The festival is set to take place from 21 August to 25 August 2024 at Reading’s Richfield Avenue and Bramham Park in Leeds and will follow this year’s festival, which included headliners The 1975, Imagine Dragons, Billie Eilish and The Killers.

American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey is set to make her long-anticipated Reading and Leeds debut, as will London-based singer and DJ Fred Again. Pop-punk icons Blink-182 will return to headline the famed twin-venue festival for the first time since 2014, while Catfish And The Bottlemen are also set to return, making their first appearance at the festival back in 2021. Another headliner who also featured at the festival in 2021 is Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Cinnamon.

Watch the music video for Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” below:

Liam Gallagher is yet another headliner making a return to Reading and Leeds, having also featured at the 2021 edition. The former Oasis frontman is set to play the entirety of Definitely Maybe to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the acclaimed album, with his appearance at the festival to be preceded by a tour dedicated to the anniversary of said album.

Festival Republic managing director Melvin Benn, the main promoter of Reading and Leeds festival among others, has said of next year’s event, “We are thrilled to announce the first wave of artists for Reading & Leeds 2024. I am very proud that the biggest artists in the world choose to play Reading & Leeds and to have three incredible UK festival exclusives – the electrifying Fred again.., a true generational talent Lana Del Ray and the legendary Blink-182.

Ben continued, “The iconic Liam Gallagher will return to play an all-time classic album ‘Definitely Maybe’ which will be a special moment indeed. We pride ourselves on nurturing artists from the early stages in their career, so to see acts like Catfish & The Bottlemen rising through the festival to headline for the second time is very rewarding. 2023 was a hugely successful year for attendance and sensational audience feedback, and we are eager to build upon this success even further at the UK’s biggest and best music festival.”

Watch the music video for Blink-182’s “What’s My Age Again?” below:

Tickets for the 2024 edition of Reading and Leeds will go on general sale on Thursday 30 November at 8.30am and will be available to purchase here.

READING & LEEDS 2023 THATS A WRAP Thank you for another incredible year

R&L 2024 pending

@slb_photo @matteachus pic.twitter.com/sqyFnaAnqH

— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) August 28, 2023

The action commenced on Friday, with a career defining performance from You Me At Six (featuring a cameo appearance by Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari), which set the tone for the festival-assuring crowds that the acts preparing to hit the famous stages were ready to bring their A game.

THANK YOU READING & LEEDS Always a pleasure to play this festival x @OfficialRandL @thomaslislebrooker pic.twitter.com/4Xw4B8vLSF — You Me At Six (@youmeatsix) August 26, 2023

And the first day could be best summed up by Sam Fender’s everyman, emotional performance as Friday night’s headliner. Fender, playing the role of humble musician perfectly, perhaps best reflects the thousands of spectators gathered at Reading and Leeds-appealing to the crowd that he is merely one of them and would happily play the role of underdog. While the warm sentiment will have pleased most in front of him, chances are Fender’s career will continue to hit greater and loftier heights in the future.

Still blown away by all of the love from the weekend @OfficialRandL. Thank you pic.twitter.com/RjxV40rpWP

— Sam Fender (@samfendermusic) August 29, 2023

Saturday picked up right where the festival left off the night before with, arguably, a sneak peek of what may be to come, after Sleep Token added yet another huge notch to their gig belt with an atmospheric performance on the Festival Republic Stage. The band just seem to be gaining in status with each month that goes by and there is no telling where the band can aspire to.

Sacred moments in time, captured at @OfficialRandL Reading by @adamrosssi Tonight, Leeds shall gather in Worship. pic.twitter.com/wuzwvmnZ6y — Sleep Token (@Sleep_Token) August 27, 2023

But the Main Stage West was treated to something special indeed when the disappointment of Lewis Capaldi was assuaged by the nostalgia inducing set of his replacement, The 1975. The band opted to perform their 2013 eponymous record in full, transporting the audience back 10 years when the band had the world beckoning. The 1975 proved that even a decade removed, the self-titled album still resonates, with even the newly initiated finding something to nod their heads along to.

