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The Big Summer Festival Preview 2008

Download Festival
The famous Donington Park motor racing circuit first flirted with all things heavy metal back in 1980 when the Monsters Of Rock festival was born. Bands of the calibre of Rainbow and Judas Priest (who are making what is hoped to be a triumphant return this year) dragged in the headbangers from far and wide. It was such a success that it became an annual event remaining quiet for only a few years here and there. A Day At The Races and Ozzfest lit it up in subsequent years before the Download Festival grabbed it firmly by the nutsack in 2003, adding an extra stage to support the incredible line-up of bands wanting to play and dragging more punters in than ever before.
Last year, I reported on the festival in an attempt to put my finger on the extra special quality that Download has. I cited the high-banking enabling improved stage-viewing to be the thing that possibly marks it out; or it might be the fearsomely heavy line-up that the organisers manage to persuade to play. But, it could even be the unique positioning of the site, directly under the East Midlands flightpath which forces the bands to compete with the jumbos. Whatever it is, the fans seem especially loyal to this particular festival and this year’s choice of rock-oriented headline acts has lit up the online forums for many months. It could be quite an interesting one this year and Sonic Dice will be there to report on how it all goes down.
Date: 13-15 June 2008
Headliners: Kiss, The Offspring, Lostprophets
Selected other bands: Judas Priest, Motorhead, Incubus, Cavalera Conspiracy, Biffy Clyro, Bullet For My Valentine, Job For A Cowboy, Throwdown, 36 Crazyfists, The Devil Wears Prada, Black Dahlia Murder, In Flames, Children Of Bodom
Full details: http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk

Glastonbury Festival
Ah, Michael Eavis. What a legend. What possessed him to first open up his farm in 1970 to all walks of life is something few of us will ever understand – he claims it’s just that he “liked pop music and people so it seemed a good idea to put the two together”. Back then, he charged folks a £1 and threw in a free pint of milk. Slightly different these days, isn’t it? The festival is probably the quirkiest of them all. It’s seen both love-ins and rioting, plus an ever increasing number of fences. It consistently surprises with the best of classical, dance, alternative and world music as well as catering for current popular tastes. There are comedy, theatre and circus acts, plus it boasts the ever-popular Green Fields – what is described as the soul of Glastonbury encapsulating the spirit and ideals which inspired the festival in the first place - you really need to experience it to understand it. And that last statement should be applied to this festival more than any other.
Date: 27-29 June 2008
Headliners: Kings Of Leon, Jay-Z, The Verve, Hot Chip
Full line-up announced: 1 May 2008
Full details: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/

T In The Park & Oxegen Festivals
The ‘T’ in ‘T In The Park’ comes from the festival’s main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents, and the crowd are renowned for being able to knock back more than their fair share of the brew whilst retaining their good-humoured Scottish nature. There is plenty to keep them entertained with a burlesque club, silent disco and funfair all having featured in past events.
It’s been held in Scotland since 1994, originally in Strathclyde Park, where Blur did battle with Oasis at the height of the brit-pop phenomenon. In 1997 it moved to Balado Park, Kinrossshire and in recent years the festival has shared much of its acts with the Oxegen festival in Co. Kildare, Ireland. Its finest moment was in 2005 when despite a mini-riot breaking out it beat Glastonbury to be named best festival at the ‘UK Festival Awards’ by featuring varied acts of the calibre of Green Day, James Brown and Snoop Dogg. Tickets for the event now sell-out in a few, short hours and organisers have considered raising the capacity which will allow it to challenge the all-conquering Glastonbury Festival on a more regular basis.
Date: 11-13 July 2008
Headliners: The Verve, Rage Against The Machine, R.E.M.
Selected other bands: Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Kaiser Chiefs, Kings Of Leon, The Fratellis, Stereophonics, Feeder, The Raconteurs, The Zutons, Aphex Twin, Scouting For Girls, K.T.Tunstall, The Pigeon Detectives, Amy Winehouse
Full details: http://www.tinthepark.com/, http://www.oxegen.ie/2008/

V Festival
Divided over two sites at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and Weston Park in Stafford the ‘V’ in the festival moniker is down to Richard Branson finding yet another way to promote his company, The Virgin Group. As you’d expect, this is the festival that is most guilty of following the current trend for allowing commercialism to run rampant and untamed. The plus side to it all, of course, is undoubtedly the improved organisation. The extra cash has allowed them to invest heavily on security and reduce queuing times so its probably best treated as a festival for beginners. The fact that this is being taken on board by those attending is most noticeable when you consider that it’s most heavily populated by the middle-class, middle-aged punter and his young offspring. You won’t find much in the way of teenage, angst-ridden, anti-establishment rebellions here. Having been to both sites I think Hylands just pips Weston even if it is just for the novelty value of seeing a series of trees encroach on the main stage.
Date: 16-17 August 2008
Headliners: Muse, The Verve
Selected other bands: The Prodigy, Ian Brown, Kaiser Chiefs, Chemical Brothers, Kings Of Leon, Stereophonics, The Zutons, The Kooks, The Pogues, The Pigeon Detectives, Amy Winehouse, Maximo Park, Alannis Morissette, The Charlatans
Full details: http://www.vfestival.com/

Reading & Leeds Festivals
This all first kicked off in 1961 when a chap called Harold Pendleton (founder of London’s Marquee Club) took inspiration from America and started the National Jazz Festival. Changing name and sites it eventually popped up in Reading in 1971 and by 1976 had acquired the now-beloved ‘Reading’ moniker – nothing to do with literature of course – and had mutated genres from jazz to rock music. By the late 80’s The Mean Fiddler Group had taken over and commercialism was beginning to take hold. By 1999 it had taken on Carling as a sponsor, linked sites with Leeds, and was being referred to as the cringeworthy ‘Carling Weekend’. Thankfully, this year has seen the festival part ways with their sponsor and a move back to naming the events solely after the towns they are held in.
There is always plenty going on with the Reading Fringe (obviously at the Reading site and much like Edinburgh’s version) running in tandem with the music, the promise of a secret gig to discover (where a huge band play in one of the smaller tents - or even in the campsite), plus many dance and rap acts to see, all added in recent years. This last feature has increased the variation in genres, but this (plus several notable bouts of rioting at both sites) has dissuaded some from attending recently with the shift away from the heavier acts that it had become renowned for being cited as a factor. It appears to be another case of moving with the times for this innovative festival.
Date: 22-24 August 2008
Headliners: Rage Against The Machine, The Killers, Metallica
Selected other bands: Queens Of The Stone Age, Bloc Party, Tenacious D, Babyshambles, Manic Street Preachers, The Cribs, The Fratellis, The Raconteurs, Slipknot, Bullet For My Valentine, Biffy Clyro, Serj Tankian, Avenged Sevenfold
Full details: http://www.readingfestival.com, http://www.leedsfestival.com

And if you don’t fancy big crowds at the big festivals then why not check-out these links to just some of the smaller ones…
Isle Of Wight Festival, WOMAD, Guilfest, Beautiful Days, Wychwood Music Festival, Creamfields, The Big Chill, Bestival.

Tags: festival, summer, article, preview, reading, glastonbury, download, leeds, t in the park

We’d love to hear from you if you’re planning on going, or have been, to any of the festivals this year and to know who rocked and who sucked the most.

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