Reading/Leeds 2004 Line-ups

• 14th Apr 2004

Stage headliners are announced as well as lots more acts…

Reading FRIDAY 27th AUGUST, Leeds SATURDAY 28th AUGUST

THE MAIN STAGE:

THE DARKNESS
THE OFFSPRING
Ash
The Hives
Special Guests TBA
Jurassic 5
Hundred Reasons

THE RADIO ONE STAGE

GRAHAM COXON

Reading SATURDAY 28th AUGUST, Leeds SUNDAY 29th AUGUST

THE MAIN STAGE

THE WHITE STRIPES
MORRISSEY
The Libertines
Franz Ferdinand
The Vines

RADIO ONE STAGE

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND

Reading SUNDAY 29th AUGUST, Leeds FRIDAY 27th AUGUST

THE MAIN STAGE

GREEN DAY
50 CENT
Placebo
Lostprophets
The Streets

RADIO ONE STAGE

SUPERGRASS
Von Bondies

RADIO ONE STAGE HEADLINERS ANNOUNCED
MORE ACTS ANNOUNCED ON THE MAIN STAGE

The Carling Weekend, Reading and Leeds Festivals is pleased to announce more fantastic additions to the bill for this year’s festivals. With a host of exclusive performances and the top names in music already announced on the Main Stage, festival organisers, the Mean Fiddler have added yet more of the brightest names around and exclusive performances to the bill to bring you the best weekend of music in 2004.

On the Radio One Stage

Friday 27th August at The Carling Weekend, Reading Festival
Saturday 28th August at The Carling Weekend, Leeds Festival

2004 has been good to Graham Coxon. Following his highly publicised break with Blur, the driving guitar force of the band for over a decade has taken his previously lo-fi solo project and moved up a gear. The first sign was the feted recent single, “Freaking Out”, which saw his well recognised ear for melody matched by a change in production that allowed the tune to breathe and daytime radio to get excited. With producer Stephen Street in charge, the first time Graham’s solo work has been subjected to an outside producer, the forthcoming album (May 17th), “Happiness in Magazines” seems set to propel Graham back into the limelight. This, his first solo headline festival show, will be a very special moment in the new chapter of Graham Coxon’s superb musical career and a set that must be seen.

Saturday 28th August at The Carling Weekend, Reading Festival, Sunday 29th August at The Carling Weekend, Leeds Festival

It’s also been a year to remember for Funeral for a Friend, who headline the Radio One stage after a fast and furious climb to stardom. Ending 2003 with a support tour with band favourites Iron Maiden, the lads from South Wales had two Top 20 singles under their belt before this year’s headline position on the NME Awards Tour. Debut album “Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation” has broken the gold album mark and the band are clearly one of the biggest new names in British rock. With Kerrang magazine’s early recommendation in the form of 2003’s Best British Newcomer Award, this, their first festival headline show, is sure to lead to more awards as the year progresses.

Sunday 29th August at The Carling Weekend, Reading Festival
Friday 27th August at The Carling Weekend, Leeds Festival

It’s amazing to think that it is ten years since SUPERGRASS burst onto the scene with “Caught By The Fuzz” and mounted chopper bikes to be “Alright”. In the year that the chopper reappears, Supergrass celebrate with “Supergrass is 10”, a compilation album of all their greatest hits and most well known tracks. Looking at the tracklisting, these performances are guaranteed to be one of the absolute highlights of the weekend. A band with some of the best known tunes of the last ten years, Supergrass are sure to demonstrate why they are the proud possessors of three platinum albums and a host of Top 20 singles.

Fresh from the NME Awards tour at the start of the year, THE VON BONDIES come to the stage with new album “Pawn Shoppe Heart” making friends and winning fans up and down the UK. Having demonstrated that they had made the leap from indie secret to major label contender’s it seemed appropriate that their debut Top 20 single, “C’mon, C’mon” and Top 20 album, “Pawn Shoppe Heart”, were courtesy of a deal with Sire Records. With new single, “Tell Me What You See”, due for release at the end of the month and tales of show stopping performance from Brits returning from March’s South by South West industry event in Texas, the Von Bondies are all set to make a firm mark on 2004.

On The Main Stage

Friday 27th August at The Carling Weekend, Reading Festival
Saturday 28th August at The Carling Weekend, Leeds Festival

Jurassic 5 come to the festivals with their party inspired hip hop to brighten the afternoon. First touted with their excellent “Concrete Schoolyard” track in 1997, the six piece, including feted DJ’s Cut Chemist and Nu Mark, eschewed the Courvoisier and guns standard of West Coast rap to return to the block party and consciousness vibes of the Daisy Age (De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest) movement. Debut album, “Quality Control” further built on this reputation and their formation at LA’s Good Life Café open mic nights meant that live shows from the very beginning were to be seen to be believed. With four rappers fronting the stage and a good time atmosphere from the front to the back, Jurassic 5 come to the festivals to show the other side of hip hop.

