Leeds & Reading Festival 2010: A mad rush

By Sophie Grundy

Students around the country spent last Monday evening anxiously pressing the 'refresh' button on their internet browsers in an attempt to secure their tickets for 2010's Leeds and Reading Festivals.

Tickets were made available at 6.45pm on 29th March and the official outlets were immediately swamped by eager music fans hoping to hand over their money.

The coinciding festivals, which run over August Bank Holiday every year, have received a lot of attention due to the 2010 line-up. While previous line-ups have been popular amongst many, the bands confirmed for this year's event have received a mixed reception from fans.

Since Blink 182's split in 2005, fans across the world had given up hope of experiencing another live show. With the band's last UK performance dating back to 2004, many admirers that grew up with the music, made famous throughout the past two decades, had to accept not having the opportunity to attend another gig.

Rumours that the trio from California, USA, would be headlining the main stage at Leeds and Reading Festivals ignited hope in the hearts of fans, but seemed like nothing more than hype following the false rumour that they were to play in 2009.

When the festival line-up was announced at 7pm on Monday 29th, fans that had blindly bought their tickets based on hope were pleasantly surprised to see that Blink 182 are in fact headlining. Mark Hoppus (bass and vocals) referred to Reading and Leeds festivals on his blog (http://www.pickrset.com/markhoppus) said he was 'super stoked to be a part of it'.

Further excitement from festival-goers has peaked due to the confirmation of Weezer playing - a concept that seemed to be just another unlikely rumour, despite the release of the band's seventh studio album, Raditude, in late 2009.

Weezer's supposed reluctance to tour throughout their career and the bus crash in December 2009, which resulted in the cancellation of seven tour dates, made an appearance at this year's festivals very doubtful. None the less, doctors have given Rivers Cuomo, Weezer's lead singer who received five broken ribs in the crash, the all clear to perform at Leeds and Reading, much to fans' excitement.

Other confirmed acts include Arcade Fire, Paramore, Limp Bizkit and more controversially, Guns N Roses and The Libertines – two acts with frontmen who are infamously prone to being unreliable. Melvin Benn, the organiser of Leeds and Reading festivals, announced that he has no concerns over the reliability of Axl Rose (Guns N Roses) and Pete Doherty (The Libertines) and has prepared no back up acts in case of any mishaps, according to an interview with efestivals.co.uk.

The Leeds and Reading festivals line-up can be accessed on the official websites (www.leedsfestival.com and www.readingfestival.com), although many acts have yet to be announced. While many eager students and music lovers alike have already secured their tickets for this heavily anticipated summer festival, a small amount of tickets are still available via official websites (seetickets.com), ebay.co.uk and more securely viagogo.co.uk. Prices start at £180.