All the festival news that counts. And then some...

Carling Weekend 2006 headliners announced 3.4.2006
Franz Ferdinand, Muse and Pearl Jam have been confirmed as the main stage headliners for this year's event. Full line-up so far below:



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Festival highlights on the radio 22.9.2005
On Monday September 26, Lamacq Live on Radio 1 will have highlights of Interpol at Glastonbury 2005. The live recording will start just after 10pm.

Reading live track on CD 22.9.2005
The current issue of the NME (on sale right now) has a cover-mounted CD which features one song live from Reading: The Rakes (featuring Bloc Party, Maximo Park and Towers of London) performing "22 Grand Job." The CD also has songs (not live) from many other bands who appeared at Reading and Leeds, including Boy Kill Boy, Juliette and the Licks and British Sea Power.

Online touts exposed 13.9.2005
BBC TV's watchdog programme shown tonight (13 September 2005) has exposed one of the largest online "ticket agencies" as little more than organised touts. getmetickets.net regularly charge massively over face value for tickets they don't even hold. Buyers were shown to regularly never get the tickets they'd stumped up for, or were having to go to the venue (the Reading Festival was one) where they had to call a "representitive" on a mobile phone and meet to collect a ticket. These "representitives" were, of course, touts. Needless to say, you are advised not to buy tickets from getmetickets.net, though the company's web-site doesn't appear to be working at the moment - I wonder why?

Reading Festival on telly 4.9.2005
Highlights of this year's festival will be on ITV on Wednesday 7 September from 11.30pm to 12.30am. Bands featured include Foo Fighters, The Coral and The Pixies.

Reading highlights online 4.9.2005
Got broadband? Then you can relive some of the highlights of the Reading Festival via Internet Service Provider Tiscali. The company has three-song video highlights of Goldie Lookin Chain, The Charlatans, Turbonegro, Iggy and the Stooges, Graham Coxon, Elbow, Alkaline Trio, Roots Manuva and Funeral For a Friend. You can also buy songs as downloads. Click here to see the highlights.

New site additions 22.8.2005
fatreg.com just got a little fatter with the addition of two new items. Firstly, there's the long-overdue review of Reading 2004, plus there's a new page listing festival bootlegs (how geeky is that? No, don't answer...).

Festival highlights on the radio 22.8.2005
No sooner will you have scraped the cack off yourself than you'll be able to re-live Reading on the radio. On Bank Holiday Monday 29 August Lamacq Live has a Reading/Leeds Festival Special. The programme starts at 9pm. The following Monday, 5 september, there's highlights of The Doves from Glastonbury. Expect more Reading/Leeds sets in the coming weeks.

Lager for Litter at Carling Weekend 18.8.2005
As last year, there's a litter collecting scheme going on at the Carling Weekend - collect a rubbish sack from one of the special litter points, and when you return it full of rubbish, you'll get a free can of Carling. Ideal if you're skint, desperate for booze, or simply too tight to buy any...

Goldie Lookin' Chain at Carling Weekend 16.8.2005
Welsh comedy rappers Goldie Lookin' Chain have filled the "special guest" slot at Reading/Leeds. They'll be second on stage, after openers Do Me Bad Things.

Festivals on TV 14.8.2005
There's a feast of festival action on TV this week. Channel 4 has a run of short programmes showing some of the best moments in the nine-year history of the V Festival, leading up to coverage of V2005 at the weekend, while ITV has highlights of Reading 2003 on Tuesday night. Here's the full schedule:
Monday 15 August.
Channel 4 12.00 (midnight)-12.15am The Road to V2005. Bands compete to open the festival
Channel 4
12.15am-12.20am V Festival - Geatest Moments
Tuesday 16 August.
Channel 4 1.40am-1.50am The Road to V2005. Bands compete to open the festival
Channel 4
1.50am-1.55am V Festival - Geatest Moments
ITV
2.45am-3.40am ITV at the Festivals. Reading 2003, including Blur, The Darkness, BRMC, The Datsuns and Cave-In
Wednesday 17 August.
Channel 4 1.50am-1.55am V Festival - Geatest Moments
Channel 4
1.55am-2.10am The Road to V2005. Bands compete to open the festival
Thursday 18 August.
Channel 4 1.20am-1.25am V Festival - Geatest Moments
Friday 19 August.
Channel 4 12.50am-12.55am V Festival - Geatest Moments
Saturday 20 August
Channel 4 11.45pm-1.25am Highlights of the first day of V2005
Sunday 21 August
Channel 4 1.45pm-3.25pm V2005 highlights
Channel 4
11.15pm-12.55am Highlights of day two of V2005

Carling Weekend Comedy Stage line-up announced 14.6.2005
The
Comedy Stage for Reading/Leeds has been announced. In addition to a host of comics, it has been announced that My Chemical Romance will play Reading and Leeds on the same day, which will involve them legging it from one site to the other pretty damn swiftly... Click here for the full festival line-up.

Festivals radio highlights 10.8.2005
Highlights of The White Stripes from Glastonbury will be on Lamacq Live on Monday, August 22. The live section normally starts about 10pm.

Festivals on the radio 11.7.2005
There's some top festival action coming up on the wireless in the next couple of weeks. On Monday July 18, Lamacq Live has highlights of Hot Hot Heat from Glastonbury. Then, the following Monday, July 25, Lamacq has highlights of The Killers, also from Glastonbury. The live section normally starts about 10pm.

Coxon Carling Weekend! 3-0.6.2005
Ex-Blur man
Graham Coxon has been added to the Carling Weekend line-up, playing Friday at Reading and Saturday at Leeds. Click here for the latest line-up.

Festivals on TV 26.6.2005
There's a feast of festival action on TV this week, as Channel 4 makes the most of sponsoring the Wireless Festival and ITV re-visits Reading. Programme details are:

Monday June 27. Channel 4, 12.10am. Wireless Festival highlights, including New Order and Moby.
Tuesday June 28. Channel 4, 12.05am. Wireless Festival highlights, including Basement Jaxx, Roots Manuva and MIA.
Wednesday June 29. Channel 4, 12.25am. Wireless Festival highlights, including Keane, Supergrass and Rufus Wainwright.
Thursday June 30. Cahnnel 4, 11.55pm. Wireless Festival highlights, including Kasabian and Pete Doherty.
Thursday June 30. ITV, 2.05am. ITV at the Reading Festival 2004 highlights, including Placebo, The Hives, Razorlight, Jurassic 5 and Taking Back Sunday.

Carling Weekend Dance Arena headliners 14.6.2005
The Dance Arena at reading and Leeds will be headlined by Lemon Jelly, Mylo and Audio Bullys. More info on the days each plays as soon as it comes in.

Reading gets bigger! 14.6.2005
Reading council have allowed a capacity increase of 5,500 day tickets for the Saturday and Sunday at Reading this summer, which means 55,000 people on Friday and 60,500 on Saturday and Sunday. Let's hope there's extra Portaloos, too, eh?

Dinosaur Jr for Carling Weekend! 14.6.2005
The mighty (and reformed)
Dinosaur Jr have been added to the Carling Weekend line-up, replacing Jimmy Eat World on Saturday at Reading and Sunday at Leeds. Fall Out Boy and Be Your Own Pet have been added to the Carling Stage line-up. Click here for the latest line-up.

Download tickets on sale 13.6.2005
The ringing will still be in your ears, no dobt, but tickets for Download 2006 have already gone on sale. A limited umer are being made available at this year's price (that's £127.50 for a weekend ticket with camping... PLUS a £7.50 booking fee). Tickets go on sale on Tuesday June 14, when, hopefully, the dates will be announced, too! For more info, and to order tickets, click here.

Radio festival highlights 13.6.2005
Radio One's in a bit of a festival frenzy over the next few weeks. Tomorrow night (Tuesday June 14) the Rock Show has Download highlights from 1am. Then, on Monday (June 20) Lamacq Live has highlights of Green Day at Milton Keynes Bowl. And the following Monday (June 27) Lamacq has Glastonbury highlights. Lamacq Live kicks off at 9pm.

Download highlights on TV 12.6.2005
Next Saturday night (June 18) Channel 4 is broadcasting an hour of highlights from this year'd Download Festival. The programme starts at 11.55pm (that's five minutes to midnight), and, for the insomniacs out there (or those that can programme the video) it's followed by an hour of System of a Down in concert.

Reading/Leeds: Carling Stage line-up announced 26.5.2005
The eagerly-awaited announcement of who's playing the third stage at the Carling Weekend has been made. The three headliners are Ladytron, The Go Team and Echo and the Bunnymen. Other notable bands include The Raveonettes, Towers of London and Dresden Dolls. Full line-up details here.

fatreg.com forum upgrade 26.5.2005
The forum is undergoing an overhaul which should make your visits much better - at least, that's what I've been promised... Among the host of improvements is the ability to attach files (ie pictures) with your posts. The forum will be out of action for a day or so while this takes place, but I hope to see you there once it's up and running. And remember, you don't have to register or log-in to post. To visit the forum, click here.

Free festival guide with NME 26.5.2005
This week's NME (on sale now) contains a free festival guide. It probably includes all the usual sort of stuff about who's playing where, etc, but, frankly, I've been far too busy watching the Champions' League final to read it....

Festival highlights on the radio 19.5.2005
Monday May 30th sees highlights of Coldplay at Glastonbury 2002 on Lamacq Live on Radio 1. The live set should start at around 10pm.

Lockup Stage for Reading and Leeds 19.5.2005
Radio One' Lockup Stage has replaced the Concrete Jungle tent at this year's Carling Weekend. The full line-up is
Transplants (playing Leeds only), Bad Religion, Hatebreed, Antiflag, Rise Against, Eighteen Visions, Dwarves, Capdown, Million Dead, Emanuel, The Explosion and No Comply. The stage is on Saturday at Reading and Sunday at Leeds. Click here for the latest line-up.

Reformed 80s indie leading lights
The Wedding Present are also confirmed to play the main stage on Friday (Reading).

More Carling Weekend bands 3.5.2005
Julliette & The Licks, Sons & Daughters, Death From Above 1979, The Dead 60’s, Blood Brothers, Nine Black Alps, The Cribs, The Longcut, Editors, Hal, The Rakes and Art Brut have been added to the Radio One Stage line-up of this year’s Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds Festivals line-up. Click here for the latest line-up.

More Reading/Leeds bands announced 21.4.2005
My Chemical Romance, the others, the Kills, Fightstar and the mighty Turbonegro are among the bands newly-added to this year’s Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds Festivals line-up. Click here for the latest line-up.

