After the Reading and Leeds line up was announced the other week, the countdown to festival season is truly underway. With a lack of Glastonbury and Oxegen it was up to the other festivals to deliver stellar line ups.
First on the list and kicking off the festival season, albeit a tad early, is Hit The Deck in April. Headlined by Welsh rockers Kids In Glass Houses and also includes bands such as Deaf Havana, Cancer Bats, Lower Than Atlantis and Don Broco. The one day festival is held across three venues in Nottingham; Rock City, The Rescue Rooms and Stealth and with tickets only costing £20, you get a lot of music for your money.
Following closely behind is Slam Dunk festival, which is held during bank holiday weekend at the end of May. Spread across two days, there is Slam Dunk North and Slam Dunk South, located at Leeds University and the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield. Headlining this year are American alternative rock band Taking Back Sunday. Joining them are The Blackout, Architects, Mayday Parade and Say Anything. Along with others and many more acts to be announced. As it’s only the one day, tickets are under £30, making it another festival which is good value for money.
Heading towards the summer, this festival does technically kick off the season, as it’s the first weekender. I know there’s a pattern here in regards to the music but it’ll change after the next festival, promise.
The first week of June sees Download festival take the floor. The weekend’s main stage headliners; The Prodigy, Metallica and Black Sabbath all promise to put on a brilliant show. However, it should be noted that since the line-up was announced, Black Sabbath has now turned into Ozzy & Friends. Regardless it still looks set to be an entertaining weekend, with the second stage being dominated by Slash, You Me At Six and Rise Against. Also playing are Biffy Clyro, Chase & Status, Tenacious D, NOFX, Soundgarden, Megadeath and others.
Also during the same weekend as Download is Rockness (see I told you it would change). Taking place on the shores of Loch Ness, this festival brings Mumford & Sons, Deadmau5 & Biffy Clyro to Scotland. You can also catch Ed Sheeran, Noah & The Whale, Friendly Fires, Wretch 32, Zane Lowe, The View and plenty more.
The end of June sees the Isle of Wight Festival which has exceeded itself with its headliners this year, mainly because it includes Bruce Springsteen. Joining ‘The Boss’ are Pearl Jam & Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Other acts include; Tinie Tempah, The Vaccines, Jessie J, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Elbow.
Setting July off with a bang is T in the Park, Scotland’s biggest music festival, which takes place in Balado in Kinross-Shire. Snow Patrol, The Stone Roses and Kasabian are all taking to the main stage as headliners. T in the Park has a diverse acts including in the line-up, with people such as; Nicki Minaj, Florence & the Machine, Enter Shikari, Mastodon, Skrillex, The Maccabees and many more.
That same weekend also sees Sonisphere festival kick off. A worldwide event, which includes a site in the UK, has rock & metal bands from every corner of the earth heading towards it. This year has the return of Queen (featuring American Idol alum Adam Lambert), as well as Faith No More and Kiss. It also sees recently reformed Refused and Glassjaw playing their only UK dates of the year. Other bands playing are; Incubus, Cypress Hill, Marilyn Manson, The Darkness and comedian Tim Minchin headlining the Saturn stage, following in the footsteps of Bill Bailey, who did the same in 2011.
The beginning of August brings V festival, which is now completely sold out, takes place in two locations; Weston Park in Stafford and Hylands Park in Chelmsford . Both nights include joint headliners; The Stone Roses & Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds taking one whilst The Killers & Snow Patrol take the other. Much like T in the Park, a variety of acts are playing during the weekend. David Guetta, Tom Jones, Madness, Olly Murs, Keane, LMFAO, Example and many more are featured across the weekend.
August Bank Holiday weekend sees two festivals take place. First up is Creamfields, in the heart of Cheshire.
Unlike most of the festivals included in the round up, Creamfields is purely a Dance festival. Acts featured in this year’s line-up are; Kissy Sell Out, Eric Prydz, Benga, Skrillex, Skream, Flux Pavillion, Tiesto, Calvin Harris and many more.
Last but not least on the list is Reading & Leeds. Line-up rumours always crop up around 2 or 3 weeks before the festival is officially announced and most of the fake posters that were going round the internet got the headliners correct. The final weekend of the festival season sees The Cure, Kasabian and Foo Fighters all leading the main stage. Joining them on the final blowout before School, College and University start are; Paramore, The Black Keys, Kaiser Chiefs, Crystal Castles, All Time Low, The Gaslight Anthem, recently reformed At The Drive In, Foster The People, The Cribs and a ton more to be announced.
Even with Glastonbury & Oxegen missing from the list, 2012 is set to be a hit this festival season. Now all that’s left to do is wait for the sun & hot weather to make an appearance and the summer months of live music being played in a massive field can begin. But we all know that it’ll be the usual rain, wellies and a hell of a lot of mud.
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