Melvin Benn: Last News

Reading & Leeds has submitted plans for new three-day festival in Luton this May.Festival Republic manager director Melvin Benn is applying for to stage a new event in Stockwood Park, according to Luton Today.The festival promoter, whose company is also behind festivals like Wireless, Latitude and Wilderness, has applied to the borough council for the grant of a premises licence for the event, which would take place over the spring bank holiday weekend from May 25-27.Permission is being sought for the license – which would allow live music, recorded performances – from 12pm to 11:30pm GMT on Friday, May 24 and from 9:30am to 10:30pm on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26.Organisers are also seeking permission for the sale of alcohol from 12pm to 11pm on Friday, May 24 and from 9:30am to 10:30pm GMT on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26.The local authority’s licensing panel is due to consider the application at a town hall meeting today (January 22).According to Benn’s application, the form also references a “funfair and sponsor activations” for the event, along with system sound checks ahead of each day and rehearsals on Thursday, May 23.One resident has raised concerns to the licensing service of noise disruption and anti-social behaviour around the festival site.

Thania Garcia Travis Scott, Chappell Roan, Bring Me The Horizon and Hozier have been revealed as headliners for the 2025 iteration of Reading and Leeds. The music festival will place next summer, starting Aug. 21, with an end date of Aug.

Latitude Festival has announced the headliners for its 2025 edition – you can find all the details below.The event is due to take place at Henham Park in Suffolk between July 24 and July 27. Tickets go on general sale at 10am GMT this Wednesday (October 30) – you’ll be able to buy yours here.Today (October 28), organisers have confirmed the three acts that will headline the main stage at next summer’s Latitude.

Mark Sutherland Reading and Leeds Festivals always deliver one of the U.K.’s wildest weekends, but this year’s event was even more full of incident than usual. The set by Lana Del Rey (pictured above) was cut short by organizers, who later apologized; Reneé Rapp walked off stage after being drenched when accumulated rainwater was blown off the stage roof (again prompting an apology); and there was the small matter of the Oasis reunion effectively being announced at the end of Liam Gallagher’s set. But if things were pretty tempestuous on stage, they were even stormier off it — literally.

Reading & Leeds saw the festival debut the Chevron stage — a brand-new addition to the music bash. Check it out in action below.The Chevron boasts the world’s first outdoor floating LED video sky canopy and was created especially to host dance music, pop and hip-hop acts.

Reading & Leeds Festival 2024 is predicted to sell out this weekend.The music festival is set to welcome 240,000 fans across Bank Holiday Weekend, with gates opening to general admission punters on Thursday, August 22. Tickets are on sale now for both locations and are available for purchase here (for Reading) and here (for Leeds).Blink-182, Fred Again..

Reading and Leeds has confirmed more podcast names for its new Aux stage line-up ahead of the festival’s return next week.The new stage was announced in May and is designed with the aim of showcasing “pioneering digital creators” and will, for the first time in R&L history, present a line-up of content creators in a bid to highlight “some of today’s most popular and culturally relevant personalities and providing a new platform in the live sector”. It will host live podcasts, interactive talks and livestreams, as well as tune into the current media landscape.The first names were confirmed in July, including Chunkz & Filly Show, The Useless Hotline, Bradley Simpson: Unplugged, Arthur Hill: Unplugged, Gym Girl’s Locker Room, Goes Without Saying Podcast, Dork: Down With Boring and Fan Girl Files.Now, more names have been added to the Aux line-up.

Reading & Leeds is around the corner, and the festival have shared their guide to everything you need to know – take a look at all the essential info below.There’s just 19 days to go until the twin festivals return, where Liam Gallagher, Lana Del Rey, Blink-182, Fred Again.., Gerry Cinnamon and Catfish & The Bottlemen will headline the 2024 edition.Other acts set to join include 21 Savage, Jorja Smith, Denzel Curry, Kenny Beats, Beabadoobee, Kenya Grace, Nia Archives, Two Door Cinema Club, Fontaines D.C., Reneé Rapp, Pendulum, Teddy Swims, Kid Kapichi, FLO and more.Excitingly, this year will also feature two new stages: Chevron and The Aux. The latter will showcase “pioneering digital creators” and will allow festival-goers to attend live podcasts, interactive talks, and livestreams and tune into the current media landscape.Meanwhile, Chevron will replace the festivals’ dual main stage format and will boast the world’s first outdoor floating LED video sky canopy.

Reading & Leeds has announced more names for the Aux and Chevron stages, with just one month to go until this year’s festivals kick off.The twin-site event is due to take place between August 21-25, with Blink-182, Fred Again.. and Liam Gallagher all headlining.

Reading & Leeds are giving away free tickets for this year’s festivals to encourage young people to vote in the UK general election. Find all the details below.The twin-site event is due to take place between August 23-25, with Lana Del Rey, Liam Gallagher, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Blink-182, Fred Again..

Reading & Leeds 2024, the festival has announced a new stage called The Aux.Announced today (May 21), the new venue will be introduced for this year’s instalment of the dual-event, and is the first of its kind.According to a new press release, The Aux is designed with the aim of showcasing “pioneering digital creators” and will, for the first time in R&L history, present a line-up of content creators in a bid to highlight “some of today’s most popular and culturally relevant personalities and providing a new platform in the live sector”.It will allow festival-goers to attend live podcasts, interactive talks and livestreams, as well as tune into the current media landscape.To celebrate the announcement of the new stage, several acts have been announced as the first to play on the platform later this year.These include The Useless Hotline – a podcast hosted by Max Balegde and George Clarke that sees listeners send in their queries and dilemmas – as well as another podcast called Antics With Ash, hosted by Ash Holmes.Manchester’s top podcast The M1 has also joined the line-up, hosted by Mordz, SK and BillyTheGoat, as has Ayamé Ponder, who gained notoriety on TikTok and Instagram for her reactions to ‘satisfying’ videos.A post shared by Reading & Leeds Festival (@officialrandl)Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festival Republic, said of the new stage: “The relevance and impact that this new generation of creators has on our culture and audience is undeniable.