Reading Festival
Reading, UK
August 26th 2023 #The1975 pic.twitter.com/CyqQaMq2QN

— The 1975 (@the1975) August 29, 2023

Of course, not to be outdone, The Killers delivered a set to remember, even at one point featuring a young teen playing drums on “For Reasons Unknown.” The band have long been indie rock’s crown jewel and the band proved their credentials with a headlining set that all but cements them as one of the greatest of their generation.

Reading rocked again tonight! pic.twitter.com/SLXAvjN42l — The Killers (@thekillers) August 26, 2023

The final day for the festival promised to be one of the most defining of the weekend and with Imagine Dragons headlining Main Stage West, it certainly got off to the right start. Delivering pure, feel good vibes, the band set the excitement up perfectly for Sunday night’s headliner.

It is simply stunning that Billie Eilish is the youngest performer ever to headline the Main Stage at only 21 years old, but the singer graced the stage like the conquering hero she is. Featuring her hit song from the Barbie soundtrack, “What Was I Made For?” Eilish’s proven success was laid bare for all to see, as her staggering 20 song setlist delivered exactly what festival-goers were craving, marking a thrilling and satisfying end to one of the UK’s most beloved festival experiences.

Billie Eilish: One night only in London. pic.twitter.com/XawToR5z6D

— billie eilish (@billieeilish) August 26, 2023

Much to the delight of her scores of UK fans, Eilish teased a last minute performance at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London-a far more intimate setting than the star is accustomed to. Releasing a poster to go along with the announcement, the show is a one night only performance and will be followed by her brother Finneas performing a headlining show at the same venue the next night.

One night only in London! Tickets on sale this Friday at 10am BST https://t.co/86to0ZmLX6 pic.twitter.com/6Nbi0tD5rg — FINNEAS (@finneas) August 2, 2023

Eilish, speaking via social media, said, “London! Doing a special lil performance for you. If you signed up for email alerts at my pop-up this week, you’ll get an email with a unique code to access tickets.” Finneas, Eilish’s brother and notable for his award winning production work on her records, will play a sold out show the following night.

Eilish is fresh off her headlining gigs at Leeds festival (25th August) and Reading last night (27 August). At her show in Leeds, Eilish became the youngest solo headliner ever to grace the famous festival’s stages at only 21 years old and can now boast  both Reading and Leeds festivals and Glastonbury headlining slots. And the young performer certainly dazzled the crowd with a set that will live long in the memory for those in attendance.

The last time Eilish was at Reading and Leeds festival, the singer was only a teenager but, in the time since, she has become arguably one of the biggest pop stars on the planet-her albums and tours routinely garnering rave reviews and awards. Together with Finneas to accompany her on multiple instruments, Eilish treated the crowd to a massive setlist- containing a staggering 20 song set during both performances, which included the hit Barbie soundtrack song, “What Was I Made For?.”

But the singer showed a shrewd understanding of what her audience wished to see from her and peppered her setlist with career-spanning numbers that was sure to please both the uninitiated and die-hard fans. The set showcased what Eilish is both known for and what has shot her into super-stardom, particularly shining vocally on the more softer songs but then ramping up the excitement when belting party tunes that also had the crowd on their feet, jumping and dancing.

Those lucky fans that have been able to grab tickets to Eilish’s special Electric Ballroom performance are almost certainly guaranteed a once in a lifetime experience, the likes of which may not be repeated by a star who is only getting bigger and brighter. Tickets can be found here.

Billie Eilish Tour:

29/08/2023 – Electric Ballroom – London
01-03/09 – Electric Picnic – Stradbally

The set was confirmed by the festival on Thursday but still took some festival goers by surprise, even though the indie legends had previously hinted at a possible return to Reading and Leeds last month on Twitter (X).

If only there was a way we could play this on stage @OfficialRandL this year let’s work something out https://t.co/RGHxqQTqzA

— Bombay Bicycle Club (@BombayBicycle) July 21, 2023

The North London based indie heavyweights blasted their way through an eight track setlist, incorporating well-known classics like “Always Like This“, “Luna” and “Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)” with material from their upcoming album, My Big Day, set to be released later this year on October 20th via Island Records, including the lead and title track from said album, “My Big Day“.

