arctic monkeys

Hurricane Festival 2018 – Full Review!

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Friday

Hurricane Festival is in the north of Germany, set in some fields in Scheeβel between Hamburg and Bremen. The current version of Hurricane Festival has been going since 1997, though there were two previous attempts of festivals in the area in 1973 and 1977. Hurricane sells itself as a mainstream/alternative festival, however, in recent years there has been more emphasis on the mainstream and less on the alternative. This year’s line-up is what I would describe as mainstream, however there are a few acts here and there that are showing the alternative past of Hurricane.

Friday started off wet and windy, as is the trend with most festivals at the moment, and was opened by the Hurricane Swim Team on the Green Stage early afternoon. The Hurricane Swim Team was created in 2016 when the festival was a total wash out, and is essentially a hype team that get the crowd grooving in even the most abysmal weather. Luckily, by the time they’d left the stage the weather had in fact improved and we were able to enjoy the sun for the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening.

We got to the second stage – blue stage – to see George Ezra perform in the afternoon light. Ezra has a stunning voice and it he proved that it was not just the studio doing all the work in post processing. He was chatty onstage, and (like a lot of the British and American bands) tried his hand a bit of German, to the glee of the audience. The cherry on the Ezra-shaped cake was definitely the small brass section he’d brought with him, it really added that extra depth to the performance.

 

Experienced punk rock band The Offspring took centre stage on the Green stage (main stage) on Saturday evening. They know how to keep tantalise the audience, saving their three most well-known songs until the end, including Pretty Fly for a White Guy and ending on Self-Esteemed to an audience that was easily two decades younger than them, if not more, which is a pretty good achievement for four shouty guys from California.

The blue stage was again graced with a talented vocalist, this time in the form of Hannah Reid of London Grammar. A far cry away from The Offspring, London Grammar definitely calmed the audience down rather than psyched them up. The mosh pits of Green Stage were replaced with gentle arm waving and head nodding.

Keeping in the UK-indie theme that the blue stage seemingly has had all day, the following band are none other than Two Door Cinema Club, who arrive onstage to a rambunctious welcome. Two Door Cinema Club are the first band that have brought an impressive set on stage, a set of LED squares with bright strobing lights behind, all of which is made more impressive in the dying light of the evening. The crowd happily bopped along to the music, enjoying the show in the dying light.

The green stage was again keeping its theme of emo-punk and rock, with the headline of the night Billy Talent.  The band appeared on stage as the audience cheered and wooped, bassist Jonathan Gallant and guitarist Ian D’Sa started playing the introduction to ‘This is how it goes’ as Benjamin Kowalewicz burst on to stage to rapturous applause and started singing. He had so much energy on stage, dressed like an emo from the late noughties with his skinny tie, skinny black jeans and his converses. In fact, the whole band looked as if they were 15 year olds trapped in the bodies of middle aged men. They acted like it too. Jumping up and down and across the stage, swearing jovially at the audience ‘Welcome to Hurricane 2018 motherfuckers!’ shouted Benjamin after the first song, before launching in to ‘Devil in Midnight Mass’. The whole performance took me back to those angst filled days in high school, where we felt the world was ending and beginning at the same time, and that every song ever written about and specifically for, us. The nostalgia that came with watching Billy Talent was only amplified by the crowd, singing (and in some cases, screaming) along with the songs, as the band ricocheted from one song to the next. About halfway through the set Benjamin mentioned that their drummer – Aaron Solowoniuk – had been struggling with MS, and has been on hiatus since 2016. While Benjamin was telling the crowd this, he also mentioned that the band have been together for 25 years this summer, which is unbelievable. Arron was then introduced onstage as he made his way to the drums, and played with the band for the rest of the show. It was really great to see him playing again, and so obvious that he was thoroughly enjoying being back on stage after two years away. Aaron coming back on stage really gave the band more energy, and they turned it up to 100 for the rest of the show.

After Billy Talent’s finale, it seemed as if the entire crowd moved to Blue Stage, for final act of the night, German hip-hop artist Marteria. Now, I know those words don’t run together naturally, but stick with me here. My level of German is extremely basic (as I found out during a press-pass mix up that caused no end of trouble) but Marteria’s catchy lyrics and playful beats. As well as his skills on the mic he also brought to stage some of the most impressive and playful visuals of the evening. Later in the show he brought on his alter-ego Marismoto who delighted the audience with his high-pitch voiced and his more experimental music, straying from hip-hop and entering the realms of dubstep, reggae and EDM.  With the first night of the festival finished everyone headed back to their tents ready to do the same thing all over again.

Saturday

The campsite was up and bustling by about ten on Saturday, helped by the festival workers driving around on quadbikes using their megaphones to shout ‘time to wake up’ across the campsite. I’m not sure if it was part of their job description but it certainly worked in getting the campsite awake and running. Pretty soon there were queues to the toilet and every other tent was playing flunkyball across the pathways. The campsite radio (provided by Delta Radio) was on blast throughout the campsite, via speakers and radios campers had brought with them, meaning wherever we went we had a surround sound experience of the camp radio. There seemed to be an endless game put on the by the radio hosts, which was to play the Cantina Theme from Star Wars, (or at least an excerpt of it) and, once it had finished someone – either one of the hosts or a punter who had been accosted somewhere on the campsite – would say ‘play that same song again’ and so on and so on. So much so it became the unofficial anthem of the campsite, and probably the weekend.     

Hurricane festival is a lot smaller than most medium UK festivals, with only three stages all relatively close to each other. It means minimal walking between stages and the way that the stages have been positioned has been done with great care, as there is no overlap of sound when each stage has an artist.

Indie-pop act The Kooks took to the Green Stage on Saturday evening for a fun set. They’re still fresh from their ‘Best Of’ album tour, with Hurricane being their first festival of the season. Though they’re no strangers playing to big crowds – they’ve been around since 2004 – they have recently been touring as a warm-up act for The Rolling Stones. This hasn’t diminished their ability to get the crowd dancing, whatever the size. Though I was impressed that even a relatively light band such as The Kooks could get the crowd moshing. Lead singer Luke Pritchard danced around on stage with his tan-and-checked blazer and his skinny scarf, the embodiment of indie-brit-pop. The crowd were loving it and singing along to almost every track, which was pretty magical to listen to. The Kooks do have a new album out but didn’t fall into the age old pitfall of playing only their new stuff, they littered the set with classics as well as slipping the odd new song in now and then. They ended with two classics, Seaside and Naïve to the absolute delight of the audience.

Next up was Hamburg rapper Dendemann, who had a beat-filled set and had the whole crowd moshing along to his music. His music was good, though I’m sure I would have got more enjoyment out of it had I understood the lyrics – he uses a lot of wordplay so for a non-native speaker of German it can be a bit of a struggle to understand. I did understand when he said hello to the crowd and called them a town that certainly wasn’t Hurricane or Scheeβel. His drummer corrected him though and the crowd didn’t seem to care.

Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro have a solid fan-base in Germany and started off their European tour in Berlin early last month. Having last played Hurricane in 2010 they were due for a comeback. And the crowd were ready for it. Mosh pits left right and centre, the whole crowd was there for them. As per usual, all three members were shirtless, though frontman Simon Neil has got rid of the Jesus locks and gone for a cleaner, shorter cut, which if it wasn’t for the mass of tattoos and his roaring vocals he could be mistaken for a graphic designer, or someone equally ordinary. As always with Biffy, the show was intense and the hard rockers had all come out of the woodwork to head-bang their way through the set, as well as all the casual fans that sang along to their hits and mumbled along to the songs that had less radio-play.

