50 Iconic Moments From Reading Festival

50 ICONIC MOMENTS FROM READING FESTIVAL NATIONAL JAZZE A&BUES FESTMAL The National Jazz and Blues Festival is launched by Harold Pendleton, the 1961 founder of the Marquee Club in London. The festival finds its permanent home in Reading, and is officially 1971 renamed 'The Reading Festival'. Weekend tickets are just £2.00. IT TAKES 4 WEEKS TO PREPARE THE READING SITE AND 3 WEEKS TO TAKE IT DOWN AGAIN. READING ROCK77 BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND 36-27-8 AUGUST - N The festival is officially renamed 1977 AIE A uta 'Reading Rock'. Although being known for classic rock to date, the festival dabbles with its formula by booking some bands from the rising punk rock scene. This 1978 sees a clash between the two sets of fans. OVER 8 MILES OF FENCING IS USED AROUND THE VENUE. A spate of late band withdrawals puts the festival in jeopardy, but 1980 Slade, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Whitesnake manage to rescue the weekend. Reggae act Steel Pulse are bottled, prompting their lead singer to announce "If you throw one more bottle, we're leaving". They leave 1983 the stage just 10 minutes into their set. IT TAKES 150 CREW TO BUILD AND TAKE DOWN THE SITE. CONSERVATIVE The festival is relocated to Northamptonshire, 1984 after the newly elected Conservative council in Reading refuses to grant a license. With the festival returning to Reading, a bigger site is needed. Farmer Desmond Drayton grants the use of his land, which is situated adjacent 1986 to the old festival site. MORE THAN 110 PORTAKABINS BECOME TEMPORARY OFFICES, DRESSING ROOMS AND STORES. Spoof band Bad News perform, featuring 1987 Brian May and the cast of the Young Ones. Headliner Meat Loaf was victim of the first high profile bottling at Reading Festival. His set is cut short to just 20 minutes, after taking a full 1988 2-litre cider bottle (or what he hopes was cider...) to the face. OVER 2000 PEOPLE WORK DURING THE THREE DAYS OF THE FESTIVAL. 1989 London promoter The Mean Fiddler begin their association with the festival. De La Soul perform, the first ever hip-hop booking at the festival. This year sees the first 1991 NEW YO appearance of a comedy tent too. MORE THAN 100 TRUCKS WITH THOUSANDS OF TONS OF EQUIPMENT ARE USED. Rumours of an illness to Kurt Cobain and a possible cancellation by Nirvana spread across the festival all day. As their headline slot is due to start, Kurt is wheeled onto the stage in a 1992 wheelchair. He sits motionless in the wheelchair for a few moments, before jumping up and into life, kicking off perhaps the most memorable headline slot in Reading Festival history. Public Enemy are the first hip-hop headline act in Reading history. A STAGGERING TWO MILLION PINTS OF LAGER ARE DRUNK DURING THE WEEKEND. Donita Sparks of female grunge band L7 keeps the crowd entertained during technical difficulties, by hurling her own used tampon into the crowd. Just 4 months after Kurt Cobain's suicide, his widow Courtney Love performs a hugely 1994 intense set with her band Hole. THE FESTIVAL WEBSITE RECEIVES OVER 11 MILLION HITS IN THE SIX MONTHS BEFORE AND JUST AFTER THE FESTIVAL. Richey Edwards, troubled guitarist of the Manic Street Preachers, goes into the Priory treatment centre, and the band play Reading as a 3 piece for the first time. A year later, Richey Edwards disappears after leaving his Vauxhall Cavalier at Severn View service station. He had never been seen since. In 2008, he was declared presumed dead. Foo Fighters make their festival debut in one of the smaller tent stages. Organizers wanted to move them to main stage due to intense 1995 interest, but Dave Grohl refused and played a memorable set to a huge crowd. 25 GOLF BUGGIES WERE HIRED FOR SITE TRANSPORT FOR PEOPLE INCLUDING ARTIST LIAISON, SECURITY AND LICENSING. Neil Young plays the festival, with Pearl Jam as his backing band. Underworld play an iconic dance set, timed with the huge popularity of their track 'Born 1996 Slippy', featured in the film 'Trainspotting'. OVER 2300 TOILETS ARE USED AT THE SITE. THE STONE ROSES Stone Roses headline the main stage with a disastrous performance. This was their first gig since John Squire left the band, and their replacement session musicians just didn't cut it. Beastie Boys and The Prodigy both play this year, the former claiming that the latter's track 'Smack my Bitch Up' is offensive and ask for it 1998 prodigy O not to be performed. The Prodigy play it THE Ar oF anyway. OVER 230 ARTISTS WILL PERFORM OVER THE WEEKEND. Former Dexys Midnight Runners' Kevin 1999 Rowland preforms, dressed in stockings and suspenders. A sister event in Leeds is announced, marking the start