Hailing from New York, Mindless Self Indulgence have filled the opening slot on the Main Stage on Friday 22nd August. A band with with a reputation for sweeping hardcore fans off their feet with a mix of Electronic and Punk, MSI are sure to please at Leeds.

Filling up the second Special Guest slot on the Main Stage on Friday 22nd August is Plain White T’s, a band that in recent times has blown away music fans with hits such as “Hey There Delilah” and “Hate (I Really Don’t Like You)”. A Main Stage slot at Leeds seems a sure way to anchor this increasingly popular band’s reputation within the industry.

The Radio One/NME stage at Leeds is set to open on Saturday 23rd August with Pete And The Pirates’, who with their smooth blend of punk and pop are sure to appeal to the majority, and should be able to plug their new album, “Little Death” to an increasing fan base.

Saturday 23rd also has the additions of Tiger Army, The Briggs and Blackhole to the ever-popular Lockup stage. With the release of Tiger Army’s fourth album in the US, 2007 was a banner year for the band and they aim to increase their UK fan-base at Leeds. The Briggs come from six years of continuous touring to bring Leeds Festival goers a taste of what they are all about. Despite Blackhole only forming 18 months ago, they are set to impress. Having toured with the likes of Gallows, Ghost of A Thousand and Everytime I Die, they are set to play a live show that won’t leave you disappointed.

It’s a shame that we have to say goodbye to Thom (Raggapunk) but I hope that I make a good enough replacement for you guys!

The sponsorship builds on an already impressive roster of summer festivals including Download Festival, 02 Wireless Festival, Hard Rock Calling, Global Gathering, Latitude Festival, and Escape into the Park. The deal further cements Tuborg’s association with great live music, and will establish it as the definitive beer brand for festival goers this summer.

“Carlsberg are very pleased and excited about their new exclusive three year deal with the Reading and Leeds Festivals. These are fantastic music events for the Tuborg brand to establish its ‘official beer’ status and continue to build on its music credentials in the UK,’ said Gareth Roberts, Head of Sponsorship and Media at Carlsberg UK.”

‘We are looking forward to working closely with Festival Republic and being part of a unique and fun experience for the music fans visiting the events over the next three years”.

http://www.strictlyleeds.co.uk/news/focus-group-questions/

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A total of 200,000 tickets sold in 24 hours for the festival and weekend tickets went in just two hours.

This year marks the tenth anniversary for Leeds and twentieth for Reading.

Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festival Republic said: “’I am over the moon! Absolutely thrilled. 20th year since we took over Reading after it had been bankrupt.

“10th year since we created Leeds. Whoever is talking about a slump in festival popularity is talking rubbish. Long live Reading and Leeds!’”

Reading: Friday August 22, Leeds: Saturday August 23

Main Stage
Rage Against The Machine
Queens Of The Stone Age
The Fratellis
The Enemy
Biffy Clyro
Serj Tankian
Dizzee Rascal
Taking Back Sunday
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
Anti-Flag

NME/Radio 1 Stage
Babyshambles
The Wombats
Vampire Weekend
MGMT

Reading: Saturday August 23, Leeds: Sunday August 24

Main Stage
The Killers
Bloc Party
The Raconteurs
Editors
We Are Scientists
Dirty Pretty Things
The Subways

NME/Radio 1 Stage
Manic Street Preachers
Bullet For My Valentine
Justice
Foals

Reading: Sunday August 24, Leeds: Friday August 23

Main Stage
Metallica
Tenacious D
Slipknot
Feeder
Avenged Sevenfold
Dropkick Murphys

NME/Radio 1 Stage
The Cribs
Conor Oberst
Pendulum

We understand that Friday at Reading and Saturday at Leeds will be headlined by Rage Against The Machine. Other main stage bands on this day include Biffy Clyro, Taking Back Sunday, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and Anti Flag. Babyshambles are understood to be headlining the Radio 1 tent supported by The Wombats.

Saturday at Reading / Sunday at Leeds - The Killers headline the main stage, ably backed up by Bloc Party, The Raconteurs, Editors, We Are Scientists, Dirty Pretty Things and The Subways. Manic Street Preachers headline the Radio 1/NME tent with Bullet For My Valentine, Justice and Foals also confirmed.