Saturday was the first day we ventured to the Red Stage, to see Portugal. The Man. Now, I’m not sure what we expected but it certainly wasn’t what happened. They had a seven minute guitar heavy intro song played before they even came on stage. Once they were on stage the show really began. There had a projector projecting some spacey shapes and colours on the screen behind them. However, unlike most bands, Portugal. The Man had decided to put the projector in front of the stage, so each band member cast shadows throughout the set, changing shape and size as they moved around the stage. They started by playing a cover of ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ by Pink Floyd, which was an odd one to start with, however it really set the stage for the rest of their show, a spacey, guitar heavy extravaganza. After their first song some huge lettering came down on the screen behind them, declaring “We are not very good at stage banter so please enjoy these messages from the management, thank you for understanding”. Now, they certainly get points for ingenuity here, although it would have been nice to have a little bit of crowd interaction.  As promised, periodically through the show more writing would appear behind them, such as “that is some bad-ass guitar playing” through a particularly gnarly piece. One thing I particularly enjoyed from Portugal. The Man was the fact that they had a very varied set-list. Starting with that Pink Floyd cover to get the crowd in the mood, before playing and older, spacey track that was guitar heavy and a wee bit light on the lyrics going straight through to ‘Purple Yellow Red and Blue’ (2013) and ‘Live in the Moment’ (2017), two more recent songs that have had more radio play. The audience were a bit muted compared to the other acts of the night, I mean, it is hard to mosh to electro-guitar solos played over light keys and drums.

Going from the Portugal. The Man to The Prodigy was a bit of a jolt. As ever, the Prodigy had a stunning set, fantastic lasers, the crowd was already hopping by the time we got there. The band has been touring for almost three decades and know their stuff. They haven’t played in Germany since 2015, so it was high-time they came back. The set was littered with classics and the crowd went absolutely wild during voodoo people. I mean, it’s The Prodigy, it’s hard not to dance like a maniac with those beats and the amount of pure, raw energy coming off the stage. After the show most people were danced-out and made their way to their tents, the younger and drunker punters also went back to the campsite, but only to enjoy the Motorbooty rave that was going on until 4am the next morning.

Sunday

Security has been amped up to 130%, we were frisked each time we entered the main field, and no bags were allowed unless they were see-through and all pockets had to be emptied and checked. This meant more than anything that there were queues caused by this bottle neck. The crowd spent most of the time in the queues singing various songs which either went in rounds or sped up as they went along. It was amusing the first few times, but when someone in the crowd yelled the first line for the sixth time in a row I did groan inwardly. Fortunately, by that point I was almost through the gates, so didn’t have to listen to a half-hearted rendition of eisgekühlter bommerlunder again.

Once through we headed to the blue stage to kick off the afternoon with a bit of Mighty Oaks. Their folk rock was forgetting everyone off to the right start, despite the persistent cold and rain. Lead-singer Ian Hooper switched from German and English throughout the set, which is unsurprising as the very international band – members from US, UK and Italy – are currently based in Berlin. They had the whole crowd swaying in unison, and at one point encouraged everyone to get on someone’s shoulders and the crowd suddenly got half as wide and twice as tall, as almost everyone in the crowd was on someone’s shoulders or holding someone and singing along. It was such a nice, inclusive atmosphere and a great start to the third and final day of the festival.

Late noughties indie-rock Franz Ferdinand bounced onto the main stage as the afternoon was slowly becoming the evening. Full of energy and full of hits, frontman Alex Kapranos jumped cross the stage as he belted out the lyrics. The audience were bouncy along happily, and singing along, smiling in spite of the rain.

One of the most lively shows of the evening was brought by second to last act on Sunday – Kraftklub. In the last five years Kraftklub have risen from unknown band to the next chart-topping must-see band throughout Germany. The show starts with four red smoke //bombs// going off within the crowd. We can’t see exactly how they’ve been planted but they’ve been concealed for who knows how long. Kraftklub then appear on stage as the banner that has been covering the stage has been pulled down, and as they start their opening number (Karl-Mark-Straβe) the crowd goes absolutely wild. Now, I knew it was going to kick off. Sometimes you can just feel it. Through the first half of the show I was stuck between two mosh pits, by the second half I had decided I was fighting a losing battle, and joined them full force. The moshing continued for the full show, and Kraftklub left to cries of ‘one more song’ as they left the stage. They had twenty minutes left of their set, so we naturally all expected them to come back on stage. They did come back. Just not on stage. They had what can only be describe as a mobile stage, about two meters wide and four meters long, on wheels and being pushed through the crowd. They sang ‘ich will nicht nach Berlin’ before telling the audience they needed to get back to the main stage. The most sensible way to do this was obviously to crowd surf. On top of this, it had to be a race. They prepped the crowd in front of them, and after the third blast from the airhorn, they dived in. They were all scrambling to get to the stage as fast as possible and one of the stage hands was waving a giant checked racing flag as they got to the stage and he announced the winner.  

Headliners of the evening, Arctic Monkeys took to the stage under dark, moody lighting. Alex Turner’s slick-backed hair shining in the lights paired with the leather jackets gave the band a 50s vibe. The beat came in as ‘four stars out of five’ started playing and the start of the end of the festival had begun.  

The set was dotted with shout outs to the audience, mainly ‘vielen danke’ (thanks very much – for the non-German speakers) and the dulcet tones of Tuner briefly introducing the odd song. However, audience interaction was minimal, this grown-up band a far cry from their ‘crying lighting’ and ‘fluorescent adolescent’ days. The set-list was a good mix of songs, but focused heavily on AM and Tranquillity Base Hotel + Casino. Which makes sense, especially if they’re trying to move away from their young, almost post-punk rock of the early days and centre their attention on the more polished sound that the more recent albums have encompassed. If I was to sum up their performance I would have to use that word again, polished. Technically, it was a fantastic set, the sound was amazing, the band were in-sync with each other, though I felt like there could have been a bit more (one-sided, as ever) conversation from the band, but this performance, like the two most recent albums seems to have matured from cocky rock to sophisticated, interesting space-pop, but keeping some of that same cheekiness the Monkeys are famed for.

This year Hurricane had an eclectic mix of bands, which, in a weird way seemed to complement each other. If you were not into the headliners you would always find something that would satisfy your wants. However, it would have been nice to see a few more female artists on the mainstages over the three days, though this is something that all festivals could work on, and not just an issue with Hurricane. Personally, I am looking forward to the announcements for the bands next year, and I, like most of the punters, am ready to do the whole thing again next year.

 

Leeds Festival 2014 Weekend Review

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Leeds Fest 2014 began with an extra-early bang, with the introduction of bands and comedians on the Thursday night.

I myself plumped for the madcap comedic stylings of Adam Buxton, the bearded half of 90's comedy duo Adam & Joe, as a result of the tirade of rain which unleashed itself on the site on Thursday evening. Whilst the comedy tent itself offered shelter from the elements, Buxton's wacky style of humour failed to warm many of the on-lookers, although his unique blend of using his laptop to show us all strange goings-on from the internet, to his own home videos was a great idea for a comedy show- I can imagine if it wasn't the precursor to a weekend of music and camping, it would be pretty enjoyable. 

