News Reading & Leeds 2012: Bands To Watch

There are many, many bands to get excited about at Reading & Leeds this year. From legends to hot young hopefuls, we’ve pulled out just a few of the sets we’re looking forward to seeing this weekend. This is only a selection, mind - we’ve not mentioned Alt-J, Foo Fighters or The Cure, nor that suspicious looking gap on Saturday’s NME / Radio 1 tent…

At The Drive-InIt seems like a long time now since that first frenzied announcement regarding the reunion of At The Drive-In, but remember how excited we all were when it first happened? The curiosity, the not-quite-knowing-everything, the idea of actually finally getting to see them live (y’know, if you didn’t first time around - Ed)? Well, that time is almost upon us, and frankly, we don’t quite know what to do with ourselves.

Competing with a certain main stage headliner – really, we might have to judge you just a little bit if you go there instead – their performance is set to be the most explosive of the weekend. Doubling as their first live appearance in the UK in over ten years, there’s absolutely no excuse not to be jamming yourselves in amongst the chaos.



DZ DeathraysEverybody knows that the best thing to do at a festival is drink a copious amount of alcohol, fall over in the mud and then dance around. What band could be more perfect to soundtrack such activities than DZ Deathrays?

Whether your choice of drink is the £4.75 pints of Tuborg, or the band’s favourite liquor (or not so much now, after that video for ‘The Mess Up’) Jägermeister, there are no finer partiers than this Australian duo. You’d be silly to miss them setting the Festival Republic stage alight this August.

They’ve already owned the likes of The Great Escape and SXSW festivals, so what’s one more notch to their belt? Get ready for carnage, and bring some dollar chills; it’s going to get messy.



ParamoreIf there’s one band on this year’s line-up that are definitely going to draw attention, it’s Paramore. And that’s not just thanks to frontwoman Hayley Williams’ hair colour. Oh, no.

Not only are the rather adored band going to be warming up for the mighty Cure, but this will be their first UK performance as a three-piece - brothers Josh and Zac Farro having left the band back in late 2010. There’s even the possibility of new material, since they’re currently locked away recording album number four.

Paramore are the perfect Reading & Leeds party band. Heading up a main stage littered with those inspired by both their music and ethos - we’re looking at you, You Me At Six - no matter what you like to say you think of them, we know you’ll be singing ‘Misery Business’ at the top of your lungs before Robert Smith’s wrinkly old face even comes in to view.



Touche AmoreReading & Leeds is a rock festival; there’s no point denying it - all the angular haircuts and skinny jeans in the world won’t stop this being the domain of the loud. If you’re looking to turn things up to eleven, then you’ll be wanting to head down to the Lock Up stage, where it’s Touché Amoré that are shining most brightly.

Already placed firmly at the forefront of the recent ‘Wave’ hardcore movement, Touché Amoré are five captivating Californians that are already causing a truly thrilling stir. Snarling with aggression and painfully simple eloquence, their songs encompass what is brilliant about hardcore and punk rock. Shimmering with intensity, their (no doubt) short but sweet set is guaranteed to leave you wide-eyed, breathless, and wanting more.



GrimesThe intro to Grimes’ ‘Oblivion’ could probably be the soundtrack to just about everything this year. Getting on the bus? Walking upstairs? Taking your shoes off? It needs a bit of synth. Sunset on a wet Saturday in Berkshire, or late afternoon on a miserable Sunday up north? Even more so.

It doesn’t even really need suggesting that the Canadian may be one of the must see acts of Reading & Leeds 2012. The poster girl of modern blog pop; if you can get yourself in to the inevitably heaving confines of the Dance Tent, expect screams of the Bieber Fever kind.



SavagesSavages are already one of the most talked-about acts of the year. There’s a reason for that – they’re bloody good. By concentrating on their live performance before getting anything recorded and ‘out there’, they’ve avoided the trap of many a buzz band. In fact, we’d go as far to say that seeing them live far outweighs anything you’ll hear from them on record, even if that lexicon currently does only extend to two songs. You can’t mic up a thousand-yard stare, after all. Enigmatic but not inaccessible, the quartet’s massive, cavernous sound should translate just as well in a stuffy, muddy tent as in any sweaty basement or sponsored concert hall.



Reading & Leeds Festival will take place from 24th - 26th August.

Taken from the August 2012 issue of DIY, available now. For more details click here.