The NME can exclusively reveal…absolutely nothing about Reading/Leeds. Punktastic, however, we can tell you that on Sunday at Reading / Friday at Leeds Metallica will headline the main stage with Tenacious D, Slipknot and Feeder also confirmed. The Cribs headline the Radio 1/NME tent and Pendulum are also confirmed to play.

 Looking a lot better here than the previous one!

HMV are implementing a system for this year to cut down on ticket touting for Reading & Leeds where they will take the customer details and match them to the ticket number.

This means that when tickets go on sale at HMV from Tuesday 1st April [8am main store or 9am if HMV is in a shopping mall], you will need photo ID.

Please note HMV face value tickets are max. 2 per person.

Weekend Ticket with Camping £155
Early Entry £10
Day Ticket £65
Locker £15
Campervan £10

We all know that it is a complete nightmare on the internet when it comes to trying to get tickets to Leeds Festival. We’ve all been there, done that…and maybe bought the tickets if we were lucky. Well, SL have sorted out some alternative links to elp you get through the overcrowded official sites.
Tickets go on sale on Monday 31st March at 7pm. The Lineup is announced 15 minutes beforehand.
The links are below:

Buy Tickets Here!

Buy Tickets Here!

Exciting times!!!!

Well if any of the answers are yes, then you may be attending Reading Festival this year. If so, then you can visit our other site at www.strictlyreading.co.uk

Would be a decent British headliner compared to Razortripe and if with RATM and Metallica… would anyone argue at the notion that it would be one of the best sets of headliners ever???

Personally, I don’t think too highly of them, purely because of Doherty, but musically they are reasonably talented.

I’d be surprised if they got mainstage, but you never know!

After Mean Fiddler/Festival Republic properly messing up last year, maybe there is a chance for them to play this year?

I hope so - fun band to listen to with mates and not take too seriously. Quite a cult following - would be much appreciated

These lads are rumoured to be possibly headlining one of the days as well. A great, consistent live band and haven’t been here for a couple of years at the least.

We would love to see them if they played a lot of their old stuff!

Top chaps, very popular. Rumoured to be supporting The Foos at their stadium shows this summer, so maybe following them to Leeds?

Either way, they are rumoured and would be good to chill with a beer to.

So let’s see if they prove to be as good as my band!

Due to a subheadlining position at Give it a Name this year they could well be in.

Apparently they went down well in 2006.

Anyway, rumours still haven’t gone away even after their confirmation for Download…so looking promising for this year.

A band I have not really heard much about…rare these days!

Check them out, they could be the next best thing!

Would give them a watch myself.

Not a bad addition by all means.

Leeds 2008? We think so.

No? Ah well…

Last time at Leeds, they seemed deflated and uninterested when they played before the Pixies.

They have never failed to deliver at Leeds Festival - I doubt they will start to do so anytime soon

Could be a good band for the Saturday. Rumours are they they will play below The Killers (headliners)

Rumoured to be playing under Metallica somewhere on Friday.

Rumoured to be playing on Sunday.

Pretty much self confirmed but we always know to take that with a pinch of salt.

Our bet here at SL is that they will play none other than the Lock Up tent.

Would love to have him back.

Would love to have them back.

Fantastic live act. After their 3rd slot last year, they are rumoured to be playing second under headliners The Killers this year.

Combining electro beats, screamo vocals and some clunky guitar work, this hard working band could very well find themselves in a tent near you.

Very popular with the likes of NME at the moment, damn them! Seriously though, meant to be a good live act.

Rumoured to play, our bet is on a tent performance.

Rumoured to headline Friday at Leeds.

Oh and before I forget, they are rumoured to be playing below Metallica.

Are they playing? No one knows…

Rumoured to be playing under Rage Against The Machine.

Probably have a mainstage set as previous years.

A real metal band. Prepare to get stunned, like each time we see them!

We know it’s all ravey up there, get your glowsticks and caps out guys, we think they will be there this year.

