Retroactive review of the Reading and Leeds 2020 lineup

Reading and Leeds Festival 2020 has just been cancelled... so there's no better time to review the lineup, right? I didn't have this blog up and running when the lineup was released and I wasn't planning on going this year so let's do this now. I won't be going through every single act because that would take far too long, obviously.

Headliners

Stormzy 

Not really my kind of thing, as you'll realise reading this blog but I'm getting more into UK rap (not seeing Dave at last year's festival is one of my biggest regrets of the festival) and Stormzy is obviously one of the best in the scene. He put on a great show at Glastonbury last year and would do even better at Reading and with material from his Sophomore album so it's a shame he won't be playing and it'd be good if they booked him again for next year. In terms of being fit for Reading, if you're going with any Hip Hop artist Stormzy seems like an obvious choice, he's not overly commercial or a sellout like Jay Z or Drake and has the energy and UK culture.

Liam Gallagher

The better of the Gallagher brothers and don't get me wrong Oasis are a great band and I'm sure his setlist would be good, but not only is he an old fart by Reading standards he can't sing and has the stage presence and energy of a senile priest. This booking was genuinely one of the main reasons I decided not to go to Reading this year (alongside the lack of enough proper rock), a rubbish middle headliner and yet another soft wetwipe of a headliner on the R1 stage in the form of Rex Orange County. Liam Gallagher may be bearable enough at Glastonbury and an Oasis reunion would be decent but he should stay away from Reading and I'm hoping he doesn't get re-booked.

Rage Against The Machine

By far the best headliner on the lineup... even though they're a bit overrated, the debut album is fantastic and they've released some other great stuff as well as good political messages and antics but nowadays they're pretty irrelevant and are more part of the machine than raging against it. A lot of people said Rage was just what was needed right now in terms of political revolt but you could do far better than Rage in that aspect. Having said that, they are a great band and do look to be really really great live and would be a pretty great way to finish off the festival.

Main Stage

Fairly dissapointing main stage lineup that hasn't really gone for last year's genre-based day by day system which leads to a pretty rubbish looking bill. 

Friday (Reading)

Migos are a good booking considering how popular they are but God are they boring, definitely wouldn't be seeing them and would probably be in the R1 tent for most of that afternoon. Lewis Capaldi is probably one of the most odd Reading bookings I've seen, Charli XCX last year was pop, but at least she's got a bit of an alternative/dance style, Lewis Capaldi is just straight pop which gets boring after a couple of notes and just doesn't work in the lineup at all. The rest of the day's lineup is still odd, All Time Low and As It Is are good bookings, showing both classic and very modern Pop-Punk which would be good fun, but then throwing in another pop name, Mabel, another rapper, Mostack, and alternative Belako just creates the most confusing lineup full of filler.

Saturday (Reading)

This is quite a lot more cohesive of a day and appeals to me a lot more than either of the other two days. Gerry Cinnamon is a good sub-headliner for Liam Gallagher even though he's a little dull. Two Door Cinema Club are a great band, a bit repetitive, but a great band who I would so love to see at a festival sometime, especially in that time slot, the Wombats played the same slot last year and performed a similar role and was just amazing as the sun goes down. D-Block Europe and Aitch are just more hip hop acts, nothing too special but they'd be good for a mosh, especially after the fairly low-key Bloxx and The Maine (who I have a soft spot for). All in all, not a bad day on the main stage, even though I wouldn't be there for quite a lot of it. 

Sunday (Reading)

What a weak day, even objectively, Courteeners are pretty good, that latest album was surprisingly good, but the rest of their discography is nothing to shout about and they're known for about one song, which in no way hypes the audience up for the heaviest band of the weekend (besides maybe Gallows, The Pit is so dissappointing). Run The Jewels are not bad and I imagine would be great live, as is Slowthai, but the rest of the lineup I've never heard of and after some research I've realised that's no bad thing.

BBC Radio 1 Stage

Some good names on here, although again would be improved with some more proper rock-based stuff. Sam Fender, Dermot Kennedy and Wallows are all pretty good indie acts (especially Sam Fender) who would draw a big crowd but wouldn't really get me going out my way. One of the best names on the R1 Stage is Inhaler, a fairly small indie-rock band who I would imagine to be amazing live and just a really great band in general. Blackbear is another decent act, but again not one that would really draw me in, unlike the afternoon on the Sunday, Waterparks, Hunna, Idles and AJ Tracey is an amazing lineup. Waterparks are a band I've only recently realised are more than crap Pop-Punk, whereas to be fair that's all Waterparks are but they're fun. Idles are one of the best Punk acts around at the moment and would be just amazing in the R1 tent, as would AJ Tracey even though he's not my kind of thing. 

The Pit

God I thought last year's pit was bad, I mean come on there's only 7 properly heavy bands on the lineup for the pit, and that's being generous. I can understand the festival as a whole being less heavy, but surely the Pit still has to be? Apparently not. The headliners aren't bad, Gallows are a great great band and Fever 333 are a good new heavier act. But the rest of the lineup just feels like they've chucked all the other bands they booked that didn't fit as well on the other stages, I really hope that with this year off Festival Republic can put a much better heavy lineup back together... e.g.  Architects, Crystal Castles, Enter Shikari, Beartooth, Crooks UK, Northlane etc.

The rest of the stages

We never got the Introducing Stage or full lineup for the Festival Republic and 1Xtra stages but there are a couple of decent names there, Spector is a band who definitely need more exposure, as are 100 gecs (even if they're very odd). Some other good names on the Festival Republic stage like Girl In Red, Fickle Friends, Jaws, Sports Team all who are getting bigger all the time, especially Sports Team who I can see headlining the Pit in the next couple of years and eventually making it on the Main Stage. All in all, I'd actually say the Festival Republic stage is the best stage, I can't say much about the 1Xtra stage as I barely know any of the names and wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

Verdict

It's not an awful lineup, I think 2018 was far worse with barely any actual rock and a lot of incredibly mainstream artists high up on the bill. However, 2019 managed to have plenty of stuff that wasn't rock or metal for fans of that whilst also having the more traditional Reading acts, which isn't really present on this year's bill, so for me I'm almost glad it's not happening as it gives the organisers a chance to create a better lineup, one with more female artists too, let's get Florence and The Machine as headliners.

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