of the Leeds half of the festival. AROUND 50,000 BURGERS ARE BOUGHT BY FESTIVAL GOERS. At The Drive-In's all too short-lived The But 2000 height of popularity was underlined by their legendary performance in tiny the Carling Tent. Bubblegum pop act Daphne and Celeste are inexplicably booked to play right in the middle of но I 'rock day'. They are duly bottled off the main stage TH F..K IS LOVE BRIAN in minutes. MINEM PRIMAL SCREAM ONCE ASKED FOR A LIFE-SIZE CARDBOARD FIGURE OF THE COMEDIAN LES DENNIS IN THEIR DRESSING ROOM. The festival is officially named 'The Carling Weekend'. For the first time in Reading Festival history, two couples CARLING WEEKEND are married on stage. Cleancut PJ Harvey shocks with her PVC 2001 skirt and bra outfit. IN 2009, A UNIVERSITY OF READING STUDY FOUND THAT THE FESTIVAL IS WORTH 吓 99M £16MILLION TO READING'S ECONOMY. Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri performs completely naked, with nothing but a bass guitar to cover his modesty. THE STROKES IS THS IT The Strokes are booked to play, and their huge buzz means they're moved from a tent to the main stage. THERE ARE 200 'GREEN MESSENGERS' PROMOTING RECYCLING TO THE THROBBING CROWDS! Eminem and Marilyn Manson appear onstage together to perform 'The Way I Am'. The Strokes headline the main stage after releasing just 1 album. They are joined onstage by Jack White 2002 to perform 'New York City Cops'. 4,000 RECYCLING BAGS WERE DISTRIBUTED AT READING IN 2013 Large riots at Leeds Festival's Temple Newsam venue cause a relocation to Bramham Park for 2003 onwards. Greg Puciato, the singer of The Dillinger Escape Plan defecates on stage, apparently to demonstrate the amount of 'sh*t on this stage today'. AN ESTIMATED 150 TONS OF RUBBISH WERE LEFT BEHIND AT READING IN 2013. Damon Albarn falls off the stage during Blur's 2003 headline set. Despite an increase in hop-hop acts during the early 2000s, rapper 50 Cent was bottled off the 2004 stage after just 20 minutes. THERE ARE 7 COLOUR-CODED CAMPSITES AT READING. 'WHITE' IS THE FURTHEST FROM THE ARENA AND IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE BY BOAT OR TEMPORARY PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE. Arctic Monkeys, with no album to their 2005 name play the small Carling Stage to a main stage sized crowd. Iron Maiden return to headline the festival, their first appearance at Reading for 23 years. READING'S 'COACH AND TICKET' PACKAGES HAVE BECOME VERY POPULAR IN RECENT YEARS, WITH COACHES RUNNING FROM 39 TOWNS AND CITIES ACROSS THE UK. Promoters Mean Fiddler apply for a new late night license to keep the 2006 festival going into the early hours, which results in the new silent disco tent appearing for the first time. After several years, the festival is renamed back to the 'Reading Festival'. 2007 IN AN EFFORT TO PREVENT LARGE CAMPFIRES CAUSING PROBLEMS ON THE LAST NIGHT OF THE FESTIVAL, ALL FIRES ARE EXTINGUISHED FROM 8PM ONWARDS. Promoters Festival Republic take over booking of the festival. 2008 My Crooked Vultures play an unannounced set. The band is made up of Foo Fighters 2009 fontman Dave Grohl, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age fame and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. EVERY YEAR, THE POPULAR BBC INTRODUCING STAGE OFFERS UP THE BEST EMERGING TALENT TO THE READING FESTIVAL CROWD. Flags and banners are banned for the first year, ending one of the early traditions of the festival. During the 70s, motorbike groups used these to identify themselves inside the main arena. The Libertines reunite after a 6 year hiatus, and make a triumphant return to the Reading 2010 main stage. IN 2013, THERE WERE 101 REPORTED CRIMES AND 51 ARRESTS. Biffy Clyro's frontman Simon Neil shocks with his bleach blonde hair and beard, and pink trouser combo. Guns n' Roses headline the festival and arrive onstage an hour late. With the band still playing at midnight, power to the stage is cut causing singer Axl Rose to sit down and protest (unsuccessfully). AN ESTIMATED 1,000 ITEMS ARE HANDED IN TO LOST AND FOUND EACH YEAR. Green Day play an early morning surprise set for a throbbing tent crowd. The set is a 2012 NGES for their new album and subsequent main STAR stage headline slot the following year. The capacity for Reading Festival reaches 90,000 people. 2013 WHAT WILL HAPPEN THIS YEAR? HAVE A FANTASTIC READING FESTIVAL! SOURCES AND REFERENCES bbc.co.uk fatreg.com/timeline.html nme.co.uk en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_and Leeds_Festivals readingfestival.com/history telegraph.co.uk ukrockfestivals.com rollingstone.com leedsfestival.com readingmuseum.org.uk atlantis property PASSIONATE ABOUT READING atlantisproperty.co.uk