As it was, once the rain had cleared, it was over to the Relentless Stage, situated in a tree-lined strip inbetween the thriving campsites of Red and Orange, following the closure of the stage during 2013's torrential weather. DJ's like Zane Lowe, DJ Fresh and Klaxons were due for the three days, but we had fun nonetheless as the riotous atmosphere was a great set-up for the upcoming weekend.

With a few bleary eyes and banging heads (althoughI like to blame that on camping just a tad too close to the campsite DJ!), Friday was kicked off for me with a slice of the ultra-cool Jungle. A mysterious act made up of an array of vocalists, guitarists, keyboardists and drummers, many of whom do some serious multi-tasking, the West London band were pretty excellent. Sure extensive falsetto vocals can wane on even the most hardened of fans after a while, but when the beats were as fresh and bouncy as they were in the NME/Radio tent, you don’t mind. After an excellent LP and summer festival shows, they have proven there worth, even getting a pre-Clean Bandit crowd to loosen up and lose themselves in the sultry grooves.

Band of the moment, Clean Bandit were next up, and showed surprisingly that there is more to them than mega-hit ‘Rather Be’. No, their live show was assured, confident and FUN! Their unique twist on the genre is intriguing, throwing in classical music influences alongside the bass beats we’re more accustomed too, aswell as the familiarity of guest vocalists peppering the majority of tracks. They weren’t mind-bending, but packed out the tent and offered heaps of fun and innocent pop music for those who wanted it.

The Kooks are another band that bring back memories of adolescence for those of a certain age, and their new wave of sound, with increased R&B influences did certainly not disappoint. Infact, whilst they didn’t match solid favourites ‘Naïve’ and ‘Seaside’ for the sing-a-long aspect, it’s arguable that new singles ‘Down’ and ‘About Town’ were the best performances of their set. The new album releases this week, and it’ll be very interesting to see whether it can revive what many thought to be another band lost to the ages. Based on this performance, the Kooks could stay with us for while.

To many Macklemore & Ryan Lewis seem wildly out of place on a Reading & Leeds bill, their chart-friendly beats and raps surely not acceptable at such a venue? Such things are simply not true though, as Macklemore proved with a friendly, yet humoured stage presence and half a set of gold. That is the one issue I had with this set, it was far too long for the one album rapper, who actually, rather embarrassingly, played the same song twice. But that aside, his song introductions may have been to mask the extended set length, but he made it work- just.

Man-children, Blink-182 made it three times they had headlined both Reading and Leeds sites, the first for four years and ahead of a new album rumoured to be released to the world by the turn of 2014.

Kicking off with ‘Feeling This’, the US rockers breezed through their set, peppering song breaks with some genuinely crude, hilarious humour and entertaining the masses excellently with their extensive back catalogue.The crowd of course reacted magnificently to all-time hit ‘All The Small Things’, but then this was Friday night of Leeds 2014, it was heaving and pits were breaking out all over the inside barrier.

The trio of songs that made up the encore summed up the evening for the Americans; ‘Violence’ a breath-taking tune that allows every band member to step up to the plate, ‘Dammit’ a veritable classic that the first strokes of the guitar riff sent everyone into a fit of excitement, and ‘Family Reunion’, a 40 second tune that manages to pack in all of the band’s trademark crude humour in an expletive-ridden blast.

One way to blast out any morning cobwebs are Derbyshire duo, Drenge. The much-hyped two are loud and fast, known for thrashing away at their instruments and barely stopping to acknowledge their audience. This mid-afternoon slot was not dissimilar to the expectations, they were impressive if straightforward, more new tunes alongside those from their self-titled LP would’ve been nice, but after a year of touring, I’d expect them to hit the studio and get more content to take their live show truly to the next level.

Firm R&L festival favourites, Enter Shikari appeared for their sixth straight festival (in more than one guise!), with circle hits in abundance as frontman Rou Reynolds took time to sprint across the Main Stage, kick out at amps and generally cause a bit of a racket- but a good racket nonetheless! Shikari have grown at this festival, as has their sound, but they know how to work their crowd and how to entertain the masses, even if they’ve never truly broken out into the mainstream, but you know what…I think they prefer things that way!

Vampire Weekend were a band I had been waiting to see ever since their inception as an act, a trio of album in and the NYC collective were incredible. They hit every right note, from Exra Koening having the nerve to play the set in a full grey tracksuit, to the imperious moods they created, from the heart-melding ‘Walcott’ the riotous ‘A-Punk’, to an exclusive track never played live before, ‘California English’, they were exceptional. The start of the set saw one of the day’s torrential downpours, but by its crescendo, the sun was beating down on a magnificent performance.

Josh Homme and Queens of the Stone Age were up first, having closed the previous night at Reading. The band put on a simply brilliant rock show, with thrills in the shape of some impressive laser-shows and some mind-melting guitar-driven beasts of songs. The energy from the band was subtle, growing and growing with each tune. ‘No One Knows’ as song number two was a daring choice, but paid off handsomely as newbies ‘My God Is The Sun’ and ‘Smooth Sailing’ more than benefitted from the buzz generated. Classics like ‘Feel Good Hit of The Summer’ and ‘Make It Wit Chu’ ensured that ardent fans were catered for too, although personally I felt that the fresher songs from 2013’s ‘…Like Clockwork’ were those more warmly received and those better performed generally.

The last coupling of ‘Go With The Flow’ and ‘A Song For The Dead’ were awesome. The latter allowed drummer Jon Theodore to take centre stage, with a sizzling drum solo, it was a song that the band performed with such intensity and vigour, it was hard to take your eyes away from it. And that was that from Queens, a band who managed to surpass my sky-high expectations.

Hoping to shake off the electrical problems which had plagued them the previous night at Reading, Hayley Williams and Paramore, started off by complimenting QOTSA and brought out an extensive light show as they closed the night. The first half of the show was full of the old fan favourites, with a big sing-a-long for ‘The Only Exception’. As a result, the second lacked the punch of the first, with many of the recent self-titled record, which featured a distinct change of sound, making it up. I felt Williams was as good a leader as a band could hope for, fully of charisma and energy, but the performance didn’t connect with myself as much as it did with the ravenous crowd, who screamed and applauded for Williams and co in their droves.

Closing off the night the co-headliners rocked with a stint in the Silent Disco was a good choice. The tent, which had to be closed in 2013 due to high winds, was packed to the brim and offered great variety of current and past pop hits on one channel, with the other devoted to the rock the Reading & Leeds fanbase are more accustomed too. However, it was nice mixing it up every now and then, the atmosphere crackling into life every time a sing-song came on, with each DJ encouraging their sides to make some noise, always a great experience.

The last day of Leeds Fest 2014 saw the much-anticipated Royal Blood finally play, ahead of their just released debut LP. It was a fast, frenetic set which saw the bass and drum duo tear apart the Radio 1/NME tent, packing it out and then some at two in the afternoon, a pretty decent achievement at the end of a weekend chocced full of live music. I can certainly see them making their way up the R&L bill in the future.

Another band I’ve kept my eye on for a while are Brummie starlets, Peace. Possibly the most popular of the current crop of B-town talent, the indie rock outfit made their maiden Main Stage appearance and had a sizeable crowd, their fans amongst the most passionate of the modern day indie era. It was nice for new single ‘Money’ to get an outing, and their new material may swing towards a more poppy sound, but if the UK is to re-start its Britpop scene, look no further than these guys.

