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Limp Bizkit performed some of their hit songs from the 90’s, creating a highly energetic set full of nostalgia. Their performance began with the anthem ‘Break Stuff’, and ended with ‘Take a Look Around’, a single from their third album ‘Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water‘ and made famous as part of the soundtrack to the 2000 film Mission: Impossible 2. They also played their most well known song ‘Rollin’, alongside an AI endorsement of the band by Billie Eilish. In the middle of the set, Fred Durst scanned the crowd before spotting somebody to bring up on stage. The young fan, named Brooke, took to the stage with confidence and didn’t look out of place on the Main Stage, rocking with the band. Watch the epic moment below on YouTube, taken from @CHINNERSROCKS141169 channel:

Brooke rocked this performance and looked like a full member of the band, knowing all the lyrics and taking part in call-and-response moments with Fred Durst during the song. She brought an infectious energy and added to the buzz around Reading Festival. As the guitars kicked in, she jumped alongside Durst with infectious enthusiasm, quickly becoming the centre of attention.

As well as Brooke’s awesome performance, the band also looked for moments of humour. During the set, Fred Durst announced that during the headline set, all of Bring Me The Horizon’s merch, as well as the beer, would be free. Limp Bizkit also displayed AI generated ‘endorsements’ of the band from famous artists such as Oasis, Chapell Roan and Oli Sykes (frontman of Bring Me The Horizon).
During their performance of ‘Faith’, a cover of the classic George Michael song, they also displayed an AI endorsement from the Wham! frontman. George Michael has been critical of the release of this cover, with Wes Borland (the band’s guitarist) claiming that Michael “hates it and hates us for doing it”, adding to the humour displayed during the set. During the performance of ‘Take a Look Around’ the stage adopted an Oasis-themed backdrop, exciting and confusing the crowd. Bring Me The Horizon added to this energy when they performed a thrash cover of Oasis’ iconic song ‘Wonderwall’.

  Top trolling by Limp Bizkit. Oasis endorsement backdrop. Announced all Bring Me The Horizon merch & beer is free during their set. pic.twitter.com/JN5PAsa8I8 — harry (@harryy6666) August 23, 2025

BBC iPlayer currently has the rights to televise sets from the festival. Limp Bizkit’s set was not televised by the BBC, though Bring Me The Horizon, alongside all other headliners and star acts, are available here.

Listen to the song performed by Brooke below:

As promised, a leather-clad, cigarette-brandishing Matty Healy and co. turned back the clocks this weekend, indulging hardcore The 1975 fans with a setlist that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a 2013 Tumblr user’s dashboard. A culture-defining LP for young teens at the time, The 1975 was, in Healy’s own words, trying to capture “the apocalyptic sense of being a teenager” and remains emblematic of an era where a very niche subculture, characterised by black and white imagery of Dr. Martens and fishnets, provided a new online audience with a sense of identity.

Listen to The 1975’s live rendition of 2013’s “Heart Out”:

As evidenced by the huge crowd at Reading on Saturday, the record clearly continues to resonate with young people even today, with deeper cuts such as “Pressure” or “She Way Out” – songs which are rarely, if ever, played live – prompting enthused singalongs from an enamoured audience. The fact that a portion of the festival’s attendees made up a new wave of listeners, didn’t go unnoticed, either, with Healy acknowledging:

“This album, I don’t know, it feels quite relevant now, and you all look very young and you’re all enjoying it – it feels like the internet’s working in the way it should do.”

The frontman is correct in assuming that his band are as relevant as ever: their latest album landed them a TikTok hit in “About You” – a song which harks back to the sonic landscape and romanticised aesthetic first explored on their debut album. The group’s early hits, however, are still equally as potent, with crowd-pleasers “Sex” and “Robbers” showcasing The 1975’s enduring influence on fans. 

Check out their live performance of “Robbers” below:

Meanwhile, Healy was quick to appreciate his band had been gifted an opportunity at the expense of a certain Scottish pop singer:

“Well, first of all can we have the loudest round of applause in our set for Mr. Lewis Capaldi who couldn’t make it tonight.”