Festival highlights on the radio 11.4.2005
Next Monday (April 18th) sees highlights of Graham Coxon at Leeds 2004 on Lamacq Live on Radio 1. The live set should start at around 10pm.

Mean Fiddler sold! 11.4.2005
Reading/Leeds Festival promoters Mean Fiddler have accepted a takeover offer from US company Clear Channel Entertainment which values the company at around £37.9m ($71.3m). Mean Fiddler also owns the London Astoria and 39% of the Glastonbury Festival. The deal, which has to be approved by Mean Fiddler shareholders, will see the firm's founder Vince Power, who set up the company over 20 years ago, pocket around £13m for his 35% stake.
Hamsard, Clear Channel and Gaiety's joint investment vehicle - which already owns nearly a quarter of Mean Fiddler shares - said the UK firm was "highly complementary" to its existing business and that "the Mean Fiddler group will continue to pursue a strategy of delivering world-class event promotion and event management both through its festivals and music businesses in the UK."

More Carling Weekend acts announced 11.4.2005
Funeral For A Friend, LCD Soundsystem, Simple Plan, Dropkick Murphys, Roots Manuva and Transplants have been added to this year’s Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds Festivals line-up.

Carling Weekend acts confirmed 21.3.2005
As expected, the first official details of the line-up for the Carling Weeend: Reading and Leeds Festivals 2005 have been announced. The three headliners are as leaked a month or so back, but several other major names have been added to those already revealed. The line-up so far is:

Friday August 26 (Reading)/Saturday 27 (Leeds)
Main Stage
PIXIES - only confirmed UK dates / only UK festival performances
THE KILLERS - only exclusive English festival performances
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - only UK festival performances
THE CORAL - only UK festival performances
ELBOW - only UK festival performances

NME/Radio 1 Stage
KASABIAN
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB


Saturday 27 (Reading)/Sunday 28 (Leeds)
Main Stage
FOO FIGHTERS - only English festival performances
KINGS OF LEON - only UK festival performances
RAZORLIGHT
THE CHARLATANS
JIMMY EAT WORLD
- only UK festival performances

NME/Radio 1 Stage
THE TEARS
- debut UK festivals shows
BABYSHAMBLES
THE ARCADE
 

Sunday 28 (Reading)/Friday 26 (Leeds)
Main Stage
IRON MAIDEN - only UK festival performances
MARILYN MANSON - only UK festival performances
INCUBUS - only UK festival performances
IGGY & THE STOOGES
NOFX
- only UK festival shows

NME/Radio 1 Stage
BLOC PARTY
- only UK festival appearances
THE FUTUREHEADS

To comment on this, visit the forum.

Festival radio highlights 23.2.2005
On Monday February 28, Lamacq Live on Radio 1 will feature highlights of Dizzee Rascal's set at Leeds 2004. The live section should start at about 10pm. To comment on this, visit the forum.

Glastonbury headliners 4.2.2005
Michael Eavis has confirmed that this summer's festival (the last before next year's break) will be headlined by New Order, the White Stripes and, on Sunday, Kylie Minogue. Well, two out of three ain't bad, but why do festival organisers persist in booking New Order? Beats me! To comment on this, visit the forum.

Glastonbury DVD 4.2.2005
Highlights of the last ten years of Glastonbury are colleceted on a forthcoming DVD. Over 30,000 people voted to decide what was to be included on ‘Glastonbury Anthems – The Best of 1994 to 2004.’ The full tracklisting is:
Blur ‘This Is A Low’ (1994), The Levellers ‘One Way Of Life’ (1994), Elastica ‘Connection’ (1995),
Prodigy ‘Breathe’ (1997), Radiohead ‘Karma Police’ (1997), Placebo ‘The Crawl’ (1998),
Robbie Williams ‘Angels’ (1998), Fun Lovin’ Criminals ‘Scooby Snax’ (1999),
Manic Street Preachers ‘A Design For Life’ (1999), The Chemical Brothers ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’ (2000),
Moby ‘Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad’ (2000), Travis ‘Driftwood’ (2000), Coldplay ‘Yellow’ (2002),
Faithless ‘We Come 1’ (2002), Ash ‘Shining Light’ (2002), Supergrass ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’ (2003),
Primal Scream ‘Rocks’ (2003), Basement Jaxx ‘Good Luck’ (2004), Franz Ferdinand ‘Matinee’ (2004),
Paul McCartney ‘Hey Jude’ (2004). The DVD also includes 40 minutes of extras: interviews from 1995 with Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis and his late wife Jean, a photo gallery, a short documentary on the festival’s Greenfields, a short clip on the famous 1971 Glastonbury Fayre film and an aerial tour of the site. Call me cynical, but it's all a bit "safe", and isn't it odd how two of the festival's most memorable appearances aren't represented (Orbital and Pulp)... Anyway, it's released on March 21.

Reading/Leeds headliners leaked? 2.2.2005
Latest information suggests an old-school look to this summer's carling Weekend, with the headliners strongly tipped to be Foo Fighters, The Pixies and Iron Maiden. Also rumoured are Queens of the Stone Age, Kasabian, Velvet Revolver, Hot Hot heat, The Bravery, Killing Joke, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, Babyshambles, The Mars Volta and Elbow. The information reportedly comes from a "festival insider" - an official announcement is expected in March, when tickets will go on general sale. More information as it happens. To comment on this, visit the forum.

Festivals on TV 29.1.2005
Channel Four, Friday February 4, 2:15am-2:50am (VideoPlus 1994297) Actually, very late on Thursday night if you're setting the video, this is the first of two programmes showing highlights from the Download Festival 2004.
Channel Four, Saturday February 5, 2:10am-2:40am (VideoPlus 9541143) More Download highlights.
Channel Four, Saturday February 5, 12:50am-4:25am (VideoPlus 48706563): Woodstock. Film of the legendary music festival, featuring performances by Joan Baez, The Who, Jimmi Hendrix, Santana, Richie Havens, Joe Cocker. And loads of footage of naked, stoned hippies.

Who's playing Reading? 28.1.2005
Here are the latest rumoured bands for Reading/Leeds 2005. Plus rumours for the other major festivals. Confirmed bands (where known) are in bold.

Reading/Leeds (August 26-28) – Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, QOTSA, Pixies, Kasabian, Bloc Party, Velvet Revolver, Muse, Hot Hot Heat, The Bravery, Killing Joke, Kaiser Chiefs, Mars Volta, Babyshambles, Elbow.

Download (June 10-12) – Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Velvet Revolver, Garbage, System Of A Down, Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Slipknot, Blink-182, Feeder, Weezer, Garbage, Prodigy.

Glastonbury (June 24-26) – The White Stripes, Coldplay, The Who, Kylie Minogue, Bloc Party, New Order, Doves, OutKast, Athlete, Keane, Brian Wilson, Scissor Sisters, Kasabian, Paul Weller, Stereophonics, Mercury Rev, Gorillaz, Chemical Brothers, The Concretes, Hot Hot Heat, The Subways, SFA, Ian Brown, The Coral, Dandy Warhols, QOTSA, Grandaddy, Beastie Boys, The Killers, The Bravery, Hope Of The States, The Zutons, The Futureheads, Elbow, The Tears, Ian Brown

T In The Park (July 9-10) – Green Day, Foo Fighters, Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, Prodigy, The Subways, Ian Brown, Fightstar.

Oxegen Festival, Ireland (July 9-10)Foo Fighters, Ian Brown, Prodigy, The Killers.

Wicker Man (July 22-23)Stranglers, Antiproduct, Dreadzone, Arthur Brown.

V Festival (August 20-21) – Oasis, Prodigy, New Order, The Killers, Maroon 5, Stereophonics, Franz Ferdinand, Ian Brown, Fightstar, The Darkness.

Glastonbury takes a break 28.1.2005
There will be no Glastonbury Festival in 2006, says organiser Michael Eavis. This is to give the cows, farmland and local residents a break from the disruption. Given the weakness of the rumoured line-up for this summer, perhaps that's not a bad thing...

New desktop pic added 12.1.2005
On Saturday January 8, Exeter City FC (my team, folks) recorded one of the great
surprise FA Cup results when they drew 0-0 with holders Manchester United at Old Trafford. In honour of that, there's a new desktop pic to download and brighten up your monitor. OK, I know, it helps if you support Exeter City... but you might want to use it if you hate Man U. That's it on the right. Click to get the larger version, or HERE to go to the Downloads page, where there are other (more festival-related) pics available.

More festivals on TV 12.1.2005
ITV, Friday January 14, 3:05am-4:00am (VideoPlus 375066) Actually, very late on Thursday night. Highlights from the 2003 Reading Festival, featuring performances from Linkin Park, Doves, Primal Scream, Biffy Clyro, The Sleepy Jackson and InMe

Festivals on TV 2.1.2005
Channel Four, Wednesday January 5, 1:15am-2:15am (VideoPlus 8083308) Actually, very late on Tuesday night if you're setting the video, this is the first of two programmes showing highlights from the Isle of Wight Festival with performances recorded during the first two days of the event. On the bill are Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, Jet, Super Furry Animals and Groove Armada.
Channel Four, Thursday January 6, 1:25am-2:25am (VideoPlus 547631) The second visit to the music festival is late on Wednesday night and features Saturday night's headliners, the Who, and the best of Sunday's performances including sets from the Charlatans, Snow Patrol and the legendary David Bowie.

Vote for your album of the year 24.12.2004
Yes, it's almost the end of the year, so it seems traditional to take a poll and see what your favourite album was in 2004. As is also traditional, I will drag my heels when it comes to totting up the results and the final tally will probably see the light of day in the spring, but, hey, it's hardly a matter of life and death now, is it? To make your fave count, visit the fatreg.com forum and add to the discussion. Otherwise Girls Aloud might just win, and that would never do...

And have a great Christmas and New Year!

Mean Fiddler slams government's "tax on fun" proposals 24.12.2004
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has unveiled proposals to levy a tax on any event attracting more than 6000 people where alcohol is served. Under this new scheme an event the size of Glastonbury would attract a tax of £50,000. the money would be used to fund health and safety checks to ensure the public are safe at such events. Under the present system, all event organisers have to apply for a licence, but costs vary regionally, and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport wants to see a standardised fee structure across the country. Melvin Benn, managing director of Mean Fiddler, said that none of its events would be under threat, adding: "when have we had a crowd safety issue in the UK?"