Next up was a guaranteed party with the madcap antics of The Hives. Sure they’d released no new material since last appearing at the festival in 2012, but they really didn’t need to, as they performed a masterful set dripping full of favourites like ‘Main Offender’ and ‘Walk Idiot Walk’, beginning with the customary ‘Come On!’, descending into a crowd sit-in and ending with the front section losing it to ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’. Sure, I heard some complaints about frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist’s extended crowd interaction…but I loved it!

I caught only the backend of Foster the People’s Main Stage set, but from what I saw I regretted not seeing the previous half-an-hour. A more mellow version of ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ was pretty memorable, but more than anything they were a band full of confidence and had some good crowd interaction, you got the feeling they were genuinely excited and ecstatic to be with thousands of us in a field in Yorkshire.

One band who’ve had an incredible 12 months are Imagine Dragons, going from a smallish spot on the NME tent last year, just before they made it big, to collaborating with Kendrick Lamar, selling bucketloads of their debut record and making it up to third on the bill on the Main Stage. Again, frontman Dan Reynolds was immensely likeable and thankful for being up there, complimenting R&L for believing in them when no one else would and taking a chance on them. Crowd favourites, ‘Demons’ and ‘Amsterdam’ peppered the set, before a cover of Blur’s ‘Song 2’ paved the way for the rendition of ‘Radioactive’ Leeds had been waiting for. Album number two should bring more exciting times ahead for the Las Vegas act.

Bombay Bicycle Club were as charming as ever as they headlined the NME/Radio 1 Tent, packing it to the rafters, as slices were taken from 2014 album ‘So Long, See You Tomorrow’, most notably ‘Feel’, ‘It’s Alright Now’ and ‘Luna’. I’d seen the polished show around the time of the album’s release, but it was nice to see it having been developed and smoothed out for a festival crowd. Collaborators Rae Morris and Liz Lawrence added that little bit extra to one of the most satisfying hour the weekend had to offer.

From the NME tent, it was a mad dash to see the band most had been waiting for the entire weekend; Arctic Monkeys. The Main Stage field was packed as far as the eye could see, as the Yorkshire quartet cemented their status as one of the biggest rock bands in the world, even if their set wasn’t entirely perfect.

One look at the setlist would tell you the Arctics dusted off all the favourites, alongside extended coverage of latest record ‘AM’, but the performance was rather erratic, as frontman Alex Turner was occasionally slurry in his delivery and a bit out of it, plus the performances of songs like ‘Brianstorm’ and ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ lacked their usual rapid rhythm, for whatever reason. But come the end of the set, it was hard to come away having not enjoyed at least a portion of the set, whether you were an old or a new fan, there was something for everyone in this intriguing 90 minutes.

And that was that for Leeds 2014, another grand Bank Holiday weekend with stacks of memorable moments and top performances by some of the most exciting acts on the planet, Leeds '15 can't come quickly enough!

 


Photos by Gary Mather

 

Leeds Festival 2014- Arctic Monkeys Review

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Arctic Monkeys were the band handed the honour of closing this year's Leeds Festival; the self-anointed Kings of Yorkshire playing a set just short of 90 minutes to a bumper 90,000 crowd.

Alex Turner and co followed on from the acoustic stylings of Jake Bugg and took the majority of the audience by storm, blasting out crowd favourites 'Do I Wanna Know? and 'Brianstorm' in a powerful 1-2 punch that set the tone for the rest of the set. 

Turner was his usual uber-cool self, the man practically oozing cool in a jacket with emblazoned with Yorkshire badges and drummer Matt Helders' famed '0114' bass drum adding to the sense of this being the Monkeys in their natural habitat, as close to a grand homecoming as they've managed and what turned out to be one of the last few shows supporting 2013's successful 'AM' LP.

However, I felt this record's slow and steady pace was reflected far too much across a number of their others tunes, the beat often being diluted especially prevalent in their breakthrough 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'.

The mix-and-match nature of the set was a nice touch though, as the decade in which the Arctics have been around have seen them grow from a bunch of scruffy kids from Sheffield into the polished rock band they resemble today; having the likes of 'Dancing Shoes' alongside the mature, crisp 'No.1 Party Anthem' tells you all you need to know about the growth the band have had in a relatively short space of time.

A four-song encore saw fan favourites 'Mardy Bun' (albeit a short acoustic version) and 'When The Sun Goes Down' receive airings, alongside possibly the biggest song for the lads, 'R U Mine?', which had an extremely elongated ending which almost came across as tedious.

So that was the Arctic Monkeys; a reliable as ever headliner for a festival the size of Leeds and a set that a massive crowd lapped up, with Alex Turner immortalising himself as one of the leading frontmen in the industry.

Hotly tipped breakthrough acts join the T in the Park line-up

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T in the Park festival organisers DF Concerts and founding partner Tennent’s Lager are excited to reveal that some of the most hotly tipped breakthrough acts around have joined the bill for this summer’s festival, which will take place in Balado over 11th – 13th July.
 
Kiesza, Billy Lockett, MNEK, Fatherson, Dan Croll, James Bay, Catfish and the Bottlemen, John Wizards, Raleigh Ritchie, Jaguar Skills and All About She are Balado-bound this July, joining the ever-growing T in the Park bill.
 
Canadian-born, London-based singer-songwriter Kiesza hit the top of the charts with the sophisticated house-tinged pop gem Hideaway. A talented and hugely in-demand songwriter, she’s also written for Rihanna, Kylie and Icona Pop and will make her T in the Park debut this summer.
 
Having played his way from the basement to the studio, whilst captivating fans at shows up and down the country, Billy Lockett’s distinctive style brings together piano and guitar aided by a soulful voice, charming lyrics.
 
The hugely in-demand producer and vocalist MNEK was being tipped by the likes of The Guardian, NME, Dazed and Confused and Popjustice when he was aged just 15. He featured on and co-wrote four songs on Rudimental’s platinum selling Home, co-wrote Need U (100%) with Duke Dumont and A*M*E – which earned him a Grammy nomination for ‘Best Dance Recording’, has remixed for Bastille and Tinie Tempah, wrote and featured on Gorgon City’s massive top 5 hit Ready For Your Love, and produced Feel So Good from Kylie Minogue’s new album. 2014 looks to be his busiest year to date, with his hotly anticipated debut album set to firmly establish him as a solo artist in his own right.
 
Glasgow-based four-piece Fatherson hail from Kilmarnock and made their T in the Park debut on the T Break Stage in 2011. They’ve been making waves in the Scottish music scene with their anthemic indie tunes, following a string of supports with bands such as Frightened Rabbit, Feeder, Twin Atlantic and Idlewild. Their latest single I Like Not Knowing is currently receiving major airplay by Radio 1 DJs Huw Stephens, Zane Lowe and Greg James, with the track being voted Most Loved Track on BBC Radio 1’s Review Show this week.
 
British singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Dan Croll combines folk elements and classic Paul Simon-like melodies with electronic beats, African polyrhythms and guitar hooks. He released his debut LP, Sweet Disarray, in March.
 
Singer-songwriter James Bay has been captivating audiences with his raw pop melodies and gravelled voice at appearances at Communion's monthly night at Notting Hill Arts Club in London. A hugely successful run of support slots with fellow T in the Park acts John Newman and Kodaline have won him yet more fans.
 
Catfish and the Bottlemen’s energetic guitar-driven rock and roll is winning them legions of fans across the country. The band signed to Island Records earlier this year, and their latest single Kathleen has been receiving heavy rotation on BBC Radio 1, XFM and on MTV, with the Llandudno-based four-piece widely tipped for great things in 2014.
 