Capaldi, who has been struggling with Tourette’s syndrome, was initially set to headline Reading, but was forced to cancel a number of shows including the bank holiday weekend festival due to his wavering health.

In honour of its 10 year anniversary, The 1975 will be releasing a special edition format of their self-titled debut album, due to hit stores on September 1. The 1975 (10th Anniversary) is available for pre-order here.

For their full set at Reading 2023, head to BBC iPlayer.

Check out the performance below:

“Your Side Of Town” hace su debut en vivo en Inglaterra pic.twitter.com/xA6poiQ0zn

— The Killers Fans (@t_hekillersfan) August 26, 2023

The new song, which marks the band’s first of the year, is also their first release since 2022’s standalone single “Boy” and showcases the Las Vegas rockers’ knack for a catchy hook and driving synth-line. In view of a recent Brandon Flowers interview, however, “Your Side Of Town” may be the last arena rock number The Killers put out for a while, with the frontman expressing a desire to make quieter music for smaller venues. 

Talking to The Times, Flowers admitted he had grown tired of the band’s classic sound and even scrapped their latest album midway through recording sessions: 

“Halfway through recording I realised, ‘I can’t do this’ […] I don’t think you’ll see us making this type of music any more. […] This is the crisis I’m in. The Killers are my identity and our songs fill the seats, but I’m more fulfilled making music like ‘Pressure Machine’. I’m as proud of ‘Hot Fuss’ as you can be for something you did when you were 20, but I’m not 20. So I’m thinking about the next phase of my life. […] I’m a different person now, it’ll be difficult to go back.”

Listen to the studio version of “Your Side Of Town”:

The rock and roll talisman didn’t let his songwriting predicament affect The Killers’ headlining performance at Reading, however, with the band firing on all cylinders and Flowers displaying his usual showmanship flair. “You know they used to call this Reading Rock?”, he declared, “We’re turning back the clock tonight. We just happen to be the purveyors of some of the finest rock and roll on earth.”

Elsewhere during their hit-filled set, the band honoured their longstanding tradition of inviting a fan up on stage to play drums with them. The lucky candidate this time around was a youngster from Bath, whose hand-made sign requested a chance to perform “For Reasons Unknown” – a wish he was duly granted. Donning a Brazilian football shirt, the boy, named Ozzy, was helped up on stage, where he initially kept the tempo at a slower pace, prompting a joking remark from Flowers: “Go faster,” the frontman said, “More cocaine than marijuana”.

Watch the moment below:

The Met Office have issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms across the North-east of England stretching from Newcastle to the Leeds and Bradford area.

Met Office metrologist Jonathan Vautrey says “There’s a reasonable chance that some showers will pass over Leeds and Reading over the course of the day. Particularly for Leeds, they are within the yellow warning area that we currently have out just because winds are going to be lightest across that north-eastern area of England today. That will mean those showers are slower moving at times, so rainfall is likely to accumulate in specific locations a bit more.”

When talking about both festival sites he also exclaimed that both Reading and Leeds “do have the potential for seeing some lightning and thunder” during the Saturday.

My Vautrey also warns of the possibility of some flooding across Leeds which could cause logistical issues in and out of the festival.

Yorkshire is expected to get he worst of the conditions in particular, with the yellow thunderstorm warning expected to take effect until 8pm.

Yellow weather warning issued

Thunderstorms across eastern parts of England
Saturday 1100 – 2000

Latest info https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs

Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/fxmGDJePa5

— Met Office (@metoffice) August 26, 2023

Attendees at Leeds will be hoping to avoid any thunder and lightning as Sam Fender and Foals are both expected to headline the Saturday night as Reading festival will be headlined by The Killers and The 1975.

For Leeds, the threat of thunder and lightning will only last the Saturday, although the festival is still expected to be exposed to the threat of torrential rain across the entirety of the Sunday with quick heavy downpours expected to merge alongside longer spells of rain.

The Killers and The 1975 headline Leeds festival on the Sunday whilst Billie Eilish and Imagine Dragons headline Reading festival.