Naturally, you can expect any such tax will be passed on to the paying punter in the form of higher ticket prices. Perhaps any safety inspection of the Reading Festival might see an end to the ludicrous overcrowding of the area outside the main arena entrance before noon each day? Or perhaps not...

The new scheme could be withdrawn after a year if the system is found not to be working.

You should be able to register an objection to Tessa Jowell's proposal's by e-mail or by the internet here.

Glastonbury to honour John Peel 29.10.2004
Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis has announced that the New Bands Stage at the festival will be renamed the John Peel Stage in honour of the kegendary DJ who dies suddenly earlier this week. The stage has been chosen in recognition of the work Peelie put into championing the cause of new music and bands in his 40-year broadcasting career.

John Peel 1939-2004 28.10.2004
Like many of my generation, I had my musical awakening through John Peel. In classic style, I used to listen to his show in the late 1970s through a single earpiece connected to a tiny 1960s transistor radio given to me by my dad. The first time I tuned in (having only recently discovered Radio 1 - when it was still on 247MW well before its FM days) was the legendary night when he played "Teenage Kicks" by The Undertones twice in a row. "Normal" DJs just didn't do that sort of thing. They still don't. Peel's shows were the first times I heard most of my favourite bands. The Rezillos, the Birthday Party, The Fall, Half Man Half Biscuit, Bogshed, and countless others, all entered my life (and my record collection) due to his enthusiasm and diverse, eclectic, and never prejudiced tastes.

Peelie used to be the main stage compere at Reading. I remember him at noon on the Friday one year announcing - before even playing a record - "I just wanted to be the first person on the main stage to say 'motherfucker.'" He also rarely interrupted the flow of records with any announcements or banal DJ gibbering, except to read out all the football results at 5pm on a Saturday afternoon. he knew what people wanted.

I was at the Tribal gathering in 1996 when, during his dance music DJ slot, he played Status Quo's "Rockin' All Over The World." All the way through. It got the biggest cheer of the day. Only Peelie could get away with that.

Recently I took to doing the washing up late at night so I could listen to a bit of his show. Inevitably, I'd end up leaning against the kitchen counter for some time to hear "just ONE more record" even though there was a much more comfortable armchair in another room. you always felt you might miss something truly vital during the time it would take to change location. His Radio 4 show "Home Truths" served the same purpose on Saturday mornings and the dishes almost always took a full hour to do - even if we'd only had toast.

I've still got a large box full of cassettes of songs taped off his shows in the 1980s and 90s. I spent four nights a week for several years sitting with fingers poised over the record buttons on the tape deck so as not to miss those oh-so essential session tracks by bands like Bogshed, The Noseflutes and hundreds of others, obscure and not-so-obscure. Mrs Fat Reg is always asking why I need "all those tapes you never listen to." They're important to me - more so today than at any time before. Only last week, i was doing the modern equivalent and recording a streaming audio file from the BBC website so I could get a session I'd missed the week before. Now those days are gone.

It's cliched to describe him as a national treasure, but the reason cliches are cliches is because they're, more often than not, true. And Peelie was a national treasure.

A little bit of the innocence of being young died with him. And doing the washing up will never again be quite the same.

R.I.Peelie.


Reading highlights on TV 24.10.2004
On Thursday night, 4 November ITV has a progamme of highlights from Reading. On from 2.05am-3.00am the show includes Placebo, The Hives, Razorlight, Jurassic 5 and Taking Back Sunday (VideoPlus code: 8236900). The following Thursday night, there's a second show featuring Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, New York Dolls, The Distillers and Lost Prophets (VideoPlus code: 2003698).

Festival highlights on the radio 24.10.2004
Steve Lamacq is broadcasting highlights of
The Offspring at Leeds on Monday 15 November. The show starts at 8pm, and the Hives' set should be about 10pm. On Monday 22 November, it's the turn of The White Stripes, also from Leeds. Show times the same.

Festival highlights on the radio 13.9.2004
Steve Lamacq is broadcasting highlights of
The Hives at Leeds on Monday 27 September. The show starts at 8pm, and the Hives' set should be about 10pm. On Monday 20 September, he'll be braodcasting The Music from Radio One's One Big Weekend event..

Ticket competition winners 9.8.2004
The lucky winners of the fatreg.comticket competition are: Chris Gower, who wins a pair of tickets to reading, and Ben Elijah, who wins a pair to Leeds. Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who enetered. Special thanks to Lewis Jamieson, Megan Reeder and Mean Fiddler for making the competition possible.

Reading Festival sold out! 21.7.2004
According to Mean Fiddler, the Carling Weekend: Reading Festival is now completely sold out. There are no weekend or day tickets left. The Leeds leg is also reportedly well on the way to selling out too. Don't despair if you simply HAVE to go to Reading, though - there are still plently of tickets up for sale on ebay. Weekend tickets are available on ebay to buy outright for £200, those being auctioned are typically currently going for around £170.

Reading Festival exhibition 18.7.2004
The Reading Festival is to be celebrated in a free exhibition at the Museum Of Reading. Opening on the August 19, the exhibition, called Music, Mud and Mayhem - 30 years of the Reading Festival, will feature music, film, photographs and memorabilia - including Kurt Cobain's guitar as destroyed during Nirvana's headline Reading set in 1992. The exhibition is open Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 4pm, Sunday 11am - 4pm until November 28. For more information, click here.

Festivals on TV18.7.2004
ITV has two in the "At the Festivals" series coming up, both featuring performances from V2002. The first is on Saturday July 25, from 3:15am - 4:10am and includes Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream, Basement Jaxx, Crescent, Elbow and Halo. The second is on Friday July 30, from 2:35am - 3:30am and features Stereophonics, Nickelback, the Beta Band, Rhianna, the Bluetones, the Burn and Leaves.

Download highlights on TV 14.7.2004
Channel 4 is showing highlights of Download 2004 this Saturday night (July 17). There are two programmes: the first from 11:55pm - 12:30am, the second 1:15am - 1:45am.

Carling Weekend comedy tent 14.7.2004
The Comedy Tent line-up for the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals has been announced. For the details, click here. Once the comedy has finished at about 11pm, the tent will become the Caberet Big Top, featuring stars of Dirty Sanchez, Mongolian Laughing Boy and Artrocker DJs, among others.

Carling Weekend comedy tent 5.7.2004
The Comedy Tent line-up for the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals is currently being finalised, and an announcement is expected on Tuesday July 13. Watch this space for more details...

Beyonce for Carling Weekend? 1.7.2004
Well, not quite... rather a giant bouncy castle - or Beyonce castle, if you will - shaped like the singers arse is going to be in the Aftershock tent. There will also be water pistol Russian Roulette in the same tent. Also,
Pretty Girls make Graves have been added to the Carling Stage line up.

New headliners for T in the Park 1.7.2004
Following David Bowie's decision to pull out of the Oxegen and T in the Park festivals due to a trapped nerve in his shoulder, The Darkness, who were second on the bill, move up to the headline slot. Oxegen (www.oxegen.ie) takes place in Co Kildare on July 10/11, while T in the Park (www.tinthepark.com) is in Kinross, Scotland over the same weekend.


Glastonbury highlights on radio 22.6.2004
Lamacq Live on Monday June 28 will be a Glastonbury special, featuring Muse as the headline act, and live tracks from Oasis, PJ Harvey, Morrissey, Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, Keane Ordinary Boys, plus lots of interviews and 60 minutes from Basement Jaxx, Chemical Bros and Orbital. The programme runs from 8:00pm until midnight.

Glastonbury coverage on TV 22.6.2004
There's masses of Glastonbury coverage this week, with previews on BBC3 (for those with digital telly) plus live coverage from the festival at various times throughout the weekend on BB2 and BBC3. Here's the live coverage programme times and channels:
Friday June 25: 7:00pm (BBC3), 10:30pm (BBC3), 11:35pm (BBC2)
Saturday June 26: 3:00pm (BBC2), 7:00pm (BBC3), 11:25pm (BBC3), 11:40pm (BBC2)
Sunday June 27: 2:15pm (BBC2), 7:00pm (BBC3), 7:00pm (BBC2), 10:00pm (BBC3), 11:10pm (BBC2)
There's also several BBC radio programmes covering the festival over the weekend, too.

Isle of Wight Festival on TV 11.6.2004
Highlights of the Isle of Wight Festival are on Channel 4 on Saturday night, June 12, from 12.35am - 1.40am. The programme features Stereophonics, Groove Armarda, Jet, Super Furry Animals and Manic Street Preachers.

New links 11.6.2004
Here are a couple of web-sites worth checking out (after this one, of course):
www.reading-festival.org.uk/ (sorry for the delay in linking, guys!)
www.leedsfesty.co.uk (good site with unbelievably busy forum - why not help make the fatreg.com forum just as busy?)

New desktops added 11.6.2004
The
re are new Reading Festival 2004 and Leeds Festival 2004 desktops to download on - oddly enough - the downloads page.

Stamford Riverside Festival 10.6.2004
Stamford's free Riverside Festival (Saturday, July 3) will be headlined by none other than crusty legends The Levellers, who will perform an acoustic set on the main stage. There are three other stages as well. Stamford is 10 miles north of Peterborough on the A1, and the festival site is about 400 yards from the town's railway station. There probably aren't any late trains, and there may not be camping facilities, either. For full festival details, click here.


5678s for Reading/Leeds 10.6.2004
The 5678s have been confirmed as opening the main stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals on Saturday (Reading) and Sunday (Leeds). As a result, the mighty Young Heart Attack move one place up the bill.
A and Sick of it All are also now confirmed as headlining the Concrete Jungle Stage

Carling Stage line-up revealed 9.6.2004
The Carling Stage line-up for this summers Reading and Leeds Festivals has been released. There will be "co-headliners" on each day - though obviously one band will be playing last...

Reading Friday/Saturday Leeds:
The Shins, Kasabian

Saturday Reading/Sunday Leeds:
Mondo Generator, Mark Lanegan, The 45s

Reading Sunday/Leeds Friday:
The Kills, Soundtrack of our Lives

Also appearing over the three days are: Agent Blue, Amplifier, Autolux, Danko Jones, The Departure, Dios, Do Me Bad Things, The Duke Spirit, The Features, The Golden Virgins, The Glitterati, Infrasound, Kaiser Chiefs, The Living Things, Mclusky, My Red Cell, Pink Grease, Riff Random, Roxy Saint, Terra Diablo, TV On The Radio, YourCodenameis:Milo, The Kills, Modest Mouse

Carling Weekend special guests 9.6.2004
The special guest slot on the Friday at Reading (Saturday at Leeds) has been confirmed as
The Distillers. The latest Concrete Jungle Stage line-up is:
A, Sick of it All, Goldfinger, Dillinger Escape Plan, Bouncing Souls, The Starting Line, Coheed and Cambria, Flogging Molly, Alexis On Fire, Allister, Alexisonfire, The Holiday Plan.

