INTRODUCTION |
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| The Carling Reading/Leeds Festival 1999 | ||
| The last music festival of this millennium | ||
| There has been a Reading festival every year since 1960. The Rolling Stones, The Who & Cream were among those to feature in its first decade. Back then the festival was more of a jazz and blues affair, which gradually broadened to include the finest of that time's R&B acts. The 70's saw the festival gain its rock image, which it has sustained for the last 20 years "Reading 98 once again established itself as the essential date in the discerning rock fan's diary" Kerrang. Artistes such as Motorhead, Thin Lizzy & AC/DC & The Jam were among the headliners, all at exactly the same historic venue which houses the festival to this day - Richfield Avenue. In the 80's, It all went a bit Pete Tong, as there was a very narrow minded attitude towards the selection of bands for the festival, which led to an undesirable crowd, and hence, a bad reputation and a shrivelling audience. It took the forward thinking guys at Mean Fiddler to turn the festival round, and get it back on top - ten years ago was their first festival, with bands such as New Order, The Pogues, The Wonder Stuff, Pop Will Eat Itself & New Model Army topping the bill - This fantastic line up worked, with rave reviews, with 'Event of the Year' awards from the likes of NME & Melody Maker. The next decade of festivals, included 1000's of acts - Nirvana, Iggy Pop, De La Soul, Manics, Cypress Hill, Pulp, Radiohead, Primal Scream, Green Day, Beck, Foo Fighters, Underworld, Prodigy, Black Grape, Stone Roses, Orb, Bush, Cornershop, Beastie Boys, Stereophonics and Metallica are just the very tip of the iceberg, and this year's line up is the best in a long time, mainly due to the first ever Dance Stage on the site (Indie-dance record labels Skint, Wall Of Sound & Full Cycle have all had tents in the last few years, but the dance stage this time round will really make a difference - full of top acts (admittedly, mostly from Skint, Wall Of Sound & Full Cycle, as before), it will certainly make the festival more attractive to those with only a casual interest in indie and metal. The biggest addition to the festival is unmistakably the second site - in Leeds. Unlike the Virgin festivals which alternate the acts from day to day, The Carling Weekend, as it shall be known until 2001 at least, will run from Friday 27th August to the Sunday (as always) at the Reading site. The artists will then travel up to Leeds to do exactly the same thang 24 hours later (hence it will close there on bank holiday Monday the 30th). Some critics will accuse the organisers of selling out by renaming the weekend, and including the Leeds site, but in actual fact, the Carling connection has enabled them to afford some very expensive acts (Blur cost £800,000 alone - part of the best festival line up of the summer), and the additional Leeds venue will open up the unique experience to the whole country, and will hopefully reduce the demand for the Reading tickets, so it should not sell out as quickly as usual, and will reduce all those irritating ticket touts. Finally, to all of you who take my advice, and visit The Carling Weekend this year, please take part in Mean Fiddle's Sound As A Pound Campaign, in aid of some of the worst casualties of the Kosavo war - just think, you wouldn't refuse to buy a festival ticket if it cost £79 instead of £78, so give that extra pound, or whatever you can afford to this very worthwhile charity - that buys enough insulin to keep a child alive for a whole week, or to feed fresh bread to ten people for a day - for the price of half a pint of larger you can give life to people, and really make a difference. | ||
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copyright francis madeira 1999 |
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