It’s here! It’s Reading & Leeds! The annual bank holiday blow out kicks off today, with a whole bunch of brilliant bands swapping their way across the two legged festival. We’re on the ground in Reading, bringing you the latest news, photos, reports and ‘stuff’. Before heading down to (hopefully) sunny Berkshire, we dropped a line to some of our faves to find out what to expect, including Ash from God Damn.
So, do you have anything special planned for Reading & Leeds?
We’re playing in a tent so pyrotechnics are out of the question. I might request a revolving drum riser.
Do you have any onstage tricks that always go down well with a festival crowd?
As a drummer, you can get stuck at the back a bit, so I like to have a stand up and roam around a bit. It just keeps things interesting, and I love getting involved with the crowd. I like to see them hyped.
Is there anyone you’re particularly looking forward to seeing play, or catching up with?
It will be good to catch up with the boys from Idles and Puppy. Looking at the line up, there’s not a massive amount of bands we know playing on the same day as us, so I reckon we’ll come away with a new bunch of mates.
Which is your favourite of the headliners: Muse, Kasabian or Eminem?
It’s got to be Eminem for me. Although I still enjoy what the other headliners do, I’ve always had a soft spot for old Marshall, his early albums had such a massive impact on my childhood and teenage years. He’s not playing the same day as us but he’s playing Leeds the day after, and I’m really hoping to be able to stay on and see him. He’s definitely one of those bucket list artists in my eyes.
If you’ve been before, what’s the best band you’ve seen there previously?
The only other time I’ve been is when we played in 2015. I managed to catch a few bands that festival. I’d say The Bronx or Bo Ningen were the best ones I saw.
What was the last festival you went to as a music fan, not because you were playing?
Do you know what, the only festival I’ve attended as a fan was V Fest back in 2008. It’s not far from Wolverhampton, so just on the doorstep really. The line up was pretty decent too that year.
What’s the biggest festival disaster you’ve experienced?
We had one rained off in Cheltenham last weekend and apparently someone had been electrocuted earlier in the day. Also Thom cut himself open last time we played Leeds festival, I remember people enjoying that. Looking back, we’ve been quite lucky really in that sense. We once did two festivals in two different countries (Germany and Holland) in the same day, I still don’t know how we did it and we’re still here to tell the tale.
What’s the best thing about Reading & Leeds?
This is going to sound cliché but it’s got to be the fans. People always seem proper into their music at Reading and Leeds and are up for going mad. There’s always a great choice of bands too, a good mix of heavy and indie.
