Metallica, Refused, Run the Jewels lead Reading and Leeds 2015 line-up

Feature by Dave Kerr | 26 Nov 2014

Metallica will headline at next summer’s Reading and Leeds festivals, with Swedish punk pioneers Refused and all-conquering rap duo Run the Jewels also on the bill.

Hetfield, Hammett, Ulrich and Trujillo will make their only UK festival appearances in 2015 at Reading and Leeds, which take place on the August bank holiday weekend (28–30 Aug 2015). Next year’s Reading and Leeds will be the fourth to be headlined by Metallica, making them the most prolific headliners in the festival’s history, with drummer Lars Ulrich describing the California quartet as “practically the house band”.

Refused will headline the festival’s Pit Stage, continuing their revival after reforming in 2012. The band split shortly after the release of their seminal 1998 album The Shape of Punk to Come, whose influence can be heard everywhere from The Dillinger Escape Plan to Guns n’ Roses side-project Velvet Revolver. Duff McKagan told us back in 2012: “If you listen to the first Velvet Revolver record, all we were listening to was The Shape of Punk to Come.”

Run the Jewels – Killer Mike and El-P – add Reading and Leeds shows to their previously-announced appearance at ATP Iceland next July alongside Belle and Sebastian and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The duo play gigs in Manchester and Glasgow next month as their RTJ2 tour hits Europe.

Manchester Orchestra, Jamie T, Pierce The Veil and Wilkinson complete the line-up so far; the festival runs from Fri 28 to Sun 30 Aug 2015.


MORE FROM THE SKINNY:

 
• The lasting legacy of Refused classic The Shape of Punk to Come

 
• Brann Daillor of Mastodon shares some of his favourite albums


• Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted on some of his key influences 


http://readingfestival.com