Mainstage sunday would be a fair bet for Serj Tankian this year.

Melvin Benn has confirmed that for this years Leeds and Reading Festivals the three headliners will be American.
Whilst talking he let slip “Interesting this year is that, probably for the first time, in my memory, we’re actually going with three American headliners.”

Do you have any ideas or rumours about who these three bands could be? Post below!

The team behind the Reading, Leeds, Latitude and Glastonbury festivals have branched stateside for the first time, with a brand new event called the Vineland Music Festival.

It will take place on a 500-acre farm in Vineland, New Jersey, between 8-10 August and will be comparable in size to the 80,000-capacity Bonaroo Festival in Tennessee.

The event will call on the expertise of C3 Presents, who are best known for their success with Lollapalooza. It will also share a number of acts with the Chicago festival, which takes place the weekend before (1-3 August).

According to source it will be a “weekend of pure unadulterated rock’n'roll pleasure; the signature stamp of Reading and Leeds, Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza”.

There will apparently be “a heady mix of the greatest bands in the world, energy charged sets; new rising stars and the freshest acts hitting the stages before the press have had a sniff of them”, all set amongst “lush, green campgrounds”.

It is likely the Vineland Music Festival will feature a number of high profile acts which will then go on to play at Reading and Leeds. Early rumours suggest Rage Against The Machine could be among the headliners.

Out with the old, in with the new? Along with the announcement that Mean Fiddler are now known as Festival Republic a new website has been created which will keep us Leeds and Reading Festival attenders up to date with the latest happenings…

However there are definitely some improvements to be made. Not all of us are as lucky to be running the most up to date technology, and unfortunately the Festival Republic website seemingly forgets this fact. The images and graphics used take a while to load - leaving many viewers sat there twiddling their thumbs while they wait! Perhaps Festival Republic should take a step back from all these fancy graphics and incorporate the “less is more” value?

What do you think of the new site? Leave comments below

Coors today announced to its staff that Carling will not be sponsoring the Reading and Leeds festivals after the current contract, preferring instead to focus on the Carling academy.

The sponsorship agreement between Carling and MF expires on 31/12/07. This is simply the best news that’s come out from Meanfiddler/Festival Republic for a number of years. Have you got any suggestions for new sponsors? Let us know - add a comment

Seeing that Festival Republic (yet again) made such an awful attempt at communication and promotion, I thought I might aswell do something here. I do have to worry when the author describes Fallout Boy and Slipknot as modern rock whilst Foo Fighters have the title of a modern Indie band! Basically:

Fantastic book covering the Leeds Festival (Carling Weekend) from its days pre-1971 outside of Reading, to its move to Reading in 1971 right through to the 2007 festival.

The book features exclusive interviews with bands/artsists who have played the festival over the last 40 years and gives an insight into the greatest indie/rock festival in the world.

Rather than going through the utter rubbish publishers that Festival Republic suggest you go through, I’d opt to go via Amazon from the link above.

Says it all really about the festivals this year. Not one award…

What can be said? One of the best rock acts to ever grace the Leeds Festival stage. I’ve been lucky to see them a few times at Reading.

This is what Reading needs - some proper music. We need to put 2007 behind us and look into the future. That future is Rage…

The URL: http://www.festivalawards.com/

Vote now for your chance to win tickets to EVERY WINNING FESTIVAL in 2008! Welcome to the 2007 UK Festival Awards – your chance to set the standard for British festivals by crediting those who you think made the best efforts this year. These awards are voted for by the people who really matter – the fans. Vote now and you could also win tickets to every winning festival, for next year!

We have 2 weekend tickets, with parking and early entry to give away!

The official site has a similar competition but only asks for 3 main stage headliners. Pathetic really. To be in with a chance here, we ask you to name your all-star lineup for the main stage!

We need 7 artists on each day. You can have 7 artists that are dead or not together anymore which means at least 14 have to be together, alive etc. The best combination as voted by us at Strictly Reading will win the prize.

If there is a tie, we will post a question up - Lord knows what it’ll be but hey, it’s a while off.

