Leeds/Reading Festival 2022

Ive been to reading fest once. I can absaloutely seee a case for this being justified based on the number of fires alone.

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That would make more sense than what some outlets and social media posts are reporting like they went in storming the barricades. Tried to think if I’ve seen armed police at Glastonbury (definitely have at Primavera on the approach, the one after the Manchester Bomb was streaming with them) and I don’t think I have and you’d think that would potentially be the bigger target.

Glastonbury desnt have nearly as toxic an atmosphere as reading/leeds. Not even remotely close

Armed police aren’t used for a toxic atmosphere. That isn’t the point of them. Protecting a perimeter as @Avery said due to terrorism I get, going in I find extremely almost worrying.

Oh you mean as a terrorism target. I winder if it being so out the way of town makes it harder to target.

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Worst band I saw all weekend.

And I saw some of Bastille the day before.

Bloody hell.

Grim stores coming out of these eh. Thought things were better these days. Horrible experience for kids to go through, getting their tent and all their stuff burned by violent macho dickheads when they’re trying to have a good time.

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It’s all sounding very grim. My son went to Reading for the first time this year. He’s not quite 18, but was in a large group. As the trouble started on the Sunday afternoon, they decided to pack up and put all of their belongings in a single tent, so they could make a quick getaway early evening. Sadly, some dickheads decided to steal most of the contents - presumably for kindling. My ArcTanGent tent must be in ashes somewhere on a field in Berkshire, but fortunately he made it out of the site with his bag. Some of his other friends were not so lucky.

He also went to Boardmasters this summer. Safe to say, he’s planning on going back to Boardmasters next year, but not the much more local Reading. My last Sunday at Reading in 2009 was pretty rough, but it seems to have hit new lows.

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TIM-MAY!

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Still win Wimbledon?

Definitely seen them there once or twice, but pretty low key.

do you think the traditional sunday night riots are getting more (some!) press this year instead of basically being ignored (coz lets be honest, they dont sound any worse than stuff that a lot of us itt have experienced which got zero press, not even nme) is because we’ve had two years off from festivals so youve got a bunch of kids and young adults, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 who havent been to a festival before, let alone reading and leeds, who are just like actually no this isnt fine, this is really fucking horrible. so festival security/police are receiving more complaints coz theres less of an attitude of oh this is just how it is, theres always a riot at reading and leeds on a sunday night

think Woodstock 99 press has also put them more in the spotlight

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I’ll have you know that Reading only had one year off, because it’s really important that the kids don’t miss the chance to be burnt in their sleep!

But yeah, instant access to videos, as well as the recent documentary have brought more attention this year. In 2009 for example, reporters were still hunting down basic pictures on forums, the next afternoon:

It would be good if the complaints actually finally amounted to something being done about it. I’ve not seen any changes being implemented, since they stopped allowing fires after 6pm on the Sunday, back in 2011.

It’s odd too, the general behaviour of people in the arena these days is generally a LOT better than it was a decade ago, but the campsite at the end of the event seems to always be the same. I do wonder whether there is an element of people sneaking in just to cause damage. I’ve often seen people outside the site pestering those who are leaving early, to get their wristbands.

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2009 was actual chaos, I haven’t seen anything like it since. There were times walking through camp when I couldn’t see more than a couple of metres in front of me for smoke. Saw the big light poles being brought down and a hijacked security vehicle being joyride around the camp.

At Leeds in 2009 and 10 there was a lot of violence and burning stuff on the Sunday night but then in 2011 and 12 it seemed like it was successfully stamped out. I remember a lot of people at the time moaning on Facebook that it was boring now there’s no riots. Haven’t been since then, but by the sounds of things the riots have come back this year? There was one of the staff in the supermarket the other night saying to his colleague he was there this year and the Sunday night was crazy and he’d never seen anything like it before.

Very much so re. 2009 and chaos. Staying up for fear of your belongings being burnt or a mob charging through your tents was a pretty sobering experience that no end of warm Grolsch could break through. If my brother had been sober, we’d have travelled home. Always thought that the knobheads mostly stuck to the more distant camping areas, but no. Didn’t go back to Reading after that.

“Leaked” poster, I’m half thinking “yeah right”, half chuckling “all this forum’s favourite bands in one”

Yer balls, has to be a wind up

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