Deap Vally, who have toured with Muse and The Vaccines, enjoyed Radio 1 playlist support and were tipped by NME as one of the bands of 2013.
Global rap icon Eminem takes to the stage on Saturday at Reading and Sunday at Leeds and just added to the line-up this day are legends of UK drum and bass, Chase and Status, bringing a world-class live show to the Festivals. Chase and Status are credited with taking drum and bass from the club scene to the mainstream, with chart conquering songs like 'End Credits' and 'Let You Go'. Currently working on a new album, their jaw-dropping live show is sure to get the crowds moving ahead of Eminem.
Joining Foals, winners of ‘Best Track’ at the NME Awards for ‘Inhaler’, on the expanding bill is White Lies. The British indie trio, whose dark demeanor has seen them win accolades from around the world, make their Main Stage debut in a UK festival exclusive performance at Reading & Leeds. The band are currently in the studio, but by the time the Festivals come around they'll have a new record, the follow up to 2011's astounding ‘Ritual’. Godfathers of emo, Brand New return to the Festivals for the first time since 2009 with a UK festival exclusive performance. With a new album in the works, they're bound to première new songs as well as their anthem, 'Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades'.
With Alt-J already announced as an NME/Radio 1 Stage headliner and Jake Bugg performing on the stage for the first time, other bands now follow. Tame Impala will make to their first visit to the Festivals since winning ‘Album Of The Year’ plaudits for ‘Lonerism’, and Imagine Dragons, the Las Vegas rock band who are so popular in the US they haven't stopped touring for over a year, join the bill.
‘Best New Band’ NME Award winners, Palma Violets met and formed at Reading a few years ago and played the Festivals for the first time in 2012. This year marks a special return for the slapdash rockers who are currently riding high off their recent award success. One of the first artists to take dubstep into the live arena, Modestep's show combines live vocals, a full band and a ridiculous amount of bass. Prepare for an adrenaline fuelled party of epic proportions.
Taking to the BBC Radio 1 Dance Stage as headliners will be Magnetic Man. Made up of producers Skream, Benga and Artwork, they have been touring the world with extravagant live shows ever since their performance at Reading & Leeds in 2010. Skream has since said that those Reading and Leeds performances and the incredible crowd reaction were seminal for him in realising the potential for dubstep as a live genre. So it’s little wonder Magnetic Man are back, their new material is breaking genre boundaries, as innovative and original as ever.
Joining Wiley as a fellow headliner on this new stage will be Devlin. Dagenham-based rapper Devlin returns to the Festivals with his sideways social commentary and formidable flow. Having just scored a Top 10 single with 'Rewind', he's leading the UK's next generation of rap stars.
‘Best British Band’ NME Award winners Biffy Clyro will close the show on Sunday at Reading and Friday at Leeds. Incidentally, all three of the Main Stage headliners are UK festival exclusives; you won’t find them at any other UK festival this year.
Joining Biffy on the Main Stage on this day, Trent Reznor is undoubtedly a heroic figure for any Reading and Leeds attendee. For the past few years, he has been more at home in a Hollywood recording studio than on a festival stage, providing the scores for huge Hollywood movies like ‘The Social Network’ and ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’. Now, after a four year hiatus, he's returning to his first love: Nine Inch Nails. In a huge exclusive, they will play their only UK shows this year at the Reading and Leeds Festivals.
Fall Out Boy will also appear, making a welcome return to the Main Stage this day, with another UK festival exclusive. Joining them on the stage will be one of the biggest success stories of the past year The Lumineers, who have surpassed all expectation to become a global success with their eponymous debut album going Top 10 in the US, UK and Australia. Editors also join the line-up, bringing their cinematic rock to the Main Stage for a second time.
The final NME/Radio 1 Stage headliner is Phoenix, who’ll return to the Festivals for the first time since 2010 to toast ‘Bankrupt!’, their new album set for release in April this year. Other exciting names added to this stage are Harlem rapper Azealia Banks, who returns to the festival after playing to a packed out Dance Stage in 2012, to play songs from her long awaited album ‘Broke With Expensive Taste’. Production duo Disclosure, currently riding high in the Top 10 with single ‘White Noise’ and working on their house and UK garage-influenced debut album, will have the crowds in the NME/Radio 1 Stage singing along this summer.