Frontman Jack Steadman, perhaps referencing their previous Reading and Leeds set back in 2014 when they played to an empty tent, admitted part way in the set, “We weren’t sure anyone was going to show up”. This time, however, the gates were well and truly open and the indie legends filled the dance tent with ease, with Steadman offering his thanks for making this a reality, saying, “This is wonderful. Thank you, guys. It’s good to see you”.  Watch footage of Bombay Bicycle Club’s opening set below:  

@officialrandl Welcome back @Bombay Bicycle Club ❤️ #randl23 #readingfestival #festival ♬ original sound – Reading & Leeds Festival

The full setlist can be found below:

“Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)”
“Shuffle”
“My Big Day”
“Lights Out, Words Gone”
“Evening / Morning”
“Luna”
“Carry Me”
“Always Like This”

Earlier this week on Wednesday Bombay Bicycle Club also released a brand new single, “I Want To Be Your Only Pet“, another track, the third released to date after “My Big Day” and “Diving“, a Holly Humberstone collaboration, that will feature on the band’s upcoming sixth studio album.

The indie rock group, consisting of Jack Steadman (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Jamie MacColl (guitar), Ed Nash (bass), and Suren de Saram (drums), formed in 2005. After releasing demos of songs on Myspace, the band entered the music scene for good after winning Virgin Mobile’s “Road to V” competition in the summer of 2006, enabling them to perform at the 2006 V Festival with the opening slot. And now here they are opening Reading and Leeds to a set of adoring fans, the very definition of full circle.

Unfortunately due to capacity concerns within the LS23 arena for Andy C’s set, Leeds Festival has decided to reprogram the arena and Andy C will now have 1 performance at the Radio 1 Dance Stage from 9:15pm on Friday.

— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) August 25, 2023

Pulling off a festival with the magnitude and prestige of Reading and Leeds without a hitch is always sure to be difficult in the best of circumstances, but the infamous festival has been forced into difficult decisions that may leave some fans feeling a bit disgruntled. Organisers had to act quickly when Hip hop artist Trippie Redd cancelled his slot at Reading and Leeds due to an undisclosed illness. Festival organisers relayed the cancellation to fans and ticket holders via social media platforms.

With many fans excited to see the US based Rap artist, scores of concert-goers expressed their dismay, stating that they would not be coming to the event at all. Trippie Redd himself released a statement saying, “I’m so sorry to announce that I can’t perform this weekend. I was really looking forward to coming to Reading & Leeds Festivals but due to illness I have to cancel my visit to the UK. I hope to see you soon!”

I’m goin to make it up to y’all. See you soon https://t.co/skEfiN7LXM — Trippie Redd (@trippieredd) August 26, 2023

Less than an hour after the news of Trippie Redd’s called off set, Reading and Leeds festival had to announce that DJ Andy C would be losing a planned performance due to concerns over capacity. The British DJ’s set at Bramham Park in Leeds was cancelled after organisers decided to reprogram the LS23 Arena where the set would take place. With Andy C scheduled to perform twice, he will now only play one set at the Radio 1 Dance Stage on Friday night.

Despite the double disappointment news from the festival over the two artists, the weekends still promise to deliver musical elation across both locations. With a star studded bill that includes sets from Sam Fender, The Killers, Billie Eilish and You Me At Six, festival goers are spoiled for choice across the multiple stages.

pic.twitter.com/hbo3TKYw5A

— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) August 24, 2023

And much like Glastonbury Festival earlier this summer, the BBC will be streaming the Reading festival via its iPlayer platform with The Killer’s set shown on BBC1 on Sunday at 11:30pm and Billie Eilish’s set on Monday at 11:15pm. The service will also be featuring past performances from the festival between 21-27 August. Tickets for the festivals can be purchased here.

Lewis Capaldi recently announced that he will be taking a break from work commitments following his performance at Glastonbury in order to “adjust to the impact” of living with Tourette’s syndrome. Capaldi wrote, “I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this and I’d hoped three weeks away would sort me out. But the truth is I’m still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette’s and on Saturday it became obvious that I need to spend so much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time.”

This announcement followed his decision to take a break to prepare himself for his Glastonbury performance, but has ultimately ended in a longer hiatus than initially planned.