Reading & Leeds have unveiled details of a huge and “groundbreaking” new stage, with The Chevron debuting at the festival this summer. Check out video above, with photos and an exclusive interview with festival boss Melvin Benn below.Speaking to NME last year, Festival Republic boss Benn teased that “stage changes” were on the way – potentially seeing an end to the two main stage format of recent years.

Reading & Leeds have confirmed that Liam Gallagher will be playing Oasis‘ seminal ‘Definitely Maybe’ in full when he returns to headline the festival in 2024.Gallagher was one of six headliners announced for next year’s edition of R+L earlier tonight (Thursday November 23), topping the bill alongside Lana Del Rey, Blink-182, Fred Again.., Gerry Cinnamon and Catfish & The Bottlemen, with Raye, Skrillex, Spiritbox and Digga D also confirmed to perform.With the former Oasis frontman touring to celebrate 30 years of the band’s seminal 1994 debut ‘Definitely Maybe‘ throughout the year, the festival have revealed that he will be doing the same at Reading & Leeds.As well as confirming the news on Twitter, Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn said in a statement: “The iconic Liam Gallagher will return to play an all-time classic album ‘Definitely Maybe’ – which will be a special moment indeed.”did we mention it's Definitely Maybe in full?

Scots singer Gerry Cinnamon will join Liam Gallagher, Fred Again and Lana Del Rey among the artists set to headline Reading and Leeds Festivals 2024, it has been announced.

Latitude Festival have announced that Duran Duran will headline their 2024 edition.The festival will return to Henham Park, Suffolk, from July 25-28, 2024. You can purchase tickets here. More lineup announcements are soon to follow.The Birmingham four-piece recently released their Halloween album ‘Danse Macabre’, a mixture of original material, remixes, and covers.

Thousands of music fans will be heading to Reading and Leeds Festival as it returns this year with a stacked lineup of bands taking to the stage over three days. Headliners Billie Eilish, Sam Fender, The Killers and The 1975 will join the hundreds of acts on the bill.

Reading & Leeds festival have announced that they have increased security to “weed out” drug dealers operating at the site.The new measures have been introduced following the death of a teenager at the festival last year, an inquest has heard.16-year-old David Celino fell ill after taking ecstasy at the 2022 edition of the festival at Leeds, which his group of friends purchased from a dealer in the Camping Plus area of the site. He was later taken to a hospital, where he died on August 28.In an inquest into his son’s death, Celino’s father, Gianpiero, shared his concerns that the festival was not safe for under-18s, and pushed for a bar on 16 and 17-year-olds from attending the live music event.Now Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republic, has told Celino’s parents of the “genuine sorrow” he felt after their son’s death.

Mark Sutherland As the touring business continues its uneven return after nearly two years of lockdown, one major bright spot has been the famed U.K. festival sector, which came back with a bang this summer. Reading & Leeds Festival, the traditional finale to the season, took place last weekend and was completely sold out well in advance, contributing to what Festival Republic managing director Melvin Benn calls his “best year ever.” Festival Republic staged events including Wireless, Latitude, Gunnersbury Park and huge outdoor shows from the likes of Liam Gallagher, Sam Fender and George Ezra. But Reading & Leeds remains the jewel in the crown with another hugely successful year, despite one headliner, Rage Against the Machine, pulling out 10 days before the event, due to frontman Zack de la Rocha’s leg injury.

Reading & Leeds 2023 are set to go on sale tomorrow (August 31) following the wrap-up of the 2022 festivals.Megan Thee Stallion, Dave, Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me The Horizon, The 1975 and Halsey topped the bill at this year’s twin weekenders, which saw the events boast six headliners for a second year.Tickets for next year’s Reading & Leeds festivals will be made available via Ticketmaster at 12pm tomorrow. The 2023 edition will take place between August 25-27.

Reading & Leeds boss Melvin Benn has confirmed to NME that “three and a half” out of six main stage headliners have already been booked for 2023’s festival – as well as revealing his highlights of this year’s event.This past weekend’s edition of the twin-site iconic festival at Bramham Park in Leeds and Little John’s Farm in Reading was the second year of having two main stages and six headliners – with Arctic Monkeys, Megan The Stallion, Bring Me The Horizon, Dave, The 1975 and Halsey all topping the bill, alongside performances from the likes of Wolf Alice, Fontaines D.C., Run The Jewels, Pale Waves, Charli XCX, Polo G and many more.Speaking to NME backstage on the final day of the event, Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn said that significant progress had already been made securing many of 2023’s big acts.“We’ve booked three and a half headline acts,” he said. “Three are booked and one is pretty close to finishing.

The 1975 have said that news about an upcoming UK tour will arrive in the coming week.The 1975 are gearing up to release their fifth studio album, ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’, which is set to arrive on October 14 via Dirty Hit. They’ve already previewed the record with the singles ‘Part Of The Band’ and ‘Happiness’.Now, taking to Instagram, the band gave an update about when fans can expect to hear more about a UK tour.Matty Healy and co said: “UK tour news, 1 week” and asked fans to sign up via a link here.You can see the post below:A post shared by The1975 (@the1975)Meanwhile, the Manchester band will headline Reading & Leeds festival this weekend, having stepped in at the last minute to replace Rage Against The Machine.