Concrete Jungle headliners 30.5.2004
The Concrete Jungle Stage at the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals will be headlined by
A, with Sick of it All supporting. Expect more announcements soon - it's been a while since anything major was released...

fatreg.com who's who update 30.4.2004
The who's who page has finally been updated so it loads quickly, and so you can actually see what's on it. Get the inside info on the oddballs you'll see in the festival reviews here
.

Reading shows in best ever gigs poll 29.4.2004
Q magazine has held a poll to find the top gigs ever. Featured in the top 50 are several Reading Festival performances. Nirvana 1992 is second, The Pixies 1990 is at number 34, and Primal Scream 2000 at number 43
. Other festival entries include the number one slot, which is inexplicably taken by miserable bastards Radiohead and their 1997 Glastonbury appearance. Check out the latest issue of Q for the complete list of 100 gigs. Somehow I doubt that the Supersuckers at Reading 2000 or Thin Lizzy 1983 will have made, but there's no accounting for taste...

New Reading reviews added 29.4.2004
After years gathering dust in my brain, I've got round to reviewing the 1990 and 1991 Reading festivals.
I even found three photos from 1990 in a box. Checkout 1990 here, and 1991 here.


Third stage for Download 26.4.2004
A third stage has been added to the Download Festival. The Barfly Stage will feature
Danko Jones, Young Heart Attack, Dirty Americans, Do Me Bad Things, Fireapple Red, Glitterati, Holiday Plan, Ikira Colt, Span, Surferosa, Your Code Name Is: Milo and Suicide Girls, with more to be announced.

New forum for fatreg.com 19.4.2004
fatreg.com has a brand new forum. The old Network 54 forum, which has served the site well for four years had come to seem rather limited (and was riddled with pop-up adverts) so, after much searching this site has a new, all-singing, all-dancing forum, hosted by ProBoards. There's no need to register or login to the forum, and guests can post and start new topics, though if you want to become a member you will be able to use custom avatars (little personal pictures), see how many posts you've made, send instant messages to other registered users etc. It's up to you - I just wanted the forum to be free and open for anyone to post. To contribute, click here
.

Festival highlights on TV and radio 18.4.2004
ITV at the Festivals will be showing highlights from the V2002 festival on Thursday April 22 at 3.25am (remember to set the video on Wednesday night). The programme features Stereophonics, Basement Jaxx, the Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream and Supergrass. Lamacq Live will feature Muse's Reading 2002 set on Monday April 19 from 10pm
.

New Reading/Leeds bands confirmed 15.4.2004
Several more acts have been added to the Reading and Leeds line-ups, including the Radio One Stage headliners:
Graham Coxon, Funeral For a Friend and Supergrass will top the bills. The Von Bondies will play before Supergrass. Also confirmed are The Vines, Hundred Reasons, Thursday, Placebo and Jurassic Five (all main stage). For the latest details, click here.

More bands confirmed 5.4.2004
Three more acts have been added to the Reading and Leeds line-ups:
Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger and Billy Talent. It looks likely that at least two will appear on the Concrete Jungle stage.

Reading highlights on TV 4.4.2004
Highlights of Reading 2002 will be shown on ITV this week as part of the "ITV at the Festivals" series. the programme goes out in the wee small hours of Thursday morning, at around 3.25am (check your regional listings in case it varies) and features
Foo Fighters, Muse, Ash, Sum 41 and The Hives.

Glastonbury sold out 4.4.2004
This year's Glastonbury Festival sold out in record time: all tickets were gone 16 hours after they went on sale. Over 300,000 callers jammed the telephone sales line and the web-site was overloaded. many people tried all night without ever getting through. There's a glimmer of hope for the well-heeled festie-goer, though, as 200 tickets are to be auctioned for charity on ebay, but don't expect them to go cheap!

Glastonbury headliners and tickets 1.4.2004
Two of the headliners for Glastonbury 2004 have been announced, along with ticket details. Friday night will be headlined by
Oasis, Saturday by Paul McCartney. The Cure are strongly tipped to close the festival. There will be over 2000 acts on 25 different stages. Tickets go on sale at 8pm tonight (Thursday April 1) and are limited to two per person. The tickets will be personalised to prevent touting, and you will have to prove on the gate that you are the ticket holder. They will only be available via www.aloud.com or by calling 0870-830 2004, and people are advised to only buy via these outlets.

Reading/Leeds headliners announced! 29.3.2004
The headliners and main support acts for the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals were unexpectedly announced earlier today, possibly to prevent the details leaking out before an official announcement. As Expected, The Darkness and The White Stripes top two of the nights. Here are the details so far revealed:

• Friday August 27 (Reading), Saturday August 28 (Leeds)
The Darkness, The Offspring, Ash, The Hives

Saturday August 28 (Reading), Sunday August 29 (Leeds)
The White Stripes, Morrissey, The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand

Sunday August 29 (Reading), Friday August 27 (Leeds)
Green Day, 50 Cent

Also appearing will be Lostprophets and The Streets, though it isn't know which of the six stages they will be on yet. Expect a further announcement in a couple of weeks, possibly coinciding with the official launch of the festival.

V Festival - more bands announced 16.3.2004
More acts have been added to the bill for the V Festivals. The line-up now comprises
The Strokes, Dido, Muse, The Pixies, Kings of Leon, Massive Attack, N*E*RD, Athlete, Pink, Primal Scream, Snow Patrol, Keane and Jamie Cullum. All very nice and safe there, then.

The Vines Reading set on radio 16.3.2004
Highlights of The Vines' Reading Festival 2002 show will be broadcast on Radio 1's Lamacq Live on Monday March 22 from 10pm.

Placebo Reading set on radio 4.3.2004
Highlights of Placebo's Reading Festival 2003 show will be broadcast on Radio 1's Lamacq Live on Monday March 8 from 10pm.

Reading advance tickets on sale 28.2.2004
Even though there won't be any announcement about the line-up until early April, advance tickets for this year's Reading Festival go on sale on March 1 at ticket agencies, including www.seetickets.com.

Festivals on TV 21.2.2004
There are two programmes in the ITV at the Festivals series coming up:
Wednesday/Thursday February 26, 2:55am to 3:50am: Highlights from the V2002 festival, with performances by Manic Street Preachers, Nickelback, Idlewild, Kosheen, and the Beta Band.
Wednesday/Thursday March 4, 3:25am to 4:20am: Highlights from the V2002 festival, with performances by Primal Scream, Stereophonics, Ian Brown, Gomez, Elvis Costello, Halo, and Ed Harcourt.

Courtney Love for Carling? 21.2.2004
The walking train-wreck that is Courtney is rumoured to be playing Reading/Leeds to "make up" for the cancellation of last summer's appearance. Really, Courtney, there's no need...

Pixies confirm festival appearance 13.2.2004
The newly re-formed Pixies have confirmed that they will play at T in the Park on July 10. They are also rumoured to be playing Glastonbury and the V Festivals. Two dates at London's Brixton Academy (June 2 & 3) have also been confirmed

BRMC Reading track on NME CD 11.2.2004
This week's edition of your super, soaraway NME comes with a free CD containing many exclusive tracks from the likes of Jet, Franz Ferdinand and Kylie. Plus there's Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's cover of the White Stripe's "Hardest Button to Button" recorded live at the Reading Festival last August. Haven't heard it yet, didn't see the band play it, so don't know if it's any good, but it's festival news in a quiet week.

Download headliners and tickets 27.1.2004
Download 2004 will be headlined on Saturday June 5 by
Metallica and on Sunday June 6 by Linkin Park. Advance tickets are available on-line for just 60 hours from 10pm tonight, January 27. This year, there will also be a Scottish event, featuring four bands from the Donington line-up, taking place on Wednesday June 3 and Thursday June 4 at Glasgow Green. The first night will be headlined by Metallica, the second by Linkin Park. To get an advance ticket, see www.downloadfestival.co.uk

Glastonbury ticket details 26.1.2004
Tickets for this year's Glastonbury Festival will go on sale at 8pm on April 1 (no, really), priced at £112 (plus the obligatory rip-off bookig fee). They will be available only via telephone or the web, and will be restricted to two tickets per person. In an anti-ticket tout initiative, sales will be carefully monitored and each ticket will be personalised and checks will be conducted at the festival site entrances to ensure the tickets are in the possession of the purchaser. So expect big queues. Last year's event sold out in 24 hours and tickets were being sold for up to four times face value. Still
Basement Jaxx have confirmed they will appear at Glastonbury 2004, so it'll be cracking value for money, won't it...

Festival screensaver from Mean Fiddler 25.1.2004
You can now download a free monthly screensaver calendar thingy from Mean Fiddler that will help while away the long months until the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals. It looks like it's for PCs only, and is available by clicking here.

Manics for Isle of Wight 25.1.2004
Manic Street Preachers have confirmed their appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival joining The Who on June 12. The weekend event runs from June 11-13 and also features David Bowie (Sunday June 13)and Stereophonics (Friday June 11). That's one to look forward to, then. For ticket availability, see www.isleofwightfestival.com

New Glastonbury book
25.1.2004A book telling the story behind Glastonbury Festival from its inception in 1970 up to the present day is to be published on June 3. Glastonbury Festival Tales includes previously unseen photographs and recollections from performers including David Bowie, Coldplay's Chris Martin and The Chemical Brothers. The book also includes interviews with the people behind the scenes, from welfare workers, festival goers and stage builders to the organisers Michael and Emily Eavis.

Reading/Leeds headliners 18.12.2003
Industry sources "close to the band" (and I mean VERY close to the band, ie directly connected with them) have informed fatreg.com that
The Darkness will definitely headline one night at the Carling Weekend 2004. The band have also been confirmed for T in the Park 2004, which takes place on Sat/Sun July10/11. Tickets for T in the Park, which will also see appearences bu David Bowie and Muse, are already on sale - see www.tinthepark.com. Expect Carling Weekend tickets to go on sale late April. The White Stripes are also set to headline Reading and Leeds following last year's cancellation.