One such commitment that Capaldi will be missing is the headlining slot of Reading and Leeds Festival, where he was set to headline Reading on Saturday 26th August and Leeds on Sunday 27th August. The festival organisers addressed his cancellation, writing, “We’re gutted that Lewis Capaldi won’t be performing at R&L this year, but health comes first and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

The 1975 have now been announced as the replacement headlining act, and are reportedly close friends with Capaldi. At The 1975’s gig at Finsbury Park on 2nd July, Matty Healy addressed Capaldi, saying “I want to send my sincerest thoughts to Lewis Capaldi who is a dear friend of mine, who on the day when he had to cancel his tour, checked in on me. And it’s also a reflection on how hard being a solo artist is as I would not be doing this show if I didn’t have these amazing men and women behind me.”

The 1975 have decided to use their headlining slot to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their self-titled debut album, released in 2013. Frontman Matty Healy announced this decision onstage at TRNSMT festival, telling the crowd, “So, on Saturday at Reading and Sunday at Leeds in celebration of 10 years of our debut album, The 1975 will be playing that album in full in support of our good friend Lewis Capaldi. If you’ve got tickets, good for you. If you haven’t, go and get them. We’ll see you there.”

The band also took to social media to confirm that this will be a 10th anniversary performance of their debut album.

Reading & Leeds Festival
25th – 27th August 2023

‘The 1975’ 10th Anniversary Performance
Tickets on sale now https://t.co/VV4VRerwe4 #The1975 pic.twitter.com/lMyQoeToIW

— The 1975 (@the1975) July 10, 2023

Tickets to Reading and Leeds Festival 2023 are available to purchase here.

Read about Matty Healy leaving his Dirty Hit directorship here.

Read about The 1975’s War Child collaboration here.

Stream The 1975 here.

Whether or not you’re an Alex Turner superfan, there aren’t many people that would be willing to argue against the fact that Arctic Monkeys are one of the most successful, and beloved, bands in the UK today. So, when they began to pop up on festival bills around Europe, many were preparing for a new record. Their first live show since 2019, in Turkey, brought a few hidden gems back to the surface – “Potion Approaching” was played for the first time since 2011 – but there were still no signs of new music. Suck It And See’s “That’s Where You’re Wrong” also popped up in Prague the following week – the first time since 2013. But still, the prospect of new music was kept very much on the down low.

Arctic Monkeys performed their first UK show since 2018 last weekend at Reading and Leeds Festival. It was an appearance that many fans were particularly excited for after Turner proclaimed that he and the band would be “shuffling the deck” concerning which songs would be making it onto the show’s setlists. The band are set to headline the pair of festivals alongside a whole host of significant names – Megan Thee Stallion, Dave, Halsey, Bring Me The Horizon, and most recently The 1975 who are replacing Rage Against The Machine. The festival had to make some last-minute changes last week after Måneskin and Jack Harlow pulled out to play the MTV VMAs. They were later replaced by AJ Tracey and Charli XCX.

While there is still no official information on a full-blown Arctic Monkeys UK tour, the standard album rollout procedure pretty much guarantees that we’ll be getting some news pretty soon. They are however in the midst of a pretty extensive tour of the European festival circuit, so if you’re in a desperate need to catch the band before the official tour rolls out, you can find full information here.

The new album from Arctic Monkeys, ‘The Car’ is out 21st October. Pre-order now https://t.co/QWACEVpsAr pic.twitter.com/rImMFpEL0b

— Arctic Monkeys (@ArcticMonkeys) August 24, 2022

Whether or not you’re an Alex Turner superfan, there aren’t many people that would be willing to argue against the fact that Arctic Monkeys are one of the most successful, and beloved, bands in the UK today. So, when they began to pop up on festival bills around Europe, many were preparing for a new record. Their first live show since 2019, in Turkey, brought a few hidden gems back to the surface – “Potion Approaching” was played for the first time since 2011 – but there were still no signs of new music. Suck It And See’s “That’s Where You’re Wrong” also popped up in Prague the following week – the first time since 2013. But still, the prospect of new music was kept very much on the down low.