City and Colour, the moniker of singer-songwriter Dallas Green, is gearing up to release his fourth studio album this summer. With three JUNO Awards under his belt (the Canadian equivalent of the BRITs), City and Colour returns to the UK, following a sold out Royal Albert Hall performance and two sold out Roundhouse dates, to play Reading and Leeds for the first time in a UK festival exclusive appearance. LA sisters Haim have had a fantastic year, winning the BBC ‘Sound of 2013’ poll and touring with Florence + the Machine. Currently finishing off their debut album, they bring their astonishing guitar playing and filthy on stage banter to the Festivals for the first time. Major Lazer collaborator Alex Clare also joins the bill, since releasing his debut album in 2011 the British singer-songwriter has had a Top Five single with ‘Too Close’, as well as a BRIT Award nomination for ‘Best British Single’ with the same track.
Electronic dance music heavyweights Knife Party, the Australian duo who have taken the world by storm, will headline the BBC Radio 1 Dance Stage. With two huge EP's under their belt, along with some incredible collaborations and remixes, this is the first time the Knife Party madness will be unleashed on Reading and Leeds Festivals, be sure not to miss out!
Also announced for this years festivals... Last year, Baauer was an underground DJ creating a few waves on Diplo's Mad Decent label. Now he's a global phenomenon, with everyone from the cast of Eastenders to The Simpsons doing the Harlem Shake.
The Blackout have become one of the biggest rock bands in the UK, from supporting the likes of My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park to co-headlining the prestigious Kerrang! Tour. Off the back of releasing their fourth album ‘Start The Party’ this year, they play the Festivals for the fifth time.
Hadouken!, once a nu-rave rap crew, have been re-born as a fully-fledged EDM monster. Louder, brasher, but just as much fun they guarantee to bring the party to Reading and Leeds this summer, after an amazing set to a packed crowd on the NME/Radio 1 Stage in 2012.
Australian rapper Iggy Azalea has already toured with Rita Ora and released some astonishingly good mixtapes. Her debut album, ‘The New Classic’, is released this year and she'll be bringing some hip-hop swag to Reading and Leeds.
Named after Juliette Lewis' character in ‘Natural Born Killers’, Cambridge five-piece Mallory Knox’s debut album ‘Signals’ has already gone Top 40 this year.
Reading and Leeds veterans, New Found Glory return to do what they do best, making everyone go wild, they bring a special show to Reading and Leeds playing out their well-loved album ‘Sticks and Stones’ in full.
The Strypes come to Reading and Leeds with their quintessentially retro classic rock, despite the fact the band’s eldest member is only 16, and they already count Noel Gallagher among their fans.
B-Town scene leaders Swim Deep will bring the laid back doss-pop to the Festivals. Temples, the psychedelic four-piece inspired by the Byrds and Tame Impala, come to Reading and Leeds for the first time in 2013.
In less than a year, Manchester band, The 1975, have gone from back room boozer to Shepherds Bush Empire, smashing the airwaves and stealing the hearts, eyes and ears of thousands of new fans every week. Hailing from London, Theme Park recently released their self-titled debut album, full of catchy songs. Having featured as NME Radar’s ‘Band of The Week’ and The Guardian’s ‘New Band of The Day’, they are set for big things.
Tomahawk, weirdo-rock supergroup featuring members of Faith No More, the Jesus Lizard, Battles and Mr Bungle will play the Festivals for the first time. Scottish rockers Twin Atlantic are bound to set crowds dizzy with brash and ballsy hits like ‘Free’ and ‘Make a Beast Of Myself’ when they take to the stage this summer.
Also playing at the Festivals will be Sheffield rockers While She Sleeps, named Kerrang!'s ‘Best British Newcomers’, who will get the crowds going with songs from their album ‘This is the Six’.
These new names are just the beginning, there are many more yet to be announced across these stages, plus the line-ups for the Festival Republic Stage, Lock Up Stage, BBC Introducing Stage and the Alternative Stage.
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