Cape Town-based John Wizards released their eponymous debut album to major critical acclaim last year, with The Guardian featuring the record at no.8 in their top 10 albums of 2013. They played a series of UK dates supporting Jagwar Ma and will bring their infectious mix of South African house, R&B, shangaan electro, reggae, afropop, soukous, rumba and afrobeat to the fields of Balado this summer.
 
Bristol-born Raleigh Ritchie – aka Jacob Anderson – is also known for his role as Grey Worm in Game Of Thrones. He’s supported the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Angel Haze, and his recently-released second EP, Black and Blue, is a stunning mix of urban pop and raw storytelling.
 
The original ninja-DJ Jaguar Skills burst onto the scene with his extraordinary DJ talent and ability to produce awe-inspiring mixtapes, leading to a coveted BBC Radio 1 ‘In New DJs we Trust’ slot. With numerous sold-out UK tours under his belt, he was further propelled into the global spotlight with roof-raising sets at festivals and super-clubs around the world.
 
UK production trio All About She have between them worked with the likes of Dizzee Rascal, VV Brown, Wookie, Roses Gabor and Wretch 32. They wrote Intro for Tinie Tempah’s debut album Discovery, with singer Vanya Taylor writing and lending vocals to his 2011 hit Simply Unstoppable. Having recently released a brand new EP Go Slow, they’re being widely tipped as ones to watch, with Radio 1 & 1Xtra DJs MistaJam, Zane Lowe and Toddla T all giving airplay to their single Higher (Free).
 
T in the Park 2014 – artists announced so far
 
FRIDAY 11TH JULY: Biffy Clyro, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, Imagine Dragons, Pixies, Steve Angello, Alesso, Haim, You Me At Six, Manic Street Preachers, Chvrches, DJ Fresh & Messy MC, Maximo Park, Pretty Lights, Foxes, The Magic Numbers, Royal Blood, The Rifles, Len Faki, Pan-Pot, Drenge, Charli XCX, Josh Record, Jackmaster, Wolf Alice, Factory Floor, Neon Jungle, MNEK, Dan Croll, Lonely the Brave, Hudson Taylor, James Bay, John Wizards, Little Matador, Raleigh Ritchie, Dolomite Minor, Clouds, Alex Smoke.
 
SATURDAY 12TH JULY: Calvin Harris, Paolo Nutini, Pharrell Williams, Elbow, Rudimental, Ben Howard, James, Bombay Bicycle Club, Twin Atlantic, The 1975, The Charlatans, John Newman, Embrace, Katy B, The Human League, Nina Nesbitt, Soul II Soul, The Stranglers, Joris Voorn, Dave Clarke, Duke Dumont, Robert Hood, Carl Craig, Clean Bandit, We Are Scientists, Ella Eyre, George Ezra, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Kiesza, The LaFontaines, Billy Lockett, Twenty One Pilots, Fatherson, The Amazing Snakeheads, Circa Waves, Skream, Chlöe Howl, Guy Gerber, Magda, Jaguar Skills, All About She.
 
SUNDAY 13TH JULY: Arctic Monkeys, Jake Bugg, Paul Weller, Disclosure, Bastille, Example, Tinie Tempah, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, London Grammar, Tame Impala, Kodaline, Above & Beyond, Sam Smith, Passenger, Sven Vath, Metronomy, Newton Faulkner, Chance the Rapper, Slam, Wilkinson, Reverend & The Makers, The Twilight Sad, Earl Sweatshirt, Inspiral Carpets, Julio Bashmore, Jess Glynne, Kerri Chandler, Tale of Us, Levon Vincent, Catfish and the Bottlemen, King Charles, Darlia, George Fitzgerald, Becky Hill, The Minutes, Mark Henning, Red Hot Chilli Pipers and more acts to be announced (line-up subject to change).

Biffy Clyro, Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams & many more added to T in the Park 2014 lineup

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Homegrown heroes Biffy Clyro and Calvin Harris will close the Main Stage at the festival for the very first time, becoming the first Scottish acts to do so in 13 years with what will be their biggest ever shows on home soil. Biffy Clyro’s 10th Balado outing will see them become the artist which has played the festival the most times. Man of the moment Pharrell Williams is sure to be another highlight, and DF Concerts have also today announced a further array of top acts which will join previously announced Arctic Monkeys and Paolo Nutini as well Biffy Clyro, Calvin Harris andPharrell Williams on the T in the Park 2014 bill:
 
FRIDAY 11TH JULY: Biffy Clyro, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, Bastille, Pixies, Steve Angello, Alesso, Haim, You Me At Six, Manic Street Preachers, Chvrches, Maximo Park, The Rifles, Len Faki, Pan-Pot.
 
SATURDAY 12TH JULY: Calvin Harris, Paolo Nutini, Pharrell Williams, Elbow, Rudimental, Ben Howard, James, Bombay Bicycle Club, Twin Atlantic, The 1975, John Newman, Embrace, Katy B, Nina Nesbitt, The Stranglers, Dave Clarke, Carl Craig, Metronomy, Clean Bandit, We Are Scientists, Ella Eyre, George Ezra, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Magda.
 
SUNDAY 13TH JULY: Arctic Monkeys, Jake Bugg, Disclosure, Example, Imagine Dragons, Tinie Tempah, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, London Grammar, Tame Impala, Kodaline, Above & Beyond, Sam Smith, Passenger, Sven Vath, Newton Faulkner, Chance The Rapper, Slam, The Twilight Sad, Inspiral Carpets, Julio Bashmore, Levon Vincent, George Fitzgeraldand many, many more acts to be announced (line-up subject to change).
 
There will be more music than ever before, with Friday extending to a full day of performancesfor the first time ever from 12pm, and on the Saturday night the party continues right through to 1am, plus camping tickets and Saturday and Sunday day tickets will be available at 2013 prices. With a full day of performances on Friday, the day ticket will be priced as per the other day tickets.
 
Biffy Clyro are T in the Park fan favourites, and they cite their very first performance on the T Break Stage back in 1999 as a defining factor in the band being signed. An incredible 2013 saw the band named Best British Band at the NME Awards and debut at no. 1 with their Opposites album (which achieved the best reviews of the band’s career). They headline the T in the Park Main Stage for the first time this July in what will be their 10th appearance at the festival, and as the fields of Balado ring out once again with the sound of “Mon the Biff!”, it’ll surely be a special moment for band and fans alike.
 
Biffy Clyro guitarist and singer Simon Neil said: “It’s so great to be playing this year. We’ve seen so many amazing bands at T in the Park over the years. Genuinely T in the Park has shaped our lives in more ways than just our experiences of performing there. We wouldn’t be here, doing this now, if it wasn’t for playing T in the Park. To headline it finally is amazing – it just feels poetic to be headlining on our 10th time. It’s going to be the night of our lives, hopefully it’ll be the night of your life and we can’t wait.”
 
Global Superstar Calvin Harris will be one of the highlights for T in the Parkers. A Grammy award-winning, multi-talented DJ, songwriter, performer and producer, Calvin’s no. 1 album 18 Months has to date sold over 750,000 copies in the UK alone, along with over 35 million singles worldwide. 18 Months also made chart history by scoring the most Top 10 singles from one album, with 9 UK top 10 singles including Nothing feat. Florence Welch and the massive We Found Love feat. Rihanna. Last year he became the first DJ to win a prestigious Ivor Novello award and will close T in the Park’s Main Stage for the first time this summer.
 

