Five artists to watch on BBC iPlayer this weekend (or see highlights on BBC Music's YouTube if you're outside the UK)
Thanks to BBC iPlayer, Reading and Leeds is an event far bigger than the confines of Little John’s Farm and Bramham Park.
With the August Bank Holiday weekend upon us, if you're not waking up in a tent or on your way to the festival previously known in ye olden days as Reading Rock/Carling Weekend/etc, don't worry, you can live vicariously through the screen for summer’s last big blow out.
From the comfort of your sofa - with no waiting in traffic or fiddling with tent poles, and clean porcelain nearby - these are a few of the must-set sets from across the weekend that will be available for your viewing pleasure…
Please note: Stream times are subject to change.
Bloc Party
Friday, 2:40pm
Bloc Party are effectively VIPs of sorts for this year’s Reading and Leeds, billed as ‘special guests’ and getting a whole hour to cruise through their greatest hits. If this is where your weekend is starting, it’ll start in huge style, their breezy indie discography serving as the perfect slice of summer. From ‘Banquet’ to ‘Helicopter’, there’ll inevitably be non-stop bangers to act as a time machine to the dawn of the thrills and spills of the noughties.
Chappell Roan
Friday, 7:10pm
Easily one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend, Chappell Roan’s meteoric ascent in the last year is being capped off with a huge co-headline slot (shared with Hozier) - a huge accomplishment for an artist with just one album to her name. Expect a show that will be as colourful, catchy and fun as it is vital, given that she’s already affirmed how keen she is to speak up about the subjects that matter, even when other artists don’t. Get practicing that ‘Hot To Go’ dance…
Enter Shikari
Saturday, 6:30pm
Enter Shikari feel like true heroes of the people, standing up for the environment, Palestine and the principle of community while retaining an everyman earnestness. It also happens that they’re one of the best live acts we have, putting on stunning visual displays while they open the pit up. Last time they played in 2022, frontman Rou Reynolds gave a speech decrying the acts of Thames Water, whose office is mere walking distance from the Reading site – inevitably, he’ll have things to say this time round too. Without a doubt, you’ll come away feeling energised.
Bring Me The Horizon
Saturday, 9:50pm
Also returning to Reading and Leeds for the first time since 2022, Bring Me The Horizon are once again headlining, but after R&L dropped the dual-stage co-headliner setup they’ve had for the last few years, they get the headline slot all to themselves. Forward-thinking, hard-hitting and visually spectacular, they’ve become an enormously consistent large-scale act. As they close the book on their Post Human: NeX GeN cycle, they’ll likely sign off in explosive style – especially with how high a bar they’ve set themselves given how well their last headline show went. They had Ed Sheeran as a guest then – so what the hell next?
Amyl and the Sniffers
Sunday, 5:15pm
Come Sunday evening, things are going to get rowdy. Amyl and the Sniffers have made themselves into an unmissable live band, their shows overflowing with sass, rage and plenty of swearing. Beneath the bravado, they’re also making righteous noise. At their Glastonbury set earlier in the summer, vocalist Amy Taylor called out everything from colonialism to transphobia to sexual violence, and chances are, their Reading show will feel equally important.
Head to BBC iPlayer to watch highlights from previous years and to catch the live streams.