Reading Festival is the longest established festival on the UK music scene and under the direction of the Mean Fiddler over the past
decade, has served as the blueprint for the modern music festival. Constantly diversifying its range of attractions beyond first class
rock music to encompass the gamut of alternative and dance styles, the Festival also adds comedy and film to the mix. Last year,
Reading Festival expanded even further to incorporate a sister site at Leeds under the banner of The Carling Weekend. The addition
of the beautiful and expansive Temple Newsam site in West Yorkshire created the only 3-day dual site festival in the world and
brought the exceptional 1999 line up to the North with great success.
The Reading Festival can trace its origins back to the National Jazz & Blues Festival first held in 1960 in the grounds of the
Richmond Athletic Association. During the sixties the musical repertoire broadened to include R&B acts of the day such as the
Rolling Stones who appeared in 1963 and 1964 (the first 3 day event), and bands like The Who, The Small Faces, Cream and The
Yardbirds.
The Festival settled on its current site at Richfield Avenue in Reading in 1971. During the 1970s the festival descended into a rut of
hard-rock such as Status Quo, Thin Lizzy and AC/DC. Even at the height of punk and new wave in the late ‘70s The Jam and Sham
69 would share the bill with Foreigner and the Quo. This continued to its nadir of 1988 (Fields Of The
Nephilim, Bonnie Tyler, The Quireboys, Meatloaf). It was evident that a re-think was needed to restore the reputation and audience to this well-established Bank
Holiday shindig.
Enter the Mean Fiddler who overhauled the bill, enticing bands like New Order,
Sugarcubes, The Wonderstuff, Jesus Jones, Pop Will
Eat Itself - young and considerably more vital bands who were widely loved or hotly tipped. John Peel returned to compering after
having become increasingly uncomfortable with the previous rockfest. The facilities and catering were also dramatically improved with
a range of cuisines now on offer and not so much to fear from the notorious festival toilet. The event sold out for the first time in years,
and doubled the audience. The partnership between the Mean Fiddler’s booking team and the
organisers, Harold and Barbara
Pendleton, continued over the next two years as the re-birth of Reading gathered pace with Pixies, Faith No More, Jane’s Addiction,
Nick Cave in 1990 and Nirvana, Hole, Sonic Youth, De La Soul, Teenage Fanclub and Flowered up among the acts in 1991.
The following year Nirvana headlined Sunday night - what would prove to be their last UK appearance. By 1993 the Mean Fiddler had
established full control of the festival and has continued to build on its success ever since with the addition of a new bands’ and
comedy stages, acclaimed one-off events such as Roni’s Size Free Cycle Tent and exclusively the Vans Warped Stage (which
featured the UK amateur skate finals), and traditional post-headliner club nights at the nearby Rivermead
Centre.
1999 offered a whole new festival in Leeds where music fans of the North didn’t have to travel so far to enjoy the high calibre selection
of bands that Reading Festival is world-famous for. The band line-up was heavy with exclusive acts; for the first time there was a
Dance Stage running over 2 days (instead of separate one-off dance events) and the Vans Warped Tour made another welcome
return. In Reading the Bacardi B Bar kept the joint jumping while in Leeds, 10 unsigned local acts were showcased after an
competition in the Yorkshire Evening Post.
PREVIOUSLY AT READING FESTIVAL
1999 Carling Weekend Reading & Leeds:
exclusive performances from Blur, The Charlatans, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mansun, the live return of
Elastica, Kevin Rowland and the
last ever performance by 3 Colours Red, Ice T headlining the Vans Warped Stage, Dance Stage featuring: All Seeing I,
Sugarhill
Gang, Carling Premier new bands stage, Bacardi B Bar (Reading), 10 local acts (Leeds)
1998
Page & Plant, Beastie Boys, The Prodigy, Garbage, New Order (first outdoor show for 5 years), Ash,
Mansun, Supergrass, Echo &
The Bunnymen, The Bluetones, Super Furry Animals, Travis, Spiritualized, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Ultrasound, Gomez,
Stereophonics. Roni’s Size Full Cycle Tent, Vans Warped Tour, Big Beat Boutique.
“The best British festival of the year” - The Times 4 September 1998. “Reading 98 once again established itself as the essential
date in the discerning rock fan’s diary” Kerrang 12 September 1998
1997
Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Metallica, The Orb, Space, Cast, Stereolab, Bush, Marilyn Manson, The Verve,
Audioweb, Boo
Radleys, Symposium, Catatonia, Embrace, Eels, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Broadcast,
Cornershop, Comedy Stage, Vans Warped Tour
Stage including the finals of the UK Amateur Skate Championship. Sonic Mook Experiment Wall Of Sound and Skint’s Night Of The
Big Drums 2.
Voted Music Event of the Year in Melody Maker (Jan 1998)
1996
Rage Against the Machine, Black Grape, Stone Roses, Prodigy, Garbage, Ash, Ice-T, Offspring, Reef, NME Stage: Underworld,
Rocket From The Crypt, Sonic Youth, Dubstar, Julian Cope, Space. Babybird, Dr Martens Stage: The Divine Comedy,
Mansun,
Kenickie, Geneva, Comedy Stage: Rich Hall, Greg Proops, Frank Sidebottom, Mark Thomas...
1995
Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Green Day, Bjork, Paul Weller, Neil Young, Soundgarden, Beck; Gene, Foo Fighters (virtually bringing
down the tent over the 2nd stage), The Bluetones, Reef, Ash,
1994
Primal Scream, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cypress Hill, Ice Cube, Manic Street Preachers, Pulp,
Radiohead, Soundgarden; Elastica,
Tindersticks, Jeff Buckley; Melody Maker signing tent...
1993
Porno For Pyros, The The, Siouxsie & the Banshees, New Order, Blur, Big Star, Boo Radleys Subterania stage @ Rivermead
Centre: Inner City, M-People, Sub Sub, The Grid, One Dove
1992
main stage headliners (booked by Mean Fiddler) The Wonder Stuff, Public Enemy, Nirvana...
1991
Iggy Pop, James, The Sisters Of Mercy, Blur, De La Soul, Sonic Youth, Carter USM. Comedy Big Top: Denis Leary, Gerry
Sadowitz, Tommy Cockles, Caroline Aherne...
“The bill for Friday alone would have utterly creamed the dramatis personae of past Reading Festivals” SELECT Oct 1991. “For sheer
consistent top notch quality, Reading has surely never seen a better line-up” NME Sept 1991
1990
The Cramps, Inspiral Carpets, Pixies, Mudhoney, Nick Cave
“There were apparently some cynics who thought that this year’s Reading Festival wouldn’t live up to expectations after 1989’s
illustrious showing. They were wrong. The weather was blistering and so was most of the music. Reading ‘90 saw unforgettable sets
from The Pixies, Inspirals and Nick Cave, with stalwart support on most fronts.” MELODY MAKER. Sept 1990
1989
New Order, Sugarcubes, The Pogues, New Model Army, The Mission, The Wonder Stuff
“This summer’s line up at Reading is undoubtedly this decade’s most astonishing British bill. It is going to be one of the great rock
events” NME June 1989 “This, the most successful Reading for years, seems to have marked a turning point for the declining British
festival” THE INDEPENDENT August 1989. “Overall Reading was a triumph, particularly for the Mean Fiddler staff who put it
together....there’s room for dozens of festivals if they’re run with the precision and professionalism of Reading.” NME September
1989
Voted Music Event of the Year in NME and Melody Maker (Jan 1990)