Calvin Harris said: “I’m very excited that I’m going to be headlining and closing T in the Park’s Main Stage. Last year was incredible, so I can’t wait to be back this year. It’s going to be amazing – I’ll see you all there!”

Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter/producer and man of the moment Pharrell Williams is one of the most successful and prolific artists to emerge during the last decade, as part of the The Neptunes, N.E.R.D., and as a collaborator and solo star in his own right. He featured on the two biggest selling singles of 2013 – Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines (producer, co-songwriter and featured artist), and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky which he co-wrote and fronted. This year looks set to be just as successful, with Pharrell picking up the Producer of the Year Award at the 2014 Grammys, and his hotly anticipated new album G I R L – which features the no. 1 smash hit Happy – due out next month.
 
Ed Sheeran is one of the most in-demand singer-songwriters to emerge from the UK music scene in recent years. With an Ivor Novello and Grammy nomination under his belt, he’s sure to inspire mass sing-alongs with his anthemic tunes.
 
Nominated for the Best British Male at this year’s Brit Awards after receiving a Mercury Music Prize nomination his debut self-titled album in 2013, Jake Bugg’s ever-broadening musical palette saw him produce an outstanding follow-up to his debut with Shangri-La. He’s a welcome edition to the T in the Park bill this summer.
 
2014 has started with a bang for Ellie Goulding. Her million-selling album Halcyon Days reached no.1 in the UK’s Official Albums Chart. Selling out her 2014 UK arena tour and with total sales now topping over three million albums and fifteen million singles, Ellie Goulding’s star is set to soar at Balado as she joins the T in the Park line-up this July.
 
Elbow return to Balado, headlining the BBC Radio 1 Stage. After winning the prestigious Mercury Music Prize in 2008 with the glorious, triple–platinum selling The Seldom Seen Kid, they picked up the BRIT Award for Best British Group the following year along with 2 Ivor Novello Songwriting Awards. In 2012, the band composed the theme to the BBC's coverage of the London 2012 Olympics, before playing to a global audience of 750 million at the closing ceremony. Their hotly anticipated sixth studio album The Take Off and Landing of Everything is released on March 10th.
 
In the last 12 months, Disclosure have been nominated for four Brit Awards in 2014, sold-out venues across the world and received critical-acclaim with their debut album Settle. In their return to Balado this summer, they are sure to bring the party vibe to T in the Park 2014.
 
Bursting out of London’s underground music scene early last year, Rudimental are a pioneering melting-pot collective who rocketed to fame when their single Feel the Love topped the UK singles chart in 2012. At the start of 2013 they returned to the number 1 spot with Waiting All Night ­– which last week won Best British Single at the BRITs – swiftly following up with a number 1 debut album.
 
The band said: “We had a wicked time playing at T in the Park last year so we are really excited to have been asked back again. The crowd up there really know how to have a good time! We can’t wait to get back up there for an even bigger Rudimental party this year.”
 
Fresh from winning British Breakthrough Act at the BRIT Awards 2014 and the following the success of their number one platinum selling debut album Bad Blood, Bastille will return to T in the Park this summer with a plethora of great songs that are both absorbing and genre-defining.
 
Since his last T in the Park appearance in 2012, Ben Howard has scooped two BRIT Awards, for British Breakthrough Act and British Male. His debut album Every Kingdom was a top five hit going platinum in the UK, and he’s sure to be a big hit on his return to T in the Park.
 
Pixies made a triumphant return in 2004 following an eleven-year hiatus, wowing fans and critics at live shows around the world. Last year, the group released their first new song in over a decade –Bagboy – on their website to the delight of their fans, with the release racking up than one million downloads/streams in the space of a month.
 
Pixies’ Joey Santiago said: “We played T in the Park back in 2004, the year of our reunion, and as I recall, it was a great show, especially for the band.  So here it is, ten years later, and we’re just as excited to be part of the 2014 line-up and look forward to playing some of our brand new songs as well as the classics for our Scottish fans.”
 
A pioneer of the Stockholm underground turned icon of the global EDM scene, Steve Angello returns to T in the Park to close the Radio 1 Stage on the Friday night. From the billboard charts to the club floor, he is firmly at the top of his game having taken the reigns at famous stages across the globe and boasting annual residencies for Ibiza’s most prestigious night spots, and recently joined BBC Radio 1’s impressive Residency line-up.
 
Since forming in Manchester in 1982, James's enduring creativity and musical legacy has made them one of the most influential British indie bands.  During their music career now spanning over 30 years, they have released 12 studio albums and sold 13 million albums worldwide. James’ biggest hits includeSit Down, She’s A Star, Laid and Getting Away With It (All Messed Up), with an impressive 20 Top 40 singles in the UK under their belt. Having spent most of 2013 in the studio with Max Dingel (The Killers, Muse), the band's new album La Petite Mort is set to be released via BMG/Cooking Vinyl’ after 2ndJune.
 
Jim Glennie, bassist, James said:"It's a real privilege to be playing this year’s T in the Park. It is a festival that we've a long and memory packed history. The Scottish people have always been wonderful to James and it will be a true pleasure to be back amongst friends. Yours, Jim from James.”
 
Tinie Tempah’s multi-platinum selling debut album Disc-Overy took the world by storm, before its hotly anticipated follow-up Demonstration was released last November featuring an A-list of collaborators including Dizzee Rascal, Paloma Faith, Emeli Sandé and Naughty Boy. A glittering array of prestigious awards – including multiple MOBOs, BRITs, Urban Music Awards, a UK Festival Award and the Ivor Novello for Best Contemporary Song for debut single Pass Out – are a testament to his major critical acclaim as well as his huge popularity as one of the freshest hip-hop stars around right now.
 
Now a regular at some of the world’s largest festivals and collaborating with producers such as Sebastian Ingrosso, Calvin Harris on and OneRepublic, Alesso has had successive Beatport chart toppers with debut single Nillionaire and to the dark and energized Raise Your Head. He topped the UK singles chart with his collaboration with Calvin Harris, Under Control, and scored chart success once again on his Grammy nominated remix of OneRepublic’s If I Lose Myself. Having already spun against a backdrop of different skylines on various stages across the world, the producer/DJ is destined for greatness and set to make his T in the Park debut this summer when he takes to the decks on the Radio 1 Stage before Steve Angello, for a Friday night dance extravaganza.
 
Glasgow art-pop four-piece Franz Ferdinand were catapulted to global stardom with the release of their classic, era-encapsulating self-titled debut album in 2004. The band returned with a new albumRight Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action last summer, with critics hailing the band’s trademark lyrical detail, heavyweight hooks, and uncanny ability to marry artistic sensibility with pop punch.
Glasgow’s alt-rock powerhouse Twin Atlantic – whose celebrated full-length debut Free went silver in the UK – return to T in the Park to cement their incendiary live reputation.
Sam McTrusty, vocals and guitar, said:“T in the Park has become a massive part of our band’s history and we are so proud to be able to say we are playing again this year. We have been working on new music that we will be unveiling this year and it will be a massive relief to be playing new songs this time around. Our 6th year playing at the renowned festival is shaping up to our best one yet. See you in the fields!”
 
You Me At Six released their long awaited fourth album Cavalier Youth at the end of January. With three gold albums, a sold out Wembley show, countless tours and festivals, this year is theirs for the taking and they can rightfully claim their position as one of the biggest rock bands in the UK. 
 
