Reading Festival is returning this year with one of their best line-ups in recent years. It features some of the biggest and best names in the world right now, among them some of the greatest new talent in the UK and beyond. The festival also boasts a new stage, The Warehouse, devoted entirely to the dance and electronic music that has become a staple of the festival in recent history.
Key names for this brand-new stage include grime artist Skepta who has recently branched out into house production, and UK Speed-Garage breakout star Silva Bumpa, who made various appearances at The Warehouse Project last autumn. The Warehouse will bring a new rave atmosphere to Reading Festival, similar to the immersive experiences offered by previous new stages, such as the Chevron.
The festival still champions some of the biggest names in electronic music outside of the new Warehouse stage. There is no denying that Charli xcx is one of the most influential artists in contemporary music, and she’s expected to present songs from her upcoming album Music, Fashion, Film which will provide the follow-up to the infamous BRAT. The 2024 album was groundbreaking in bringing electro-pop to a global mainstream audience; her shift to this rawer and guitar-driven sound on this new album, which is her self-proclaimed shift to ‘rock-music’, is the perfect complement to fellow Friday headliner Fontaines D.C.
Fontaines D.C know something about switching genre: maybe a more subtle change over time, however. Their debut album Dogrel established the politically-charged, Irish post-punk that has been loved throughout their tenure as a band. Over time, they have evolved thematically, and their third album Skinty Fia displayed their indie songwriting sensibilities while their latest album Romance combined the darker textures of their earlier post-punk with an added indie complexity. Just two years after playing a mid-afternoon main stage set at Reading, they come back to headline.
Geese are the breakout band this year, an art rock band that appeals to a broad generation of music-lovers who are unrepresented today in the majority of popular modern rock. With Getting Killed Geese surged into the public eye, and with that came the slots at nearly every major festival across the globe. Their stage presence is electric; they are fronted by Cameron Winter, who is charismatic without falling into the nonchalant arrogance of other frontmen. Reading Festival is the perfect stage for them to carve out their place as one of the defining bands of this era.
RAYE brings her sweeping, jazz-infused R&B to the festival, fresh off a historic run that proved her prowess as a fiercely independent artist. Her live show guarantees the immense, big-band energy that a Saturday night at Reading demands, and she shares the billing with Dave, a pioneer of modern UK rap who will provide a stark contrast as he brings his sharp, emotionally-charged lyricism to his headline slot.
Florence + The Machine are due to bring theatrical baroque-pop to the festival, driven by the powerful vocals that have defined Florence Welch’s career. Her grand performance will provide the perfect contrast to the heavier electronic and rock acts across the weekend, exemplified particularly by fellow Sunday headliner Chase & Status, who are expected to close out the festival with an onslaught of drum-and-bass.
As always, it’s not just the headliners that will make Reading great, but the undercard too. Living in Manchester, it would be a disservice to call Westside Cowboy, potentially the fastest rising indie UK act, an up-and-coming artist. They’ve proved their worth as an explosive live band and talented songwriters. Their set at Reading comes shortly after the release of their debut LP It Goes On, which is due to land a week prior to the festival, and this will surely be one of the last chances audience will have to catch them on this scale. Their influences range from Johnny Cash to The Drums, and they have a signature sound that is impossible not to die for.
With Glastonbury taking a fallow year, Reading is stepping up to fill the void with what promises to be one of its best weekends to date. It features some of the biggest and most boundary-pushing artists in the world right now, delivering an unparalleled lineup defined by its sheer musical diversity.