Foo Fighters CD competition winner 1.12.2003
The CD of Foo Fighters live at the Reading Festival 2003 has been won by Michael Read of Preston - congratulations!

Green light for Glastonbury 23.11.2003
The local council have given licence approval for Glastonbury 2004. A capacity of 150,000 has also been agreed following the organisers' continued commitment to rigourous security measures.

Foo Fighters CD competition 16.11.2003
There's a 65-minute CD of the Foo Fighters live at the Reading Festival 2002 to be won - the CD also includes three tracks recorded live for 'Later With Jools Holland' and Jools' interview with Dave Grohl. Click here to go to the competition page.

Metallica CD competition winner 16.11.2003
The CD of Metallica live at the Reading Festival 2003 has been won by Alastair Pickburn of Southampton - congratulations!

More festival highlights on the radio 11.11.2003
On Monday November 17, Lamacq Live will have highlights of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, recorded live at this summer's Reading Festival. The set will start just after 10pm.

Festival highlights on the radio 9.11.2003
Short notice, but on Monday November 10, Lamacq Live will have highlights of Elbow, recorded live at this summer's Reading Festival. The set will start just after 10pm.

V2004 festival dates 2.11.2003
V2004 is to be held on August 21/22, subject to licence. As usual it will be on two sites (Hylands Park, Chelmsford & Weston Park, Staffordshire) with the line-ups alternating.

Festival highlights on TV 1.11.2003
Highlights of
Reading 2003 will be on ITV in the early hours of Sunday November 8 and Sunday November 15. The November 8 programme, which runs from 2.40am-3.35am, features Beck, System of a Down, Placebo, All American Rejects, Elbow and the Libertines. The November 15 programme, which runs from 2.30am to 3.25am, features Blur, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Datsuns, Cave In and The Darkness. Worth setting the video for, I reckon.

Provisional 2004 festival dates 27.10.2003
Glastonbury 2004 looks likely to be held on the weekend of June 25-27, subject to licence.
Wicker Man 2004 is pencilled in for July 16-18.
Download 2004 has no confirmed dates yet, though the festival is likely to go ahead at Donington.

ATP 2004 dates and bands announced 27.10.2003
The All Tomorrow's Parties Festival 2004 will be held over two consecutive weekends at Camber Sands Holiday Centre. The dates and headlining acts are:
Weekend 1: March 26: Mogwai; March 27: Tortoise; March 28: Shellac
Weekend 2: April 2: Stephen Malkmus; April 3: Sonic Youth; April 4: Foundation
For further information, see www.atpfestival.com

Foo Fighters competition winner 27.10.2003
The winner of the Foo Fighters CD competition was Dave Chamberlain - congratulations!

Reading Festival sofa makes a grand on ebay 12.10.2003
The autographed NME signing tent sofa auctioned on ebay.co.uk (see story below) realised a final total of £1000.01 after attracting 33 bids. To see the full details on ebay, click here.

Festival highlights on the radio 5.10.2003
Highlights of
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Reading Festival set will be on Lamacq Live on Monday October 20, from just after 10pm. The week before features a non-festival appearance by The Darkness, recorded at Norwich UEA. Not to be missed.

Festivals on TV 5.10.2003
Highlights of V2002 will be on ITV in the early hours of Sunday October 12. The programme, which runs from 3.20am-4.14am, features Stereophonics, Nickelback, the Beta Band, Rhianna, the Bluetones, the Burn and Leaves.

Reading Festival sofa on ebay 5.10.2003
A sofa(click on picture to see it bigger) signed by bands who appeared in the NME signing tent at this summer's Reading Festival is currently on auction on ebay.co.uk. The sofa is being auctioned by Virgin Radio in aid of the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity and has been signed by
Polyphonic Spree, Blink 182, Datsuns, Finch, Interpol, Electric Six, The Cooper Temple Clause, Hundred Reasons, Afi, Jet, Sum 41, Linkin Park, Biffy Clyro, The Music, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Hot Hot Heat, Hell is for Heroes, Good Charlotte and Less Than Jake. For more information, or to place a bid (you'll need deep pockets, though - at the time of writing, the high bid was already over £500), click here.

Win a Foo Fighters live CD! 29.9.2003
I have one copy of the Foo Fighters live at Leeds Festival 2000 to give away in this competition. It's just a CD – ie, there's no sleeve (that's it on the right), but it's superb sound quality, containing nine tracks (My Hero, For all the Cows, I'll Stick Around, Big Me, Stacked Actors, This is a Call, Next Year, Monkey Wrench, Everlong) and runs for about 40 minutes. To be in with a chance of winning, simply answer this question:
Name one other band Dave Grohl has played drums for.
To enter, click here to e-mail your answer.
Remember to include your name and address in case you win. The closing date is midnight, Monday October 20, 2003. the first correct entry drawn after then will win the CD

Festival highlights on the radio 29.9.2003
Highlights of Turin Brakes' Glastonbury set will be on Lamacq Live on Monday October 6, from just after 10pm.

2004 Reading/Leeds headliners rumour 23.9.2003
I've had my ear to the ground - and chatted with some gig promoters - and the latest word on headliners for the 2004 Carling Weekend is that the
White Stripes are pretty much confirmed, and that the other headline slots look like being two of the following: The Darkness, Oasis or The Strokes. I reckon the first two are the more likely, seeing as The Strokes headlined in 2002. Whatch this space...

Metallica Reading bootleg on ebay 17.9.2003
There is a bootleg of the whole of Metallica's Reading Festival show currently on ebay.co.uk, priced at anywhere between £10 and £20 for the double CD set. However, before parting with your money you should be aware that it is a poor-quality recording from the audience. The seller does state that it is "quiet" but the crowd are, for the most part, louder than the band. maybe a better recording is out there, but for the moment, best to stick to the 40-minutes of highlights brodcast by Radio 1.

Metallica to release festival tracks 12.9.2003
Metallica's new single "Frantic", released on September 15, will contain live tracks recorded at this year's Download Festival, held at Donington. CD1 contains live versions of "Blackened" and "Harvester of Sorrow" and the video for "Frantic", while CD2 has live versions of "No Remorse" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)".

Aerial site shots available 10.9.2003
Here are the aerial site shots as featured in the NME recently. They are both at 72dpi and one shows the whole arena taken from above Yellow camp. the other is just of yellow camp - it should be possible to pick out your tent if you were camped there. If you click on either, they will open in a new window. The whole site shot might make a nice desktop. The pics are copyright James Looker/NME and I haven't had time to ask permission to use them, so, to repay them, perhaps you might consider buying the NME this week.

Mysterious Reading text message 2.9.2003
Here's the mysterious message from the Reading Crew that appeared on the Orange text screen at Reading on the Friday afternoon (click on it to see it bigger). All very strange indeed - especially as the Reading Crew web-site no longer exists. We tried to meet up a few years back, but it didn't happen, and I've had no replies to e-mails for a while. We weren't able to post a witty reply, either, as the text number was Orange-only. Shame...

Festival highlights on radio 2.9.2003
Highlights from Reading and T in the Park are coming soon on Radio 1's Lamacq Live. On Monday, September 16 there will be highlights of the Mad Caddies from the Concrete Jungle Stage (that night's programme also features a main live show by Rancid from Nottingham Rock City). Monday September 22 sees highlights of Feeder from this summer's T in the Park, while the September 29 show should feature Blur from Reading - a set that was postponed from last Monday.

More downloads added 26.8.2003
There are three new Reading Festival 2003 colour desktop pictures in the downloads section. That's them below. Click on the link, or any of the pictures to go straight there.


Metallica highlights on radio 26.8.2003
Highlights of Metallica's Reading Festival headline set will be on the Radio 1 Rock Show, tonight, August 26 from midnight.

Reading 2003 review goes live 26.8.2003
In an unprecedented fit of productivity, the review of this year's festival is now on this site, less than 24 hours after getting home from the festival. So now you have a few hours to read it before you see who the NME believe are next months' last month's next big thing, if you see what I mean. Bet they don't review Young Heart Attack, though. Click here to see what happened this year.

Blur highlights on radio 25.8.2003
Highlights of Blur's Reading Festival set will be on Lamacq Live on Monday September 1. The show starts at 8pm. Expect Blur to be on around 10pm.

Fantastic Carling Weekend 25.8.2003
Well, that's it for another year. And what a good one it was, too. I'm already working on the review. No, seriously. But in the meantime, I've put up a desktop picture to remind you what it was like when Metallica were playing. Get it by clicking on the thumbnail picture on the right, which will take you to the downloads page.

Evan Dando for Reading/Leeds? 9.8.2003
The former Lemonheads frontman looks likely to replace Mark Lanegan, whose name has disappeared from the Carling Weekend line-up. His guitarist's website (http://www.chrisbrokaw.com/) lists Dando as Playing Reading on Friday August 22 and Leeds on Saturday August 23. No stage details are given, but the likeliest slot would be to replace Lanegan.

Competition winners announced 7.8.2003
The two winners of the fatreg.com competition to win tickets to the Carling Weekend Reading Festival (in association with Mean Fiddler) are Maria Garland from haverfordwest and Tom Saggers from Essex. They each recieve a pair of tickets to the festival. have a great time, and thanks to everyone who entered. Special thanks to James Powell for making it all possible.

Electric Eel Shock at Beached 5.8.2003
Japan's finest band, Electric Eel Shock join a host of others including ex-Inspiral Carpet Ton Hingley and Spear of Destiny at the two-day Beached. Billed as the east coast's biggest free festival, the event takes place on South Bay Beach, Scarborough on August 9/10. The band play at 9:15pm on the main stage on the Sunday. See www.beached.net for more details

Work started at Reading Festival site 5.8.2003
This selection of pics (cheers, Martin for taking them and sending them to me) shows that the fences and infrastructure for the Carling Weekend Reading Festival are already taking shape. To see them bigger, simply click, and they'll open in a new window. Only two weeks to go, folks!

V2003 live on TV and radio 1.8.2003
This year's sold-out V2003 festival is being broadcast live on ITV2 and Virgin Radio. There will be selected highlights on ITV1, though no times are yet available. Virgin Radio is on 105.8FM in London and 1215am nationwide and will be broadcasting from the festival from 10am on Saturday August 16 to 10am Monday August 18, as well as having exclusive acoustic sessions.

