Desperate Times AI Music
Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn recently spoke to NME about the success of Reading & Leeds 2023.
During the interview, he also teased the the line-up and site changes for next year’s edition of the event. This year’s festival was packed with massive headline performances from Foals, Sam Fender, The 1975, The Killers, Imagine Dragons and Billie Eilish, alongside sets from the likes of Sleep Token, Steve Lacy, Central Cee, Wet Leg and many more.
During the interview, he was asked what if the interviewer was a betting man, and were to put to names such as Yungblud, Paramore, Dua Lipa, Drake and Queens Of The Stone Age as next year’s R&L headliners.
Benn replied:
“You’ve lost a lot of money.”
During the conversation, he was also asked how does the line-up for next year look and questioned if he booked any headliners. Here is what he said:
“We have one of the headliners confirmed, and have had them confirmed for a little while actually. They’ve headlined in the past so we know their strength with it and we’re pleased with that. There are some changes that I’m looking to make – probably some slight stage changes. We don’t stand still at Reading & Leeds and like to reflect what’s going on, so there will be a couple of changes. There are always changes in the artists, but there will be to the stages as well.”
Asked about the format of having two main stages, he responded:
“It’s a mix of all sorts of things, really. I’m not quite ready to announce it yet, but I’m really very excited about it.”
