Home  News & Reviews Stereoboard Look At The Secret Sets Of The Reading And Leeds Festivals
Stereoboard Look At The Secret Sets Of The Reading And Leeds Festivals
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Friday, 24 August 2012 |
Written by Heather McDaid
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Usually, the biggest bands you'll find at festivals are nestled snugly (and rightfully) at the top of the bill. As the line-up is gradually revealed, more mammoth names join the fold, but then - just to keep fans on their toes - sometimes there are secrets lurking, too exciting for the poster.
 Now, the term secret can be misleading, since they're often about as surprising as declaring that the sky is blue. Reading has opened its gates, yet everyone already knows that Green Day will be making a surprise appearance. Not only that, but they'll be playing the NME stage early on and - oh, do you want more information? - they're playing 'Dookie' in its entirety. For one, let's take a moment to digest that last fact: They're playing 'Dookie' in its entirety. Now, back to the fact at hand: this is supposed to be a secret!
Green Day have blown the lid off of what was - even before their admission - the worst kept secret of the summer, but some bands are far more successful in their surprise, even opting for a pseudonym. The Kaiser Chiefs did just this with their appearance at Leeds Festival in 2007, performing in the humble Carling Tent under the name Hook For Hands.
Some bands opt for surprise sets at both festivals - Them Crooked Vultures being a prime example. In 2009, the supergroup performed their first secret set at Leeds Festival, repeating the feat the following day at twin fest Reading. Fans disagree over whether the element of surprise was taken away by their appearance at both festivals, but those in attendance do agree it was a pretty spectacular show. The unveiling of the band began with Eagles of Death Metal's own Josh Homme appearing on the screen - receiving raucous cheers - before it cut to Dave Grohl, whose appearance alone caused the tent to erupt.
2011 saw folk rock sensation Frank Turner take to the Lock Up Stage for a secret performance. His 11-track set included a Queen cover, as well as a cover of Leon Rosselson's 'The World Turned Upside Down' featuring Hot Water Music's superb vocalist Chuck Ragan. Fans who made it in for that performance were certainly given a great set.
Anti-poverty charity ActionAid's youth network 'Bollocks to Poverty' also hosted a series of surprise DJ sets at Reading Festival last year. Though names leaked prior to the festival, the times remained tightly under wraps for the most part. So technically, they did keep it secret in some form. A few of those hosting DJ sets in their tiny tent included Simian Mobile Disco, The Pigeon Detectives, Enter Shikari and Bombay Bicycle Club. They'll be repeating their bid for secret DJ sets across the upcoming weekend. Reading will play host to intimate DJ sets from Alt-J, Scottish indie rockers The View, Huw Stephens and - highlight from last year's Bollocks To Poverty schedule - Enter Shikari.
In 2010, fun-fuelled punk rockers NOFX took to the Lock Up Stage to perform a stellar set. For one - NOFX are a fantastic live band, second - they can draw laughs and movement from even the largest festival crowds, therefore third, seeing them in a smaller capacity would be even more fantastic. On top of all these reasons as to the greatness of this set, Frank Turner made a guest appearance to perform 'The Decline'.
The year prior, Florence and the Machine pulled off a blinder with a real element of surprise. Rolling up to the BBC Introducing Stage to an intimate crowd - who were mainly sheltering from the rain - she soon garnered an overflowing audience as the word spread. Performing on her birthday, she encouraged a crowd singalong to honour the occasion. She then launched into 'Drumming Song', then her cover of Candi Staton's 'You Got The Love' - one of her biggest hits. The two song set acted as a warm up for her big set later that evening, and proved one that those in attendance recount more fondly than the main stage set.
However, these surprises don't always go down well. Back in 2008, thousands believed that the Foo Fighters were performing a secret set at Reading Festival. Fact: they were not. Unluckily for the British band The FF'ers (the suspected pseudonym for the Foos) who were actually playing, fans were disappointed, angry and violent despite the fact they'd merely gotten the wrong end of the stick. Mud was thrown, bottles tossed and shoes angrily directed at the band innocently caught in the middle of a misunderstanding. Inevitably, their set was cut short. This is one prime example of secret sets going wrong. We all know secret sets are going to happen, but while most of the time the speculation is right, sometimes fans are flat out wrong.
You might go to the festival with your entire itinerary planned out (something an obsessive organiser like myself always does) but word on the horizon is that your favourite band's playing a tiny tent or a surprise set and, frankly, little else matters. While I may not be anywhere near Reading, therefore unable to attempt to see Green Day this year, many of my friends have disregarded many other bands playing that day because this 'surprise' trumps most of the set for them.
So, these are just a few of the secret sets that have taken place at Reading and Leeds over the last few years. While some of them were more successful in secrecy than Green Day's pending performance (cough: Billie Joe tweeting, "Hello England! What rhymes with shredding??!!" a few days ago) and others were completely mistaken, the lure of the secret set is one that always fills fans with anticipation.
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