Reading is expected to be less at risk for rain on the Sunday, however after some expected sunny spells in the morning, there is some possibility of showers as the day progresses into the evening time.

Temperatures for both Reading and Leeds will fluctuate between 19 degrees during the afternoon and around 11/10 degrees later at night across the entirety of the festival.

Both Reading and Leeds are expected to have sunny conditions as many festival goers exit the respective festivals on the Monday, hopefully ensuring for safe conditions and minimal disruption as thousands depart the festival sites.

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.

GO, GO, GOOO ‼️

General release tickets AND payment plans are now on sale! Click the link below for tickets!

Reading https://t.co/MXzhTR5eks
Leeds https://t.co/tL6GPBM1J0 pic.twitter.com/wbErSVYvBC

— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) December 10, 2021

You can, however, get hold of tickets for the few other remaining days at each of the festivals. The Friday for Reading, or the Saturday for Leeds, with headliners Dave and Megan Thee Stallion, is still very much available for you to get your hands on. The dual headliners will share their day at the festival with Polo G, the immensely talented Little Simz, viral sensation Glass Animals, and industry newcomer PinkPantheress. A few other names are also attributed to the day with many more to be announced in the future.

The final day of the Reading Festival, or the first day of the Leeds Festival, also has day tickets available. So, if you’re in the mood for a genre-hopping day between the politically charged energy of Rage Against the Machine, and 2010’s chart-topping machine Halsey then today is the day for you. The pair will be backed by artists that really highlight the musical, political, and gender diversity of the festival this year. Experimental hip-hop duo Run the Jewels will hit the main stage after Eurovision’s offering this year Måneskin. Bastille and Chloe Moriondo join the line-up as the direct antithesis of the former artists.

As mentioned before, tickets to the Reading’s Saturday, Leeds’ Sunday, could prove to be quite expensive to bad now that the day tickets and festival weekend have sold out. Co-headliners Arctic Monkeys, and Bring Me the Horizon prove that British guitar music is far from dead, and anyone that says otherwise is just too ignorant to bother talking to. Wolf Alice, Fontaines D.C., Enter. Shikari, and Wilkinson round out the festival day.

You can try and get tickets to the remaining days here, if you already have tickets then you can just kick back and listen to this specially curated playlist from the festival themselves. Covering all the top tracks of the big names announced so far.

COVID vaccinations will be offered at Reading from 9:30 am-5 pm from the start of the festival through to Sunday (August 29), and from 9 am-1 pm on Monday (August 30). Whereas at Leeds, jabs will be available between 10 am and 4 pm from today through to Sunday, and from 8 am-11 am on Monday.

Health professionals will also be present at the festivals in order to offer advice and answer any questions that people may have, however anyone under the influence of alcohol or drugs will not be given the vaccine.

According to NME Dr Nikki Kanani, a GP and deputy lead for NHS England’s vaccination programme, stated “Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff and volunteers, more than half a million young people aged 16 and 17 have had their first dose as teams across the country have worked tirelessly to get their communities protected, vaccinating at convenient pop-up clinics in the park, at places of worship and stadiums, and now at Reading and Leeds. It is great to see the return of live music and performances, and as festival-goers head to the main stage this weekend to see their favourite headliners, I am also urging anyone who hasn’t to add the ‘vaccine tent’ to their festival itinerary to get that lifesaving vaccine as the best protection we can get from coronavirus.”

It should also be noted that if you decide to leave the site at any point you will need to again provide proof of your COVID status.

Please note: If you are leaving the site at any point over the weekend to go to your car, the shop, or elsewhere you will need to show proof of your Covid status again on re-entry. So don’t forget your lateral flows ‼️ pic.twitter.com/lf9JDQhroO

— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) July 30, 2021

Festivalgoers were also previously offered the vaccine at Latitude 2021, which was one of the first festivals to be held at full capacity after the COVID restrictions were lifted.