Lines/comments are open now and will finish at the end of July 2008! In order to have a chance, please register/sign up to the site and add a comment/your entry below.

Good luck!!!

The future of Reading Festival is safe again after organisers bought up a bulk of its site.

Almost all the land used for the August rock event is now owned by organiser Festival Republic following the sale of a 65-acre plot.

There had been fears that the historic festival may be forced to move locations when landowners put the site up for sale at an estimated £5million earlier this year.

But the acquisition for an undisclosed sum means that 191 acres are now in the hands of festival bosses with the remainder of the Rivermead site belonging to Reading Borough Council.

Festival Republic managing director Melvin Benn said: “This is a very important piece of land to the Leeds Festival and acquiring it was essential for the continuation of the festival in Reading.”

Ever wondered what happens to all the tents and camping items that are left behind at the Leeds Festival? They don't get dumped in the landfill, they are re-used by charities and community organisations as part of the Give Me Shelter campaign.

Each year tens of thousands of tents and other camping items are discarded by festival goers across the country.

"It's heartening to see such a great response from festival goers to this and our other green initiatives at this year's festival."

Melvyn Benn, managing director of Festival Republic

In response, Leeds Festival organisers Festival Republic ensured the Pack it Down & Hand It In message was heard loud and clear at this year's event.

Give Me Shelter is a campaign to collect tents and other items, directing them for reuse in association with international charity Global Hand.

The project aims to reduce the number of tents going to landfill and shift attitudes away from viewing festival camping gear as disposable single use items.

Tents and other items were collected and donated to charities including Crossroads Central Asia, Blythswood Care, Mission Without Borders UK, Union Rescue Mission & Rotary UK, Huruma Rehabilitation Programme and Ora International.

In addition to tents handed in to Give Me Shelter, scouting groups and other community organisations were invited to come to the campgrounds on Bank Holiday Monday to salvage any other useful items that festival goers had left on site.

The Give Me Shelter was first trialled at the Reading and Leeds Festivals 2006, where 300 tents were donated.

In 2007 a staggering 3000 tents, 2000 camping mats/airbeds, 1800 sleeping bags, 1800 chairs, 1000 soft items and many other useful items including cookers, coolers, cutlery/crockery kits, pots and pans, gas bottles, clothes and unopened food were also recovered.

Managing Director of Festival Republic, Melvyn Benn said: "The response to this year's Give Me Shelter campaign was phenomenal. I am committed to upping the green credentials of Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals, and it's heartening to see such a great response from festival goers to this and our other green initiatives at this year's festival."

The message was spread via 200 'Green Messenger' volunteers to help promote Give Me Shelter and other green incentives at the two festivals.

Early analysis shows the use of public transport to the festival sites has increased, with an encouraging 30 per cent boost in coach usage at Leeds.

The cup return incentive, whereby festival goers earned 10p for every cup they brought back to the bar, was by far the most successful of the initiatives. A mammoth 94 per cent of cups used were returned to the bar.

We’ll be adding images, videos and all sorts of crazy stuff in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

For Leeds Festival 2007 videos produced by the BBC then head over to: http://www.festivalfiles.com/ and pick out what you want.

http://www.festivalfiles.com/ will be updated with more footage and audio files when time allows!

How was the festival for you? Razorshite worthy of headlining? RHCP failed? NIN ruled? Mean Fiddler/Festival Republic fucked up … again?

Also: http://www.truveo.com/Carling-Weekend-Reading-Festival-2007-aerial-view/…

http://www.seetickets.com/seelr/ for Leeds Festival 2008 tickets!

Alternatively, if you want to go with a company with a decent reputation and service, then use ticketmaster:

• TM: Try this link first
• TM: If the above doesn't work, try this link

“It has been a very difficult month. When we got on site on July 25th, Green Camps ABC and D were waist high in water from the floods, yellow camp FGH and I were over 3’ deep in water, all of brown was over my knees, purple I couldn’t get to and White was just part of the river. We have recovered to a large extent but not fully and a fair amount of the site is still not campable today.

I think it will change and get better but I need to put a plan in today on the basis of it not getting better so this is the update so you can plan with your friends where to camp.

