FEATURE:
Some Things Never Change
IMAGE CREDIT: @OfficialRandL
Will Reading and Leeds’ Headline Slots Always Be Reserved for Men?!
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ON Thursday (3rd September)…
IN THIS PHOTO: Liam Gallagher is one of the confirmed headliners for Reading & Leeds 2021/PHOTO CREDIT: Jenn Five/NME
the tickets for next year’s Reading and Leeds festivals go live. There are many people excited to get back to these festivals, as this year has seemed very bare! Whilst Glastonbury’s 2020 line-up saw women outnumber men on the bill and include one female headliners (2020) - Taylor Swift -, the story for next year’s Reading and Leeds festivals is predictably dire: there are no female headliners on the bill once again! This article from The Independent explains more:
“The Reading and Leeds festival lineup for 2021 shows that organisers have failed to book a female headliner for the seventh consecutive year.
The event, which has long been criticised for billings that are skewed towards male artists and male-fronted bands, has added three headline slots – totalling six – and a second “main stage”.
These are being filled by Stormzy, Liam Gallagher, Disclosure, Queens of the Stone Age, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Post Malone.
Next year will mark the third time that US rapper Post Malone has performed on the main stage, after his spot ahead of headliners Fall Out Boy and Travis Scott in 2018, and a headline slot in 2019.
The last time a female headliner appeared at Reading and Leeds was Paramore in 2014, on a co-headline slot with Queens of the Stone Age.
With the exception of Arcade Fire (who are co-fronted by singers Win Butler and Régine Chassagne), Paramore are the only female-fronted act to have headlined Reading and Leeds in more than two decades.
IN THIS PHOTO: Doja Cat is one of only a few female artists announced so far for Reading and Leeds 2021
The 2020 lineup featured headliners Stormzy, Rage Against the Machine, and Liam Gallagher. Rage Against the Machine will not perform at next year’s event.
The Independent has contacted representatives for Reading and Leeds for comment.
Other artists announced to perform at Reading and Leeds in 2021 include AJ Tracey, Lewis Capaldi, Ashnikko, Two Door Cinema Club, Beadadoobee, DaBaby, Doja Cat, Mabel, Madison Beer and Sofi Tukker”.
There has been a lot of reaction online since the announcement was made regarding no female headliners and, when the tickets go online, more people will react. It seems to be the same old tale with Reading and Leeds. As they diversify in terms of genre, gender is still a big issue! There are so few women on the bill to begin with but, as 2020 has been dominated by women, why have none of them been rewarded with a headline slot!? Not only have Fiona Apple, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, HAIM, Rina Sawayama, Laura Marling, and Phoebe Bridgers created masterful albums over the past year or two…there are countless other bands and solo artists with incredible women leading. There is no doubt that the talent is out there, and one always hears arguments (from men mostly) that say the reason men dominate the headline slots at Reading and Leeds is because male acts are more commercial and profitable. That is not the case, and I think it is another year of the organisers hiding behind excuses! Also, there is this laziness regarding the same acts being booked.
IN THIS PHOTO: HAIM released one of this year’s best albums with Women in Music Pt. III, and they would make perfect headliners/PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Thomas Anderson
Not that the headliners for next year are bad: they are lazy, and one does not exactly salivate over their inclusion! There are so many fresh female artists who have warranted a place as a headliner, and it is not just the fault of Reading and Leeds’ boss, Melvin Benn. He is not especially progressive or reactive, but one cannot entirely put the buck at his feet. There are labels and record bosses that are either not putting their artists out to festivals, and there is this fear, I think, that is Reading and Leeds did include female headliners, there would be complaints from the punters - and there doesn’t seem to be any appetite to change. I think some would moan, but many want to see equal representation, or at the very least ONE female headliner! One could list dozens of women who could headline, and each passing month reveals another stunning album by a female artist. As other festivals are slowly moving towards a fifty-fifty bill, and others are starting to include women as headliners, Reading and Leeds just highlights a glaring issue that afflicts most festivals. If there does need to be a collective kick up the backsides of festivals, I think Reading and Leeds is especially flawed and predictable. There are options available to force action. Women booked for the festivals could refuse to play, and people could boycott the festivals altogether. Maybe the balance will never shift but, as six male headliners have been booked for Reading and Leeds next year, it is a disgrace that women have been ignored once more. Melvin Benn and his team need to open their eyes to the wave of female talent out there and start representing them. Reading and Leeds with each passing year, is in danger of becoming…
IN THIS PHOTO: Lizzo is another name that would make for a popular headliner/PHOTO CREDIT: Linda Nylind/The Guardian
A stain on the festival scene.