Hundred Reasons have a justly earned reputation as one of the hardest working bands in rock. Building on their own self-financed tours to create a huge and extremely dedicated fanbase, the band’s long hours in the back of a Transit paid huge dividends following their signing to Columbia Records. Their debut album, “Ideas Above Our Station” (2002) passed the gold marker and continues to sell as their fame grows. This year’s “Shatterproof Is Not A Challenge” has built on these firm foundations with the fanbase seeming to grow unendingly. Upcoming tour dates with Incubus in mainland Europe will see the band back where they are best, on the road, and are sure to deliver Hundred Reasons to the festivals in top form.

Saturday 28th August at The Carling Weekend, Reading Festival, Sunday 29th August at the Carling Weekend, Leeds Festival

It’s sometimes hard to remember what made The Vines one of the greatest success stories of the last two years. In amongst the fascination with the mental state of lead singer Craig Nicholls, the destruction mode performances on Later with Jools Holland and The Late Show with David Letterman, were some of the most direct and powerful rock songs that had been heard since the late lamented Nirvana. The Vines were, and are, however, more than the sum of their parts and following that 1.5 million selling debut album, “Highly Evolved”, new album “Winning Days” has seen the band widen their sound and their ambition. Whilst Nicholl’s is still the object of fascination to many, these performances are sure to remind everyone of why The Vines are at the top of the rock tree and are sure to be talked about in the days following the festivals.

Sunday 29th August at The Carling Weekend, Reading Festival
Friday 27th August at The Carling Weekend, Leeds Festival

Placebo stand as a testament to the power of doing your own thing. Feted with their debut single, “Bruise Pristine” on hip indie Fierce Panda in 1995, the trio went on to a gold selling eponymous debut album in 1996. The follow-up, 1998’s “Without You I’m Nothing”, sold over a million worldwide as Placebo took their sound to mainland Europe and replicated their UK success across the continent. With “Black Market Music” (2000) and “Sleeping With Ghosts” (2003) Placebo continued their outstanding success and in 2004 sold out two Brixton Academy shows within two months of each other. With lead singer Brian Molko the epitomy of deviant, intelligent rock’n’ roll, Placebo are sure to be greeted as returning heroes at the festivals and to further demonstrate why doing your own thing is the most rock ‘n’ roll approach of all.

BOOKING INFORMATION – TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE

WEEKEND TICKETS – £105 (subject to booking fee, maximum fee £6.00) Includes car parking and camping
DAY TICKETS – £45 per day (subject to booking fee, maximum fee £5.40) Includes car parking but not camping.

AVAILABLE FROM:

BY PERSONAL APPLICATION

THE CARLING WEEKEND: READING AND LEEDS FESTIVALS – All Mean Fiddler Group venues for cash with no booking fee, 50 pence per ticket booking fee by cheque, £2 booking fee for major credit cards (not Diners or AMEX)

THE CARLING WEEKEND: LEEDS FESTIVAL ONLY – From Gateway Yorkshire, City Station, Leeds for cash with no booking fee.

Also available from all Ticketmaster outlets.

CREDIT CARD BOOKINGS
National Credit Card Hotline – 08701 500 044

INTERNET BOOKINGS

Mean fiddler: link and Ticketmaster: link

SMS BOOKINGS (Orange Customers Only)

Text “READING TICKETS or “LEEDS TICKETS” to 07813 895252

POSTAL BOOKINGS

Cheques / Postal Orders payable to “Reading Festival Ltd”

Ticket Prices – £105.50 / £45.50 including booking fee (+ £3.75 on overall booking for 4 or more tickets to cover cost of registered post) Please enclose SAE and DAYTIME PHONE NUMBER. Allow 28 days for delivery.

Send to : READING 2004 OR LEEDS 2004, PO Box 1707, London NW10 4LW
Last date for postal bookings – Cheques 8th August / Postal Orders 19th August (subject to availability)

PLEASE STATE CLEARLY for which festival you require tickets.

INFORMATION / TRAVEL

Mean Fiddler Information Hotline (Mon – Fri 10am – 6pm)
020 8963 0940
Recorded Information Hotline (Orange Users) 177
Recorded Information Hotline (Other networks: network rates apply) 07973 100177

National Credit Card Hotline 08701 500044
National Rail 08457 48 49 50
National Express 08705 80 80 80

WEBSITES

Reading: link
Leeds: link