BRMC replace White Stripes at Carling Weekend 31.7.2003
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have been confirmed as the replacements for the Wite Stripes at the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals. Their appearance had been suggested by this very site as long as six weeks ago. It's a shame that the second on the bill act is one with a significantly lesser pedigree than the Stripes, but we'll just have to make do. Now, when will those empty slots on the Metallica bill be filled? And by whom?

White Stripes out of Carling Weekend 31.7.2003
The White Stripes have been forced to pull out of their scheduled Carling Weekend appearances as the injury sustained to Jack White's finger in a recent car crash has not yet healed. Mean Fiddler have promised the band will headline next year. No replacement act has been announced yet, making an already weak line-up look distinctly thin.

Unofficial Leeds warm-up party 27.7.2003
There is an unofficial Leeds Festival warm up party on Thursday, August 14 (Note new date!) at AAMIC, The Station (Downtown bar), Talbot Rd Blackpool. Tickets are £3 or pay on the door. The line up is: Closed, Freshdroppedmites and Asylum. The venue has a 2am licence and there will be competitions to win festival survival packs, and a couple of surprises. For more info, see asylummetal.cjb.net

Festivals on TV 27.7.2003
To get you in the mood, ITV are showing more of their ITV at the Festivals programmes this week:
Wednesday July 30, 3:25am to 4:20am: Highlights of the V2001 festival featuring performances from the Charlatans, Phoenix, Snow Patrol and PJ Harvey.
Sunday August 3, 3:40am to 4:35am: Highlights from the V2002 festival, with performances by Counting Crows, Supergrass, Beverley Knight, My Vitriol, Longview, Phantom Planet and Athlete.

Lostprophets out of Carling Weekend 27.7.2003
Lostprophets have pulled out of their main stage slot at the Carling Weekend citing the need to finish their forthcoming album as the reason. There is no word yet on who might replace them on the bill.

Ticket competition has started! 15.7.2003
The fatreg.com Carling Weekend: Reading Festival ticket competition has begun. Two pairs of tickets are up for grabs, courtesy of Mean Fiddler. All you need to do is answer one simple question.
Click here to go to the competition page.

Ticket competition imminent! 15.7.2003
fatreg.com is pleased to announce that, courtesy of Mean Fiddler, there will very shortly be a competition to win two pairs of weekend tickets to the sold-out Carling Weekend: Reading Festival. Keep checking back, and tell your ticket-less friends to drop by and enter, too.

fatreg.com back in business! 15.7.2003
Following a whole month of server problems, fatreg.com now has its own, dedicated server, so I will be able to post news as it happens once again. Thanks for your patience during the last month and thanks also to all of you who have posted festival news in the forum.

Festival highlights on radio 15.7.2003
Steve Lamacq will be broadcasting highlights of sets from T in the Park on the next two Monday evevnings. On July 14, Coldplay will be the main act, plus there will be shorter sets from The Darkness, Kings of Leon and Biffy Clyro. there will be more highlights the following Monday, July 21. Lamacq Live starts at 8pm.

Reading/Leeds Carling Stage 18.6.2003
The first acts have been announced for the Carling Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. So far, confirmed acts are ex-Screaming Trees and sometime Queens of the Stone Age singer
Mark Lanegan (at Reading only, NOT Leeds) , Sparta, Billy Bragg, British Sea Power, the Soledad Brothers, The Black Keys, Har Mar Superstar,the Hiss, Brendan Benson, Manitoba, Hope of the States, the Sights, Longview , Calla, Instruction, the Songs, IMA Robot, Winnebago Deal, the Stills, the Revs, Keane, White Light Motorcade, Whirlwind Heat, the Sun, the Go, the Agenda, Rocket Science, Cardia and the Prosaics. The exact days most are playing haven't been anounced yet, but for the full up-to-date line-up, click here.

BRMC for Reading/Leeds? 16.6.2003
Rumours suggest that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have been booked for the Carling Weekend. No further details as yet, but there is room for another band on the Main Stage for Saturday at Reading and probably two bands to be added for Sunday.

Zwan cancel European tour 16.6.2003
Ex-Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan has cancelled the European tour by his new band Zwan, citing 'family reasons.' Consequently, the band will not be appearing at Glastonbury, T in the Park or Wtnness, as well as European festival dates they were sheduled to play.

Longview for Carling Weekend 13.6.2003
Longview have confirmed that they will play Reading on Sunday August 24 and Leeds on Friday August 22, though it's not certain which stage, I'd guess the Carling Stage.

Love headline Canterbury Fayre 13.6.2003
1960s psychedelic legends
Love will headline the Sunday night at this year's Canterbury Fayre, which takes place on August 22-24 (the Bank Holiday weekend). The other two nights are headlined by the reformed Inspiral Carpets (Friday) and Robert Plant (Saturday). Also appearing across three stages are Buzzcocks, John Otway, Shed Seven and Ian McNabb.

Har Mar Superstar for Carling Weekend 12.6.2003
The semi-naked fat bloke (and I've no idea what he does, musically) has confirmed himself for Reading (Sunday) and Leeds (Friday). Which stage he'll be on is unconfirmed at the moment, but it's good to see fat people being added to the bill. He's also appearing at T in the Park on July 12 and the Witnness Festival in Eire on July 13.

Glastonbury warm-up party 12.6.2003
To get everyone on the mood for Glastonbury, Virtual Festivals have organised a 'Virtually Glastonbury' party at The Dome, Tufnell Park, London on Monday June 23 from 7pm until late. The evening will feature bands and DJs, including two Pyramid Stage acts, one of whom has previously headlined Glastonbury with his band. Tickets are just £7 and all proceeds go to The Miscarriages of Justice Organisation. For more details or to book tickets, click here.


Reading/Leeds dance stage confirmed 11.6.2003
The line-up for the Smirnoff-sponsored dance stage at the Carling Weekend has been released.
Death in Vegas will headline. No date has been set yet, though as the Concrete Jungle Stage is now confirmed for Saturday at reading (Sunday at Leeds) then Friday or Sunday at reading are the main options. For the full up-to-date line-up, click here.

NME festival pics supplement 11.6.2003
This week's NME comes with a free supplement of 'classic' festival photographs - the best one of which shows a monster bottle fight from Reading 1987.


Carling Weekend Radio 1 Stage 9.6.2003
More bands have been added to the Radio 1 Stage for the Carling Weekend. The line-up for the second stage looks virtually complete. Among the names added are
The Raveonettes. For the full up-to-date line-up, click here.

Courtney Love out of Carling Weekend 5.6.2003
The former Hole singer, now pursuing a solo career has pulled out of the Carling Weekend, citing 'recording commitments' as the reason. She is said to be putting finishing touches to forthcoming solo album 'America's Sweetheart'. Sounds like crap, really - the Carling Weekend is nearly three months away: any recording commitments could have been scheduled around a festival appearance.

Dance stage acts for Reading/Leeds 4.6.2003
Audio Bullys, Lamb, Death in Vegas, Blackalicious, Buck 65, Blak Twang, Scissor Sisters, FC Kahua and Pepe Deluxe have been added to the Carling Weekend Bill. It looks likely that all will be on the Dance Stage, though the day for this remains unconfirmed.

More main Stage Carling acts 4.6.2003
Less Than Jake and Inme have been added to the Main Stage line-up for the Carling Weekend. Both bands will play the same day as Linkin Park. Click here for the latest line-up details.

New fatreg.com desktops 3.6.2003
There are two new desktops in the downloads section - one for Reading, one for Leeds, pictured here. Clicking on these images will take you to the downloads page where you can see other pics to spruce up your computer. All of them sure to improve your quality of life.

Metallica in 'surprise' Download appearance 2.6.2003
Despite denials before the event, Metallica DID make an appearance at Download, playing a one-hour greatest hits set on the second stage on Sunday afternoon, as well as two songs from their forthcoming album, 'St Anger.'

Download highlights on radio 2.6.2003
Mary Anne Hobbs will broadcast Download sets on her Radio 1 show, which goes out on Tuesdays from midnight. On June 3 there will be highlights from Marilyn Manson's Download performance. And the following week, June 10, will feature further highlights from the festival.

The Damned to headline two more festivals! 2.6.2003
Punk legends The Damned have gone festival crazy. Not only are they headlining the Avalon Stage at Glastonbury, but they're also headlining the Holidays in the Sun punk festival at Morecambe on Friday June 20. See www.holidays in the sun.net for more info. Their third festival appearance will be another headline slot, this time at the Wicker Man Festival, which takes place on July 18-20 at Kirkcudbright near Dumfries, Scotland. See www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk for further details.

Reading train chaos update 28.5.2003
Following news that the Paddington to Reading rail track will be closed for repairs on the August Bank Holiday Weekend, South West Trains have announced they will double the number of carriages on their Waterloo to Reading service over the festival period. There will have eight carriages on the service instead of four. A spokesperson said: "We are doing our best to make sure that everyone can get to the festival, but we would still advise people to leave extra time for their journey." Additionally, the NME is trying to set up a car-sharing scheme.

More acts for Carling Weekend 28.5.2003
The Rapture, Ladytron, Kinesis and The Applicators, are the latest additions to Radio One Stage at the Carling Weekend. Also added to the bill are Godsmack on the Main Stage, Mull Historical Society, Alien Ant Farm, OkGo, Saves The Day, All American Rejects, Serafin and My Morning Jacket on the Radio One Stage. Boy Sets Fire will appear on the Concrete Jungle Stage.

Leeds set for Braham Park 16.5.2003
Mean Fiddler have chosen Braham Park as the venue for this year's event, following the granting of licences for both alternative sites. Mean Fiddler believes the new site will be for the long-term good of the festival. In a statement, they said: "There is an assured future for the use of the land at Bramham. It offers the most beautiful of locations, is owned and managed by people aware of the difficulties the event has had, but committed to help eradicating them, is slightly further removed from local residents and is in Leeds." Let's hope the festival is a peaceful one, to make sure that future is safe.