For those attending the festival according to the Met Office,  both Reading and Leeds are likely to enjoy a dry weekend. There is a less than five per cent chance of rain across the entire period, though there is a slight increase to 10 per cent at some points. Attendees from both southern and northern legs could see highs of 21°

On Friday, August 28, you can tune in to catch Royal Blood, Billie Eilish, The 1975, Radiohead and more take to the stage, as well as a tantalising as-yet-unnamed ‘special guest’. The Saturday will have Muse, The Prodigy, Charli XCX perform, and on the Sunday Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens of the Stone Age, Biffy Clyro, and Wolf Alice will grace our screens. A pretty incredible selection.

Celebrate #RandL20 WEEKEND with three days of incredible archive sets from the festivals Check out the dedicated #RandL channel on @BBCiPlayer that kicks off at 12pm on Friday the 28th of August

Reading https://t.co/42KRmk9Apx
Leeds https://t.co/qlxoNpJ8Gc pic.twitter.com/RG1YKuPiWN

— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) August 27, 2020

Speaking about the virtual-fest in a press release, organisers said: “We’re buzzing to announce that we’re teaming up with BBC Music to bring you live performances from Reading & Leeds over the years. We’ll be marking the August bank holiday with a selection of exclusive performances and unforgettable memories.”

Before it was cancelled, Reading & Leeds 2020 was set to be headlined by Stormzy, Liam Gallagher, and Rage Against The Machine, and also feature Run The Jewels, IDLES, and Sam Fender.

Speaking about the cancellation back in May, organisers said: “We’ve been closely monitoring this unprecedented situation and we were hopeful we could deliver the ultimate festival to you in August, something to look forward to in these strange and confusing times. However, it has become clear that it’s just not possible for this year’s festival to go ahead.”

The BBC’s virtual alternative to the cancelled festival mirrors their response to Glastonbury back in June, which also saw past performances of legendary artists streamed on iPlayer.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat

The news has been announced in an Instagram post with the following statement:
‘We’re so sorry to announce that Reading and Leeds 2020 will no longer be taking place. Please read our full statement above. Keep safe and see you all next year’

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Reading & Leeds Festival (@officialrandl) on May 12, 2020 at 8:29am PDT

Liam Gallagher, Stormzy and Rage Against The Machine had been set to headline this year. Other artists included in the program were MIGOS, Lewis Capaldi, Sam Fender, Solardo, AJ Tracey, Tom Greenan and many more.

The tickets bought for this summer will remain valid, while refunds will also be available, assures the organisation.

The history of the two festivals goes back to the 1960s. Initially Reading and Leeds festivals were known as rock festivals. Over the years, however, the events became more versatile, attracting fans from many different genres.

Last year’s headliners included Post Malone, The 1975, Twenty One Pilots and Foo Fighters. Other acts included Pale Wave, Billie Eilish, Bastille, Blossoms and The Distillers. Billie Eilish’s live performance can be seen on the JmusiCall  YouTube Channel.

 

So, from that alone, it’s evident this is a summer some festival-goers are not going to want to miss. But there’s so much more. Migos, Slowthai, Two Door Cinema Club and The Courteeners are also billed.

Elsewhere, Rex Orange County, Declan McKenna, Headie One and Blackbear will be bringing their noise to the festival. For the complete line-up, check out the flyer below.

Lower down the bill are performances from JPEGMAFIA, Girl In Red, MK, Wilkinson and Delta Heavy.

Further booked for the dual-city event include All Time Low, Sam Fender, Dermot Kennedy, Idles, Mahalia, Fontaines D.C, Inhaler and Sleeping With Sirens. Plus, this isn’t the entire line-up. So, if these artists appeal to you, then it’s best not to wait around to grab tickets.

They go live at 9 am tomorrow, (Thursday 13). Among the line-up include AJ Tracey and Mabel, who performed last year’s festival.

For more information on tickets and everything else Reading and Leeds, check out the link here.

This year’s festival runs from August 28-30. It’ll be a biggie if this line up is anything to go by. At last year’s 2019 run, the festival saw Twenty One Pilots, The 1975, Post Malone and Foo Fighters headlined.

In a review of Reading and Leeds 2019, NME said: “But it’s been quite some time since Reading and Leeds felt so vital and in tune to what our nation’s youth crave: great music from across the spectrum.”