10 to see!
Does this really need explaining? THE best band in the world. Last time I saw them was headlining another festival: Latitude in 2007 - the best, most compelling performance I have ever seen.
Anthemic, tuneful songs sang by a lovely voice - what more can you want? Also worth checking out if you like their completely different, yet just as fabulous, song The Rat, which may even provoke a mosh-pit (I mean it is Reading & Leeds).
The San Francisco Surf-rockers play the NME stage in one of their very few festival performances this summer. Their summer-themed garage pop should go down a treat.
Wild Beasts
One of the most consistently brilliant British bands of recent times, and a real contender for the Mercury Prize this year (they get my vote any day); the superb falsetto and danceable rhythms of Wild Beasts are not to miss this year on the NME stage.
AKA Jeremy Warmsley & Elizabeth Sankey, the new British chillwave duo. Ghost Train will memorise the potentially huge audience at the FR stage.
LCD Soundsystem
James Murphy's crew's penultimate British festival Performance (only Bestival to go). This will be the dance highlight of the weekend, particularly when those pounding synths enter after Dance Yrself Clean's gradual build-up.
Another great electronic performance takes place on the day when the Lock Up Stage turns into the Dance Stage. But this is different to LCD, this is tuneful, yet somehow discorded music which clunks. This is very good clunking.
Brilliant American Math-rockers (think American Foals) who are surprisingly low on the bill - before One Night Only FFS. Their tight, complicated show will wow the fans.
My favourite new band of the year, Yuck, are fantastic in the flesh. They have great stage presence and their Lead Guitarist really is very good. It's also worth popping along to have a peek at the drummer's wicked hair.
One of the most-blogged bands of the year, a critically-acclaimed album under their belt and now this, one of their first British festivals. Three points which suggest this WILL be crowded.
10 more to see:
British Sea Power
Modest Mouse
Surfer Blood
Adam Green
Trash Talk
Harlem
Villagers
Dizzeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
HEALTH
Local Natives
NOW..... 10 to miss!
This is like the AF one but the complete opposite.... In my view, they haven't written a good song since Buddy Holly. That was 16 years ago. However, it may be worth popping along on the off-chance they have the rather disgraceful, yet amusing, new album cover as their backdrop.
The rest don't really need explaining:
The Sunshine Underground
Marina & the Diamonds
The Big Pink
Frankie & the Heartstrings
Kele
Pendulum
3OH!3
The whole Mainstage at Reading on Friday (Young Guns to Guns n Roses), I swear they have had that exact same lineup (minus GnR) at least twice before.
Limp Bizkit
