Music Editor Bas Bevan previews the Festival Republic Stage at Reading Festival, highlighting its exciting line up and how it supports young talent
The Festival Republic stage at Reading and Leeds festival plays hosts to some of the line up’s lesser known and upcoming acts, exposing them to droves of the weekend’s hungry music fans. Its smaller size and impressive array of talent creates the potential for many special moments; so, if you fancy checking out some great new artists or seeing some potential future main stage stars it will be well worth a trip to the Festival Republic stage.
Friday 26th August (Leeds: Saturday 27th August):
Its smaller size and impressive array of talent creates the potential for many special moments…
Irish band The Scratch are second on the bill on the Friday and are a perfect example of the interesting acts that can be found on the stage. Starting as a metal band, the Dublin group transitioned to a more traditional acoustic sound whilst still retaining the intensity of their heavy roots. With a raw yet polished sound, this is a band that is throwing away the rule book and will no doubt make the most of their slot at Reading.
Following on from Witch Fever and Scene Queen, two emerging acts who both have a heavy sound but are significantly different, is Kid Kapichi. The punk band from Hastings who are known for their explosive live performances will continue the intensity of the first day’s line up and be unforgettable in the festival setting.
Canadian rock duo Cleopatrick take to the stage later in the day. Having been best friends since childhood, Ian Fraser and Luke Gruntz create highly charged and powerful songs packed with influences of many excellent bands, from The Arctic Monkeys to AC/DC, making them a perfect choice to appear at one of the world’s best festivals when it comes to rock music.
Fever 333 headline the stage on the first night marking a bit of a change in style but not in spirit. The three-piece from California mix rock and rap music promoting their social and political views. Their performance will likely leave a lasting impression on the FR stage crowd.
Saturday 27th August (Leeds: Sunday 28th August):
Thumper open the stage on the second day. The band from Ireland have received praise from Kerrang! and Radio X for their chaotic and energetic sound that features two drummers and combines multiple different genres, again showing the originality on offer on the Festival Republic stage.
Another interesting band featured on Saturday is Taipei Houston, consisting of brothers Layne and Myles Ulrich who are the sons of legendary Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Their sound is the combination of a range of indie and alternative rock influences and makes use of an unorthodox line up consisting of singer/ bass player and drummer/guitarist. Having only performed live for the first time last year and their first single coming out last month, they are a band who are making a big impression very quickly. Their show will definitely be worth watching as it seems likely that they will not be playing stages of this size for long.
[Taipei Houston’s] show will definitely be worth watching as it seems likely that they will not be playing stages of this size for long.
The stage will again play a big role in highlighting new talent at the festival. The later part of the line up includes Kid Brunswick, Cassyette, Sueco and carolesdaughter, four young solo artists who are all achieving notable success and draw from similar punk and emo influences.
Ho99o9 are also set to perform towards the end of the night on the Saturday. The LA based punk-rap band have appeared at the festival before and have supported some huge names including Alice In Chains, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold and Slaves. They have also notably collaborated on tracks with Slipknot singer Corey Taylor and The Prodigy. This impressive company and their reputation for putting on raucous live performances seems to make them a great band to finish the Saturday.
Sunday 28th August (Leeds: Friday 26th August):
Opening the stage on the final day of the festival is flamboyant Welsh band CVC, who after dominating the Cardiff music scene have begun to receive similar approval across the UK. On later are The Native, a young band from Plymouth who are quickly achieving notable success. They supported Bastille on their UK tour earlier in the year and will play at Reading and Leeds having already played at The Isle of Wight Festival and Truck Festival. They are becoming one of the rising names in UK indie and it would be unsurprising to see them on the Main Stage in the future.
Two more exciting bands on the Festival Republic stage line up on the final day are Crawlers and STONE. Both are part of a growing Liverpool scene, along with other bands like The Mysterines, who have found rapid success since 2020. Although different in style, with Crawlers being an alt-rock band and STONE being more of a punk outfit, they both represent the sheer number of varied and talented young British bands that are currently emerging.
Being such a young yet successful star who draws on a multitude of influences, beabadoobee embodies what the Festival Republic stage is about…
After reflective American singer ROLE MODEL, the stage will be closed by beabadoobee. The British-Filipino singer is one of the industry’s fastest rising stars and at just 22 she has some impressive accolades to her name. Her unique, 90s inspired indie sound has landed her some huge shows from touring with The 1975, who are now due to headline the main stage on the same night, to her performing at Coachella and Glastonbury this year.
Her second album Beatopia was recently released to many positive reviews and features songs with Matty Healey of The 1975 and BBC’s Sound of 2022 PinkPantheress. Being such a young yet successful star who draws on a multitude of influences, beabadoobee embodies what the Festival Republic stage is about, making her the ideal choice to end a weekend of huge talent and what will likely be unforgettable live performances on the stage.
On top of all these fantastic acts to look forward to, there is also the excitement surrounding the Festival Republic stage as the headliner for the Saturday night is yet to be announced and there are several empty slots which have the potential to be filled with secret sets. In previous years appearances have been made by Green Day, Foals, Queens Of The Stone Age and Jake Bugg, who gave a surprise performance last year.
If the FR stage performances were not enticing enough already, the potential for an intimate set from a huge name with headline potential makes it an unmissable attraction on the bank holiday weekend.
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