You Me At Six's lead singer, Josh Franceschi said: "Playing in Scotland is always exciting for us as they have some of the best crowds we have seen anywhere in the world, I know a lot of other bands feel the same. We are so pumped to play the main stage this year and can't wait to show off the new songs on Cavalier Youth.”
 
Tame Impala’s second album Lonerism won international plaudits for its simplistic beauty and boundless creativity, hailed as album of the year by NME and Rolling Stone in their native Australia in 2012. After embarking on a phenomenal sold out world tour at the end of 2012, the band are back on the live circuit and set to return to T in the Park this July.
 
Manchester quartet The 1975’s eponymous debut album topped the UK Album Charts last September when it entered at no.1. Their infectious anthems where alt.rock explosions meet electro-pop grooves are the perfect summer festival soundtrack, and are sure to inspire mass sing-alongs when they make their T in the Park return.
 
Matty Healy, The 1975: “T in the Park was a crazy show last year and we're really looking forward to returning this summer, we love Scottish crowds!”
 
London Grammar are one of the biggest breakthrough acts of 2013. In the past 12 months, they’ve had their first BRIT nomination for Best Breakthrough Act, and seen their highly acclaimed debut albumIf You Wait named Album Of The Year by iTunes and hailed amongst the best albums of 2013 by BBC 6 Music, Sunday Times, Line Of Best Fit and Clash, to name a few.
 
In 2012, a year before his first solo material had even seen the light of day, John Newman scored a no. 1 single, and had written and sung on two of the biggest dance hits to storm the UK charts in years: Rudimental’s massive number one Feel The Love and the powerfully anthemic follow up Not Giving In. Last year, he released his first solo material, topping the charts with debut solo single Love Me Again and album Tribute.
 
Sam Smith came to the fore featuring on fellow T in the Park act Disclosure’s breakout hit Latchand went on to work with Naughty Boy on the MOBO-winning, no.1 hit single La La La. His own debut single Money On My Mind topped the UK singles chart on Sunday, and with his debut album due in the Spring, plus having been named the BRITs Critics Choice and topping the coveted BBC Sound of 2014 Poll, it’s shaping up to be a big year for the singer-songwriter. 
 
Half Scottish, half Swedish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt released her debut album, Peroxide, last week, with the record entering the UK charts on Sunday at no. 11. Destined for big things this year, she was named 'Singer/Songwriter New Artist of the Year' by iTunes at the tail-end of 2012.
 
Nina Nesbitt said: "This will be the first year I play T with an album out. Last year was an amazing experience on the King Tut's stage and I'm so excited to come and play among so many other great artists back in my home country! It'll be a great way to celebrate going to no. 1 in Scotland!"
 
Clean Bandit’s culture clash of bass, beats and soaring strings evokes memories of classic Massive Attack. When they released their first single Mozart’s House on their own label it caught the attention of DJs Nick Grimshaw, Annie Mac, Rob Da Bank, Huw Stephens, John Kennedy, Eddie Temple Morris and Fearne Cotton, before they hit the top spot with Rather Be feat. Jess Glynne. They make their hotly anticipated T in the Park debut this summer.
 
Grace Chatto (cello), Clean Bandit said: “We haven't actually ever played a festival in Scotland, but we have done a headline show in Glasgow and supported Disclosure and Basement Jaxx in Edinburgh. The Scottish audiences are always up for a good time which makes the shows so fun for us. We've heard great things about T in the Park, and to be playing on such a big stage like the Radio 1 stage is huge! We can’t wait!”
 
Scottish indie rockers The Twilight Sad also join the bill. James Graham, Twilight Sad, singer, said: "We're delighted & excited to be part of the line-up at T in the Park this year. T was the first festival I ever attended and we, The Twilight Sad, all went together even before we became a band. Therefore it's a festival that means a lot to us. The T in the Park crowd is one of the best crowds in the world and we can't wait to play for them.”
 
An impressive line-up of electronic artists will take to the decks in the Slam Tent, including Sven Vath, Dave Clarke, Carl Craig, Magda, Len Faki, Pan-Pot, Slam, Julio Bashmore, George Fitzgerald and Levon Vincent, with more to be announced.

Paolo Nutini set for T in the Park 2014

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Paolo Nutini returns this year with a career defining new album that showcases his maverick talent and incredible vocal prowess with a maturity way beyond his 27 years. He exploded onto the scene in 2006 with his pop flavoured These Streets selling 1.5 million in the UK. Three years later he moved on again, with the acclaimed Sunny Side Up. Brit nominated and an Ivor Novello winner, he was the biggest selling UK male artist of 2009 and 2010 and will showcase his groove-laden new material from his sparkling new album Caustic Love in his first return to T in the Park since 2010.  

Arctic Monkeys to headline Reading and Leeds Festivala

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It’s shaping up to be a big summer for Reading & Leeds Festivals. Having already announced headliners Blink-182 in their only UK shows of 2014, as well as Jake Bugg, Disclosure, Metronomy, Of Mice & Men, Wilkinson and I Am Legion, even more names have now been revealed! Just announced to join the line-up are headliners Arctic Monkeys with an exclusive Festival headline set in England and Wales, Courteeners, The 1975, You Me At Six, SBTRKT, Warpaint, Netsky, Annie Mac, Royal Blood, Hozier,Architects, Issues, Pusha Tand Krept & Konanacross the weekend.
 
Reading & Leeds are thrilled to welcome global superstars and bonafide rock heroes Arctic Monkeys back to headline the Festivals this summer. Nominated for ‘Best British Band’ at the upcoming BRIT Awards and ‘Best Live Band’ at the NME Awards, they need no introduction to the Reading & Leeds audience. First performing on one of the smaller stages in 2005 prior to the release of their debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’, they took their rightful place on the Main Stage in 2006, returning to headline the Festivals with an electrifying set in 2009. Voted as NME’s ‘Album of The Year’ in 2013, ‘AM’ saw the band return more confident than ever, with hits including debut single and instant classic ‘Do I Wanna Know?’, ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High’ and ‘R U Mine?’. One if the most important bands of our time, and with Zane Lowe citing the band as ‘the last defining moment in rock and roll’, this summer the Arctic Monkeys return to Reading & Leeds for an unmissable exclusive Festival headline set in England and Wales.
 
Arctic Monkeys
 
Speaking to NME about Reading & Leeds, Matt Helders said: “We’ve got a lot of history with the festival. It’s the first festival I ever went to – we all went together as kids, with Nick as well. We were 15 or 16 and it was a big deal going to a festival like that on your own”.
 
After announcing a brief hiatus back in December, Manchester’s Courteeners will be heading to this year’s Reading & Leeds for an exclusive festival performance in England and Wales. Having first burst onto the scene with 2007’s ‘St Jude’, last year saw the band release their third Top Ten album ‘ANNA’ to their devoted throng of fans, as well as selling over 100,000 tickets. Their Reading & Leeds performances in 2009 and 2012 were highlights, with the crowd going mad for hits including ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and ‘Lose Control’, and festival goers can expect even more from their sets this year.
 
One of the breakout acts of 2013, The 1975 will return to this year's Reading & Leeds Festivals. Following their huge success last year with a string of hits – ‘Chocolate’ voted ‘Number One Hottest Record of 2013’ by BBC Radio 1 listeners, ‘The City’, ‘Sex’ and ‘Girls’ – and a Number One debut album, the band are set to continue their ascendancy throughout 2014. Having sold out every UK gig put on sale to date, The 1975 will be a firm favourite on the bill this summer. 
 