The initial response to TBHAC in 2018 was an odd one. A sci-fi concept album set on the moon… it’s all very different to what we were expecting, many never came to terms with the album’s high concept even to this date. But, in a press release, Turner commented “On this record, sci-fi is off the table. We are back to earth.” At the moment, this could be good or bad news. “I think we’ve got closer to a better version of a more dynamic overall sound with this record. The strings on this record come in and out of focus and that was a deliberate move and hopefully everything has its own space. There’s time the band comes to the front and then the strings come to the front.” The single snippet of the new album we’ve heard so far has definitely maintained the very relaxed dynamic of TBHAC but features some more funky elements that you can hear for yourself in some fan-shot footage from last night’s show.

Arctic Monkeys are set to headline Reading and Leeds Festival this weekend alongside a whole host of significant names – Megan Thee Stallion, Dave, Halsey, Bring Me The Horizon, and most recently The 1975 who are replacing Rage Against The Machine. The festival had to make some last-minute changes last week after Måneskin and Jack Harlow pulled out to play the MTV VMAs. They were later replaced by AJ Tracey and Charli XCX.

On August 9^th, Måneskin released a statement explaining, “We are sad to announce that unfortunately due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts, we are no longer able to perform at Readings & Leeds festival this year. We love and miss the UK and all of our beloved UK fans and we’re absolutely gutted to no longer be able to play these shows.” Before concluding, “We’re really excited for the year to come and want to thank you for your support and patience, we’ll hopefully be back in the UK soon and we can’t wait to see you.” It seems like they were almost hoping we’d forgotten about this, to be honest. R+L then issued the above statement yesterday showing their disappointment. Harlow is yet to comment on the situation, but at this point, it basically speaks for itself.

Only 2 days into their rescheduled 2020 tour, Rage Against The Machine frontman, Zac de la Rocha sustained an injury on his leg at a show in Chicago. The band continued with Rocha performing mostly sat down, but now it has been announced that they will be cancelling their UK and EU leg of the tour to follow ‘medical guidance. Their headline slot at Reading and Leeds Festival fell within the cancelled dates, so yesterday the festival announced the new Sunday headliner. The 1975.

Statement from @RATM pic.twitter.com/urPCtGpYd6

— Rage Against The Machine ★ (@RATM) August 11, 2022

Matty Healey and co. are currently in the leadup to the release of their 5^th LP, Being Funny In A Foreign Language, you can pre-order the album here. The announcement for their appearance at Reading and Leeds Festival comes together with a lengthy US tour set to take place in November. This, paired with 2 appearances at Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival, ends The 1975’s known tour dates. But that being said, we can essentially guarantee an announcement of a UK tour coming soon.

We heard you @the1975 will now be headlining #RandL22 Don’t say we never treat you pic.twitter.com/c8DzAcbVfN

— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) August 12, 2022

After Rage Against The Machine made the surprise announcement of their live return back in 2019, their plans quickly fell apart. Their headline slot at Reading and Leeds Festival 2020, as well as a long list of dates worldwide, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the rescheduled dates have finally come along, and again any European fans hoping to finally get a glimpse of the band have been left disappointed. A night at Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre, and headline slots at Rock en Seine Festival, Andalucia Big Festival, and Mad Cool Sunset have all also been cancelled – as well as 7 other headline shows spread across Europe. The band are set to return to the stage for the second leg of their North American tour in February 2023.

On a slightly lighter note, now Rage Against The Machine have been forced to remove themselves from the festival, there is room for new headliners – The 1975. Matty Healey and co. are currently in the leadup to the release of their 5^th LP, Being Funny In A Foreign Language, you can pre-order the album here. The announcement for their appearance at Reading and Leeds Festival comes together with a lengthy US tour set to take place in November. This, paired with 2 appearances at Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival, ends The 1975’s known tour dates. But that being said, we can essentially guarantee an announcement of a UK tour coming soon.

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A post shared by The1975 (@the1975)

So far, 2 singles have been released from the 11-track album. “Part of the Band”, and “Happiness” have received a reasonably positive response from fans and critics, but some have argued that the band’s subtle change in direction – from their buoyant, bouncy production style to something quieter and more subdued – may not gain the same level of interest. That being said, The 1975 have shown no signs of slowing down since they really hit it big with their 2^nd LP, I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (what a pretentious mouthful), so let’s not judge them just yet.