Temple Newsam licence approved 15.5.2003
Mean Fiddler have been given the go-ahead to hold the Leeds Festival at Temple Newsam Park again this year, despite opposition from residents, MPs and police. Mean Fiddler have also been given permission to hold the event at Bramham Park, and will now decide which location to use.
The Friends of Temple Newsam had opposed the licence for the site, which has seen trouble with arson and violence on the final night for the last three years, and were disappointed by the decision.
Chairman Liz Hayes said residents had been through "four years of hell" since the festival began.
Objections came from MP George Mudie, councillors, 69 local residents and the police, who said a "culture of violence" had grown up around the event. Mean Fiddler argued that the event was of national importance, bringing £5.7 million to the Leeds economy.
Mean Fiddler’s plans to improve crowd safety include doubling the number of security staff to over 500, dividing the campsite into five smaller sectors, installing of fireproof toilets, a ban on glass bottles on site, plus CCTV and lighting to be fitted to telegraph poles and not easily-vandalised scaffolding poles. Also the number of bands on the Main Stage will be cut from 11 to nine and bands over-running their slot having their fee cut, to prevent stage times running late and causing noise disturbance.
The council ruled that there must be no campsite fires, and stewards must ensure that music played in tents does not disturb local residents.
Licensing Panel chairman Councillor Jack Dunn said: "What gave us most cause for concern was the violence last year and the disruption to residents. But we also feel we have got to give the applicant adequate chance to address these issues. Without these measures, neither this nor similar events would be allowed to take place in Leeds. The promoter will have the responsibility of ensuring that clause 60, which governs the use of personal music systems, is adhered to and that local residents are not disturbed. We look forward to this year’s festival being a great success without any violence." Let's hope this year's festival is trouble-free for all concerned.

Leeds Festival licence approved 14.5.2003
The licence application to hold the Leeds leg of the Carling Weekend at Bramham Park - a stately home ten miles outside Leeds - has been approved by local councillors at a lengthy meeting on Tuesday. A statement issued by Leeds City Council said: "The licence does, however, carry the condition that no camp fires must be lit within the licensed site, which comprises both the events area and the camp site." Councillor Jack Dunn, Licensing Panel chairman, said: "We have considered the proposals and the new security measures put in place by the applicant. The location seems satisfactory and the provisions for public safety seem satisfactory." A hearing for the licence application for the Temple Newsam site was held today - an update will be posted when I get the outcome. If that application is granted, too, then Mean Fiddler will decide which site to use. Yesterday's decision means that there WILL be a Leeds Festival this year.

Carling Weekend: more bands 13.5.2003
More bands have been announced for the Carling Weekend.
Cave In join the Main Stage line up for Reading on Saturday August 23 (Leeds the following day). The Thrills and The Kills have been added to the BBC Radio 1 Evening Session Stage on the Saturday at Reading. Hell is for Heroes join the evening Session Stage on the Sunday at reading (Friday at Leeds). For the latest line-up details, click here.

Danko Jones to play T in the Park 13.5.2003
Sadly, he's not playing the Carling Weekend, but UK festival-goers have the chance to catch Canada's finest at T in the Park, where he'll be third on the bill in the X-Tent stage. Other new additions to the bill include
Flint, Super Furry Animals, Turbonegro, The Raveonettes, Saw Doctors, Tricky and Mint Royale. For more details, visit www.tinthepark.com

Limp Bizkit pull out of Download 13.5.2003
The band claim they are still working on their forthcoming album, 'Panty Sniffer' and will now not headline Download on June 1. In a statement, frontman Fred Durst said: "Now there will be no more fuckin' around!! We are in the vocal stage on the new shit!! We will have a single out before the Summer tour and our new album 'Panty Sniffer' will drop, for sure, the first week in September!!!!!! Sometimes you just have to go with the flow of creativity and we're doing just fucking that!! I love you and kiss my ass!!"
The festival's promoters added: "While we are disappointed to lose Limp Bizkit on Sunday at Download we still know that fans are up for the first ever full blown multi-day, multi-stage rock festival at Donington." No doubt that will be small comfort to anyone who bought a ticket on the strength of Limp Bizkit's appearance. No replacement headliner has been announced, though it's likely that Audioslave will be promoted to top of the bill.

Leeds Festival licence decision due 13.5.2003
Two applications for venues for this year's Carling Weekend: Leeds Festival are due to be heard this week. The first, today, Tuesday May 13, will be for the event to be held at Bramham Park, which is ten miles outside the city near Wetherby. The second application, tomorrow, May 14, will be for the existing site, Temple Newsham, where the festival has been held for the past five years. The Licensing Board will hear objections from local residents and MPs, Yorkshire Police, as well as proposals for increased safety and security measures from Mean Fiddler. Leeds City Council say that a decision could be made to grant a licence for both sites – in which case Mean Fiddler would decide which to hold it at – or for one site and not the other, or, in a worst case scenario, for neither site. This year’s event is vital in determining whether Leeds has a festival at all in the future, as the Council’s five-year agreement with Mean Fiddler to help them find a site runs out this year. Mean Fiddler - and the vast majority of festival-goers - are keen to avoid any repetition of the arson and trouble that has marred the last couple of Leeds Festivals.

Reading/Leeds Concrete Jungle Stage 13.5.2003
The line-up for the Concrete Jungle Stage at the Carling Weekend looks nearly complete. Unofficially, this is the current bill:
Pennywise, Lagwagon, The Ataris, Alkaline Trio, Mad Caddies, Saves the Day, Turbonegro, Boysetsfire/Antiflag, Little Punks Make Rackets, Thrice, Something Corporate, King Prawn, Funeral for a Friend. I'll bring the final, official line-up as soon as I get it.

John Otway for Glastonbury - four times 12.5.2003
The legend that is John Otway will play Glastonbury Festival no less than four times this year! He appears solo on the Cabaret Stage each day at 2-3pm, then on Sunday with his band on the Big Band Dance Variety and Fire Stage. Don't miss him!

The Darkness for Carling Weekend 12.5.2003
Trad rock giants-in-waiting The Darkness will play the Main Stage at Reading (Saturday August 23) and Leeds (Sunday August 24). Let there be rock!

Pennywise to headline Concrete Jungle Stage at Carling Weekend 5.5.2003
Pennywise will top the bill on the Concrete Jungle Stage at Reading (Saturday August 23) and Leeds (Sunday August 24). Second on the bill will be Lagwagon, and third The Ataris.

Festivals on TV 5.5.2003
ITV are showing a series of repeats of their 'ITV at the Festivals' programmes on Saturday nights.
The next two are:
Saturday May 11, 3.35-4.30am. Highlights from the 2001 Fleadh festival, including Starsailor, the Alice Band, Richard Hawley, Gary Moore and the Undertones.
Saturday May 18, 3.30-4.25am. Highlights of the 2002 Reading Festival including Pulp, Weezer, Mercury Rev, the Dandy Warhols and the White Stripes.
Note: check TV listings for your local area, as times may vary.

The Damned to headline Glastonbury 5.5.2003
Okay, so it's not the main stage, but punk legends The Damned (Fat Reg's favourite band of all time, as it happens) are topping the bill on the Avalon Stage on Saturday June 28. If you're at Glastonbury, I urge you to check them out - you won't be disappointed - I saw them in Milton Keynes last Saturday and they were on top form.

Design Glastonbury shirt - win £1000 1.5.2003
Yes, design the official Glastonbury T-shirt for this year's festival and win a grand! Not from me, of course, but through a competition organised by Glastonbury Festival and Q magazine. Send your design to: Q magazine, Mappin House, 4 Winsley Street, London, W1W 8HF. The closing date is May 26 and Michael Eavis will personally pick the winning design, which will be announced at the festival.

Danko Jones European festival dates 1.5.2003
Sadly, no news yet as to whether Danko will be at the Carling Weekend, but he is playing a string of festivals on mainland Europe. Here are the dates:
6.6.03 Rock im Park Fest, Germany
7.6.03 Sweden Rock Fest, Sweden
8.6.03 Rock am Ring Fest, Germany
9.6.03 Pinkpop Fest, Holland
21.6.03 Hurricane Fest, Germany
22.6.03 Southside Fest, Germany
27.6.03 Rock Werchter Fest, Belgium
28.6.03 Rheinkultur Fest, Germany
2x.7.03 Visions Fest, Dortmund, Germany
Danko has been nominated for two Juno Awards in Canada, and you can catch a web-cast of the band playing five songs at http://www.startcast.com/shows/10/A0042/
You can also download a superb-quality six-song, 15 minute mp3 file (it's 14megs, so best be patient or get ADSL) from: http://umbrellamusic.com/artistarchive.php?id=66

Grandaddy for Carling Weekend 1.5.2003
The 3rd-on-the-bill 'special guest' slot on the Radio 1 Stage on Sunday at Reading (Friday at Leeds) will be filled by Grandaddy.

More acts for Witnness 1.5.2003
Super Furry Animals, The Raveonettes, The Basement, The Futureheads and Damien Rice have been added to the bill of the Witnness Festival, which takes place on July 12/13 at Punchestown Racecourse, County Kildare, Eire. The two-day event is headlined by Coldplay and David Gray.

Top bands on TV 1.5.2003
Okay, so it's not exactly a festival-related story, but on BBC2 on Friday May 9 at 11.35pm, there's a special edition of Later with Jools Holland, subtitled 'Louder' which will feature, among others, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Hole and Ash. If we're lucky, The Datsuns will be on, too.

Reading tickets sold out? 30.4.2003
Mean Fiddler have claimed that weekend tickets for this year's Carling Weekend Reading Festival are now sold out. However, it appears that some on-line ticket agencies still have them available, but there are reports that the numbers left are running low. Perhaps it's the confirmation of Bowling For Soup's main stage appearance on the Friday that's caused the sudden panic buying...

Glastonbury and V2003 additions 30.4.2003
The Cooper Temple Clause, Zwan and The Streets have been added to the line-up for the now sold-out Glastonbury Festival. V2003 gets Athlete, David Holmes, The Futureheads, Damien Rice and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

Jay-Z and Lostprophets for Carling Weekend 23.4.2003
Jay-Z, Lostprophets, Junior Senior, The Used and Finch have been added to the line-up for the Reading and Leeds Festivals. F
or the latest line-up details, click here.

More bands for V2003 23.4.2003
Inspiral Carpets, Turin Brakes and The Zutons have been added to the line-up for V2003.

Isle of Wight festival line-up expands 14.4.2003
The second Isle of Wight Festival line-up is taking shape. The two-day event will be held on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 June. The following acts are currently appearing:
Saturday June 15: Paul Weller, Starsailor, Iggy pop, John Squire, Cooper Temple Clause, The Thrills
Sunday June 16: Bryan Adams, Counting Crows, Hell is for Heroes, The Darkness, The Raveonettes, The Basement
Tickets are on sale now, priced at £30 for one day, or £50 for the two. Camping is £10 extra.

More Carling Weekend bands 14.4.2003
Several bands have been announced for the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals. Interpol, Electric Six, The Libertines and Hot Hot Heat join the main acts announced last week. For the latest line-up, click here.