The band comment: "We grew up going to Reading & Leeds Festival. It's so humbling knowing we are going to play such a prestigious slot there this year. Cannot wait!"
 
With their incredible newly released fourth album ‘Cavalier Youth’, Surrey born rock quintet and Reading & Leeds veterans You Me At Sixhave catapulted in at Number One in the UK Album Charts this week. It would be no exaggeration to state that the band has done some growing up at Reading & Leeds over the years. 2014 marks their fourth appearance at Reading & Leeds, and this year their show will be anexclusive festival appearance in England and Wales. With three gold records full of undeniable anthems in tow, the UK's brightest young rock band may well make this their year.
 
SBTRKT is an alias used to support the concept of anonymity and has explained that he would prefer the music to speak for itself. To further support his anonymity, SBTRKT wears modern interpretations of native society ceremonial masks designed by Hidden Place. His music pulls off a series of impressive feats: it's bursting with fresh ideas, and yet sounds immediately familiar. Its influences are incorporated with subtlety and sophistication: dense enough to interpret, light enough to dance to. 
 
From their much-loved 2010 debut ‘The Fool’ through to their recently released Top Ten self-titled full length, produced by Flood and mixed by Nigel Godrich, female quartet Warpaint have positioned themselves as one of the most highly regarded indie-rock bands on the planet. The LA group create a deeply personal and ambitious mix of reverb-soaked pop and shimmering post-punk that makes them a truly exciting live prospect, a perfect addition for the Reading & Leeds audiences. 
 
One of the hottest acts in electronic music today, Belgian super producer and DJ Netsky brings his blend of uplifting melodies and potent dancefloor beats to the Festivals this summer. Netsky has risen through the ranks of drum & bass at a stratospheric pace, with his second full length record reaching No.24 in the UK Albums Chart in 2012 and a third highly anticipated album due out later this year.  Don’t miss the chance to see him transform Reading & Leeds into a rave with his summer-and-festival-ready tracks this August bank holiday weekend as he headlines the Dance Stage.
 
Netsky
 
One of the most in-demand DJ’s currently on the festival and club circuit, BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac is a globally renowned name in the world of dance music. With her finger held firmly on the pulse she is a genuine champion of true underground electronic music and her Friday night BBC Radio 1 show is a testament to that. Annie is a welcome addition to the Dance line-up at Reading & Leeds Festivals; she is sure to play to packed out crowds and will no doubt be one of the highlights of the weekend!
 
Annie adds: “Reading & Leeds Festival is close to my heart and I went religiously back before I was a DJ.  It's been a dream to play there and I'm really looking forward to it.”
 
Brighton duo Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher make up the two halves of Royal Blood. Despite their minimal line-up of drums, bass and vocals the pair create melodic, riff-heavy power rock that has, since their recent 2013 inception, seen them championed by the likes of BBC Radio 1 & included in the BBC Sound of 2014 longlist. Expect this to be one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend.
 
Hozier was raised on the building blocks of popular music: rhythm and blues, soul, jazz and the deep dark stuff stretching from Chicago to the Delta. He joined his first band when he was 15 years old, fronting a soul band with some older heads. Having taught himself to play guitar and piano, he went to Trinity College to study music, but dropped out to concentrate his talents on the creative process full time. Hozier would go on to forge a musical identity he could call his own. A place where Stevie Wonder and Billie Holiday are revered alongside James Joyce and Oscar Wilde. Singer of songs, teller of tales, Hozier’s new EP is expected this spring. It all begins here.
 
Having recently announced that Daniel P Carter, host of BBC Radio 1’s Rock Show, will curate the dedicated rock stage in 2014, fans were given the chance to make Reading & Leeds history by suggesting a new name for this stage. Three fan nominated names made the shortlist – The Pit, The Lockdown and The Meltdown Stage, in addition to Daniel’s suggestion The Riff Haus and headliners Of Mice & Men’s The Hyphy Stage. With over 5000 votes cast, the winning name chosen by you is The Pit. Congratulations to the winners who were the first to submit the name, who will not only receive VIP upgrades for themselves and a friend, but will also get amazing side of stage access to watch a band on their newly named stage! 
 
Reading & Leeds are proud to welcome Brighton metalcore titans Architects to The Pit and back to the Festivals this summer. Following their signing to Epitaph, the band release their hotly anticipated sixth full-length album ‘Lost Forever // Lost Together’ this March, and will bring their ferocious vocals and complex guitar riffs to Reading & Leeds for one of the most exciting sets of the weekend.
 
Lead vocalist of Architects, Sam Carter, says: "We’re delighted to be playing Reading & Leeds again this year! Reading festival was a huge part of our musical upbringing and it was the first festival that any of us attended. It’s an honour to be part of such a huge and prestigious festival – August can’t come soon enough!"
 
Rise Records six-piece Issues will this year make their inaugural trip to Reading & Leeds. Fusing crushing metal with pop sensibilities, the band release their self-titled debut album later this month and are a truly exciting addition to the Reading & Leeds line-up.
 
Rising to prominence as one-half of preeminent hip-hop duo Clipse, GOOD Music signee Pusha T has carved a rap career all of his own. Following his astounding appearances alongside mentor Kanye West on 2012’s label record ‘Cruel Summer’, 2013 saw the ferocious Virginia MC destroy the competition with the release of his long-awaited solo album. With the release of singles ‘Nosetalgia’ featuring Kendrick Lamar and 'Numbers on the Board', Pusha T has placed himself at the forefront of real hip-hop and this summer will bring his uniquely tense delivery to Reading & Leeds. 
 
Championed by BBC Radio 1Xtra, MOBO award winning South London MC’s Krept & Konan have been making waves on the UK rap scene. Turning heads last year when their ‘Young Kingz’ mixtape entered the UK Top 20 independently with only limited promotion, the duo have been giving established commercial acts a run for their money. Be sure to catch their uniquely evocative brand of hip-hop at the Festivals.

Kings of Leon to headline Rock Werchter 2014

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The Summer Festival Guide 2014 can now reveal that Kings of Leon will headline Sunday night at Belgium's Rock Werchter.

They join Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Jack Johnson, Major Lazer, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Pixies, Placebo, Skrillex, Stromae – who said himself on Facebook this week that he’d be there – The Black Keys and Triggerfinger, all already announced for Rock Werchter 2014. Festival tickets have been on sale since early December. Ticket sales for Rock Werchter 2014 are at 60,000 and still counting. The 18,000 day tickets for Saturday 5 July are already sold out. Still on sale: combi-tickets and day tickets for Thursday, Friday or Sunday. More festival news to come soon.

Kings of Leon

About Kings of Leon:
”There is no festival we’ve played more,” said singer Caleb Followill to the Werchter crowd last year. The pleasure is ours, Caleb. No name has graced the bill as often in such a short space of time: in 2014 it will be the sixth time in eight years. This mutual respect tells a Werchter fairytale: young band makes headliner status through repeat visits. The first time around, in 2007, Kings of Leon were honoured by a visit from Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam). Two years later they topped the bill. By then “Sex On Fire” and “Use Somebody” had brought them world fame and they were heaping up the gold records. The album “Come Around Sundown” (2010) was overshadowed by internal stresses, but that was only a glitch. “Mechanical Bull” (2013) sees them back in good form. More roots than arena rock. Good stuff.