Red Campsite is pretty much OK.
Green A is mostly unusable but not fully.
Green B C and D are not and are unlikely to be.
Green E will be partially unusable as will Green F G & H.
Yellow A B C D & E are all good but F & G are pretty boggy. (I think they will mainly recover)
Brown A B C & D are all patchy but partially useable.
Brown E & F are less likely to be useable as they are still very very wet and I do not anticipate much usage of them.
Brown G H I J & K are mainly useable but have some largish wet patches.
Brown L & M are mainly useable as is most of purple.
White is 90% useable.

To counter these areas of land that we have lost, what was Orange car park has become a campsite. It is in good condition – but it does mean that all of the car parking that was in Orange will now be redirected to white where we have ample car parking space. I would strongly advise to try and use the White campsite if you park there. The signage is being changed as we speak so please please follow the AA signs and they will get you there. That said National Express and British Rail are great options.

The drop off at Orange will remain however so if that was your plan you can still do it but there will be no parking in orange at all.

In respect of the boat operations from white back to the main site on arrival I have improved that considerably and the boat operators are sure they will be able to transport 2500 people per hour. On the Wednesday and Thursday that will be straight over to Brown in order to maintain speed. For show days the boats will go to and from White to Brown but also to and from White to Green so there is less walk to the arena.

At the moment the main arena is in pretty good condition.

In summary it has been a challenge. The summer has been bloody awful but thanks to great support from Reading Borough Council and the Environment Agency who have managed to drop the level of the river adjacent to the site and therefore reduce the level of the water table on site, as well as the amazing efforts of a key number of my site crew (I’m going to put their pictures up on the website so you can thank them and buy them a pint if you see them) We will be able to stage the world’s greatest rock festival despite what climate change and the weather have thrown at us. I always said the festival was more important than the weather! “

http://www.readingfestival.com/info/Reading_map_07.jpg is where you need to go to get it!

We’ve invited some of our friends to DJ so behind the decks you’ll see:

JACK PENATE
THE HOLLOWAYS
WE SMOKE FAGS

THURSDAY 23rd AUGUST
The Rivermead can be found next to the main entrance of the festival site.
(Richfield Avenue. Reading. RG1 8EQ)

8:30pm – 3am.

£4 - (Reading ticket holders only)

This is FROGS third year throwing the warm up party, you can expect quality music, giveaways, and the chance to party with over 3,000 fellow festival. This is the only licensed bar on site tonight.

The mobile festival guide is free*, simple to use and compatible on most handsets. You can receive the final line up, maps, stage update messages and details of the Nokia Rock Up & Play tent sent directly to your mobile. Use the personal schedule to select the bands you want to see.

For further information, visit www.nokia.co.uk/rockupandplay
*Mobile festival guide download and message alerts are free – standard network rates may apply

The Nokia Rock Up & Play tent
Don’t forget, the Nokia Rock Up & Play tent at Reading & Leeds features an open stage for anyone to play live to a festival crowd! The tent also features exclusive Q&A sessions with top festival bands:

Reading
Friday 24th August - The Enemy
Saturday 25th August - The Noisettes & Shiny Toy Guns
Sunday 26th August - The Maccabees

For further information, visit www.nokia.co.uk/rockupandplay

Now MF are proud to announce the debut of The Alternative Stage at both sites, featuring a host of unique musical and multi media collaborations, top name comedy and cabaret and audience Q & A’s to give you an unrivaled bill of exclusive entertainment throughout the weekend.

Leeds gets a special treat by starting a day early on the Thursday evening with a very special production called Dream Of An Opium Eater. A unique collaboration featuring Ben Calvert from Killing Joke, Ivar S. Peersen from Enslaved, Reuben Gotto from Twin Zero / Johnny Truant and Julia Ruzicka from Million Dead, the quartet will revise the old silent movie tradition of a pianist accompanying films, by improvising a soundtrack of intense metal to accompany horror shorts. Also on the Thursday at the North’s only festival is a very rare showing for cult classic ‘American Hardcore’. The film that documents the US underground punk scene f