Carling Weekend headliners announced 8.4.2003
Okay, you've probably already seen the news, but here it is anyway, as announced at the launch party held last night:
Friday August 22: Main stage: Linkin Park, Blink 182
Saturday August 23: Main stage: Blur, The White Stripes
Sunday August 24: Main stage: Metallica, System of a Down
Also appearing over the weekend will be: Sum 41, Beck, Placebo, Doves, The Streets (main stage), Elbow, The Music, Courtney Love, Good Charlotte, The Polyphonic Spree, The Datsuns, AFI, The Mars Volta, Hundred Reasons, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cooper Temple Clause. For many of the bands listed, these will be their only UK festival appearances this year, and for System of a Down, the only summer shows they're playing anywhere in the world. Special thanks to James Powell and Lewis Jamieson for inviting Fat Reg to the launch - the huge quantities of free booze were much appreciated. Cheers!

Carling Weekend announcement date 3.4.2003
The headliners for the Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds Festivals will be officially announced on Monday April 7. fatreg.com will bring you the details on Tuesday morning.

More festival bands announced 5.3.2003
Here are the latest acts lined up for some of the major festivals this summer:
Glastonbury: Super Furry animals, Suede, Dave Gahan.
V2003: Foo Fighters, David Gray, QOTSA, The Coral, Lemon Jelly, Underworld, Ash
T in the Park: The Datsuns, Zwan, The Coral, The Music, Supergrass, Echo and the Bunnymen.
Blur are strongly rumoured for one of the headline slots at the Carling Weekend.

Download Festival set to rock 23.2.2003
A two-day metal festival is set to rock Donington at the end of May. The Kerrang-sponsored Download Festival will be held on Saturday May 31/Sunday June 1. The first day will be headlined by Iron maiden, with support from Marilyn Manson and the Deftones. The Sunday will be headlined by limp Bizkit. In total, over 50 bands will appear, and Kerrang are inviting nominations for bands to appear on the second stage. Send your entry to kstage@kerrang.com

Glastonbury is on again 18.2.2003
Michael Eavis' appeal against the refusal of a licence for this year's festival has succeeded after he promised better, revised security arrangements. The local council also agreed to raise the attendance limit to 150,000. REM are the only confirmed headliners so far.

Gig on the Green cancelled? 17.2.2003
It looks as though Glasgow's Gig on the Green - a two-day event with most of the Carling Weekend line-up - has been cancelled due to a poor attendance last summer. It is reported that the Red Hot Chilli Peppers will play a show on the same site on August 24 .

Stop the war on-line petition 31.1.2003
You might be interested to know that there's a web-site and petition to campaign against Bush and Blair's single-minded determination to wage war against Iraq. Visit www.stopthewar.co.uk to add your name to the list of objectors. I've also made a desktop picture/wallpaper for your computer - that's it on the right. You can click on it to open the full-size image in a new window; then just drag it onto your desktop. Alternatively, you can click and use "save link as."

Danko Jones for Reading? 28.1.2003
This just in from www.dankojones.com: Danko Jones has been confirmed for three festivals this summer: ROCK AM RING and ROCK AM PARK, which are both in Germany. More summer festival dates will be on the way - could that include a UK festival? Perhaps even Reading/Leeds? Let's hope so! Why not contact Mean Fiddler to request Danko at the Carling Weekend?

Music in pubs under threat - petition 28.1.2003
The Government are meddling again: they're proposing a bill which will effectively make live music in public places (such as pubs) illegal. This could even apply to the teaching of music. Anyone holding an unlicensed musical event will be liable to a fine of £20,000 or six months in prison. To put that into perspective, first-time burglars are to be let off with a caution... Why not take two minutes to sign an on-line petition against the bill.
The petition is at:
www.musiclovers.ukart.com

Glastonbury appeal date set 27.1.2003
The appeal against the refusal of the licence for this year's Glastonbury Festival will take place on February 17. Also, PJ Harvey has stated that she will be playing the festival.

V2003 headliners announced 27.1.2003
Coldplay and Red Hot Chili Peppers have been confirmed as the headliners for V2003, which takes place on the weekend of August 16/17 at Hylands park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire. Tickets go on sale on march 8 and other rumoured acts include David gray, Foo Fighters, Feeder and the White Stripes.

fatreg.com album of the year winner 24.1.2003
The winner of the album of 2002 poll that was running on the forum is... Danko Jones "Born a Lion." Coldplay's "A Rush of Blood to the head" was in second place, followed by a tie for third between albums by Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Weezer and the Chilli peppers. Thanks to everyone who voted - I'll be letting Danko know and also asking the Mean Fiddler to book him for the festival to mark this achievement.

Win tickets and flights to the Big Day Out - in Australia! 13.1.2003
Yes, those kind people at XFM are running a competition to win a pair of VIP tickets plus return flights and six nights accommodation in Perth to see Foo Fighters, PJ Harvey, Queens of the Stone Age, the Vines and many others at the Big Day Out. The competition closes on Monday January 20 and is only open to those aged 18 and over. For full details, click here.

More festival band rumours 8.1.2003
The festival rumour mill is warming up nicely. Here are the latest rumoured acts (bold type indicates a confirmed act):

Glastonbury: REM, David Gray, Radiohead, Prince, Idlewild, Suede, Craig David
T in the Park: REM, Coldplay, Travis, Foo Fighters, Idlewild
V2003: Foo Fighters, Coldplay, David Gray, Feeder, Red Hot Chili Peppers, White Stripes
Reading/Leeds: Metallica, Linkin Park, Jay-Z, System of a Down, Audioslave, Nickleback, Limp Bizkit, The Vines, The Music, Glassjaw, Jet, Idlewild, White Stripes, The Sights, The Basement, My Morning Jacket, JJ72, BRMC, The Mars Volta, The Flaming Lips

It must be stressed, though, that these are rumours and, particularly in the case of Reading/Leeds, there look to be a few too many 'big names' to be true. As ever, wait and see.

Feeder: Reading footage on DVD
8.1.2003
The DVD edition of Feeder's new single 'Just the Way I'm Feeling' contains a 9 minute film shot at Reading 2002. The single is released on Monday January 13 and the band will be signing copies and playing an acoustic set at HMV, 150 Oxford Street, London at 6pm the same day.

Metallica confirm Carling Weekend
23.12.2002
Metallica are the first band to be confirmed for the Carling Weekend 2003 - the band's official web-site states that they will play Leeds on Friday August 22 and Reading on Sunday August 24.

Metallica for Reading/Leeds?
19.12.2002
Leaked information suggests that Metallica's summer 2003 touring schedule, which takes in the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, will also include a headline slot at the Carling Weekend. More news as it appears.

Glastonbury 2003: licence refused
13.12.2002
The licence for Glastonbury 2003 was refused at a public meeting last night (December 12). The vote went narrowly against (five votes to four) granting Michael Eavis a licence. The main objections related to the security arrangements and criminal activity in and around the festival site, although environmental concerns were also raised. A small group of local residents were particularly vocal in their objections, despite assurances from the organisers relating to improved security and sanitation. Michael Eavis stated after the council meeting that he will be lodging an appeal.

Reading highlights on Radio 1
13.12.2002
The Radio 1 Rock Show will broadcast highlights from Reading of Raging Speedhorn, Amen and Hundred Reasons on Christmas Eve, plus highlights of Korn in Manchester. The show goes out between midnight and 2am. Beats Midnight Mass... just make sure you're fast asleep when Santa arrives.

REM for T in the Park
13.12.2002
REM are to headline the Saturday night at next year's T in the Park festival which takes place on July 12/13 in Scotland. For more, see www.tinthepark.com. They were also hotly tipped for Glastonbury, but any announcement will have to wait until after an appeal against the licence refusal.

ATP 2003 details
13.12.2002
Next year's All Tomorrow's Parties will take place at Camber Sands Holiday Camp on April 4-6 and will be compered by Autechre. Acts appearing include Aphex Twin, Earth, The Fall, LFO and Jim O'Rourke. Tickets (including chalet accommodation) are £110 per person. For further details, see www.alltomorrowsparties.co.uk

Badly Drawn Boy at Glastonbury on Radio 1
18.11.2002
Highlights of Badly Drawn Boy's Glastonbury 2002 appearance will be broadcast on Lamacq Live on Monday December 2), starting just after 10pm.

Muse at Reading on Radio 1
14.11.2002
Lamacq Live on Radio 1 this Monday (November 18) will feature highlights of Muse's set at this summer's Reading Festival. The live set starts just after 10pm.

fatreg.com - an apology 15.10.2002
Thanks for all your e-mails and badgering on the forum - I know the review of this year's festival has been a long time coming, but I really have been snowed under with work and it will be up soon. Normal service is about to be resumed. Before the review, there will be a new page with links to Reading Festival mp3 files old and new - see the two stories below this for details of where you can get Weezer and Feeder's Reading 2002 appearances on the web. I'm also working on an updated version of the site which will have a clear, easy to use navigation bar at the top of the screen, but there's a lot of testing and checking to make sure all the links work correctly. I've also been learning Cascading Style Sheets in an attempt to make the site display more consistently. This page is the first with CSS. Once again, thanks for all your patience - I hope it will all have been worth the wait.

Weezer's Reading show on the web
15.10.2002
The official Weezer web-site is currently offering Radio 1's Lamacq Live Reading highlights as mp3 downloads. For details, click here.

Feeder's Reading set on the web
15.10.2002
Highlights of Feeder's Reading 2002 appearance - as broadcast on Lamacq Live - are unofficially available on the web as mp3 files. To get them - and other live Feeder mp3s including tracks from other festivals, click here.

Festivals on TV
15.10.2002
There's another in the ITV at the Festivals series this Thursday night at 1.25am. No details as to where it was filmed, though.

FOR OLDER NEWS, CLICK HERE

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Got any festival news? Drop me an e-mail
What's on?
The pick of 2005's festivals (dates are provisional)

June 10/11
Download Festival, Donington
www.downloadfestival.co.uk

June 10-12
Isle of Wight Festival
www.isleofwightfestival.org

June 24-26
Glastonbury Festival
www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

July 9/10
T in the Park, Scotland
www.tinthepark.com

July 9/10
Oxygen, Ireland
www.oxygen.ie

July22-23
Wicker Man Festival, Scotland
www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk

August 20/21
V2005
www.vfestival.com


August 26-28
Carling Weekend
www.readingfestival.com
www.leedsfestival.com