After promising last week to finally announce their headliners, Festival Republic (who run Reading & Leeds) have stayed true to their word, letting music fans around the world know just what’s coming next August. The main headliners will be indie-rock group Arctic Monkeys, classic metal band Rage Against The Machine, American singer Halsey, rapper Dave, US rapper Megan Thee Stallion, and rockers Bring Me The Horizon. Other artists also making their appearances have been named, such as Joy Crookes, Wolf Alice and Bastille. (For a more complete list, you can look here).
IT’S FINALLY HERE!! Here are your first 30+ artists for #RandL22 @ThreeUK & @Barclaycard pre-sale tickets on sale now for 48 hours
General release tickets 9am on Friday! Visit link below for more info! #AD #PaidPartnership #RandL22 pic.twitter.com/2K8cWW93Ho— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) December 8, 2021
Some of the six headliners that have been announced are no surprise to anyone. There had already been rumours of Arctic Monkeys’ inclusion, so much so that Melvin Benn (Managing Director of Festival Republic) even responded to them, saying “Arctic Monkeys are a law unto themselves and when they decide next to play live is beyond me, if I’m honest.” The band were last seen performing live in the UK back in 2018, and this will be the third time they have performed at the festivals, all coming amid the probable release of a new album next year, following up 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Also, Rage Against The Machine’s inclusion is hardly a surprise, what with the group having been scheduled for the 2020 festivals before covid forced its cancellation.
As for the other acts, Halsey has been in the news recently, what with her fourth album last Summer (titled If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power), as well as being announced the winner of the BandLab NME Awards’ Innovation Award. Megan Thee Stallion is a multi-Grammy-winning artist who notably contributed vocals for Cardi B’s hit song WAP, and is expected to be releasing new material next year.
However, not all the acts are as well established or experienced. Musical artist Dave will become the youngest headliner at the festivals, being aged only 23 (he’ll be 24 by the time of the performance). Speaking on the opportunity, he said “It’s a massive honour, especially to be in the company of other legends that are headlining …. I’m going to try and have the highest quality production value that I can.“
Also, Bring Me The Horizon have expressed their delight at the opportunity to headline, with frontman Oliver Sykes promising that “We’ll make sure it’s insane. I’ve always said that we’d play it when we’ve earned it, and it’s finally come. We have the songs, we have the bangers, and we might not be a household name but I know that we can put on a show that’s festival-headline quality.” Band keyboardist Jordan Fish remembers being in Reading’s mosh pit when he was 14, feeling that they’ve come “full circle“. However, the band have played Reading before after two other groups had pulled out. Sadly it didn’t go too well for them then, with them all being pelted by the audience (a surprisingly common occurrence at Reading & Leeds). However, this time they seem to have the confidence and experience to rise to the challenge, promising an exciting set for all fans.
Tickets will go on sale this Friday 10th December from 9 am, and more information on getting them can be found here. If you want to read more details about all the acts headlining at the festival, you can look here.
