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Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn has claimed 2009 was the best Reading Festival ever

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‘Best Reading Festival’ claims Melvin Benn

September 02, 2009

Festival boss Melvin Benn has claimed 2009 was the best Reading Festival ever.

And he could not understand why Friday headliners Kings of Leon were so unhappy with their performance because of sound quality.

He said: “This year worked well on so many levels. We made improvements in the sound and I think that worked. I have not heard any complaints at all.

“I was watching Kings of Leon from the side and their performance was flawless, I really cannot understand why they were so unhappy. But clearly they were and they made it very obvious.

“We did have some problems with gusts of winds but they had died down by the evening. My son was in the crowd on Saturday watching Prodigy and said it was immense.

“He would have been highly critical if there was a problem with the sound.”

He added: “Not selling tickets at the box office and not allowing flags was a great success, I was really pleased about that.”

Speaking about trouble at the site, Mr Benn said: “It was my impression that the campsite was quieter this year than last year.

“As far as I know no loos were set fire to. They did try to set fire to a telegraph pole but that was about it.

“There certainly were fires on the campsite. They always light fires and I think some tents were thrown into the fires, but certainly not with anyone in them.

“As for the person who reported to the medical tent with burns, he told them he was trying to jump in and out of the fire.”

Reading Borough Council spokeswoman Sarah Bishton also responded to criticism of the sound. She said: “The levels at this year’s festival were in fact three decibels higher than previous years.

“The council approved an application by Festival Republic to slightly amend their licence allowing levels to be slightly increased. This was in response to requests from people who attended last year’s festival. The noise levels were further increased for the last two acts on all days.”

She added: “The council did not receive any complaints in relation to fires on the festival site.”

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chelseasmile - I think Reading festival certainly is "moving with the times" as you put it, considering half the people there were chavs with asbo's and tags...

As for the line up - to justify my £180 ticket I would expect there to be more than a handful of acts there of actual substance rather than a bunch of snotty nosed divas moaning all the way through their set like the kings of Leon did! I would like to think that Melvin Benn took some time to listen to and carefully select what bands and where to put them, but this year I honestly beleive the selection was done by throwing a dart at a copy of NME and picking whatever it landed on.

Hugh Janus, Reading
07/09/2009 at 10:54

What’s with all the negativity? OK, occasionally the sound wasn’t brilliant but that was due to the weather. Ironically, I could hear it quite clearly in my back garden and I live about 5 miles away from the site………. Those of you that are moaning about the line up have to remember that many of the bands we saw in our youth aren’t as relevant now as they were then………. Yes, I would love to see bands like Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Saxon etc make appearances but I do enjoy checking out newer bands, it’s called moving with the times.

As for being rougher, again yes, there is a minority of kids that spoil it for others by being t***s and not knowing how to behave at festivals but surely if you were going in the 70’s when it was frequented by bikers (and before anyone says anything I have nothing against bikers many of my mates are bikers!) you’ll remember there was just as much trouble if not more.

If you don’t like the music/lineup there’s a simple answer, don’t go!

chelseasmile
04/09/2009 at 09:30

Due to me living in Reading I didn't feel the need to camp or stay around the campsite after the music, I suggest you should have done the same if your local! I can only comment on the experience I had at the festival which was a good one. I've been to Glasto many times and the IOW and there are always stories of thefts and fights, agreed the tent burning is extreme but it wouldn't put me of going again.

mepore
04/09/2009 at 09:00

mepore - did you have fun burning peoples tents on sunday night then?

Hugh Janus, Reading
04/09/2009 at 08:35

Can I suggest this for you next year! http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/xev_eventdetail.asp?id=1353

mepore
04/09/2009 at 08:12

Totally agree with Hugh J - Reading has changed into the average indie pop fest in recent years, and become extremely rough with it... In the main stage area, music lovers seem to be outnumbered by teenagers seemingly there just to get as drunk as poss, some young girl narrowly avoided puking on me... yeuch! So I totally understand KOL's comments... Although I live in Reading and have always loved having Reading Festival on my doorstep, I will be choosing a different Festival next year..

Chicken Shack, Reading
03/09/2009 at 17:36

Unbiased opinion....

ironix
03/09/2009 at 13:33

Yeah, good job. seemed to be allot more room and no masive queues for the toilets or bar. The festival is what you make it! anyone who didn't have a good time or is complaining should either change the group of people they go with or not go at all!

mepore
03/09/2009 at 10:38

Fair play to Festival Republic, all the problems that existed last year (crushes, massive loo queues, poor sound) were all well addressed, rotation of the NME/R1 tent by 90 degrees is a particular success, freeing up much more space on that side of the site. Already got my ticket for next year, woop woop!

Hannibal Smith
03/09/2009 at 10:05

Walter Wall, you are spouting utter nonsense. Go along Caversham Road on any day of the festival and you will see a non-stop flow of crusty pedestrians going to and from the centre of Reading.

Fred Bloggs
02/09/2009 at 18:40

Seetickets charge £7.50 booking fee per transaction.

Ticketmaster charge £7.00 per TICKET + £5.25 postage.

Just legalised touting.

Mr Toad
02/09/2009 at 16:33

I have friends living up near Woodcote Road and they confirmed that there was much less bonfire (and other!) smoke wafting over there this year, and much less looney noise - loud fireworks, shouting etc - during the night.

I'm looking forward to the report about "how much money the town makes" from the Festival. I've never been convinced that anyone apart from a handful of shops in Caversham, make any serious money. Most of the sundry spending is at the site itself - the fans seldom go to the town centre. We can only hope that the council makes a chunk of money which it uses for the benefit of the town.

But at least Mr Benn and his team seem to be trying to correct some of the schoolboy errors they made in recent previous years - that ridiculous ticket crush las year, no allocation for locals, constant overnight fireworks and fires etc etc

Walter Wall , Reading
02/09/2009 at 16:32

Mr Benn you are so out of touch it is unbeleivable. I'm sure on paper it looks like a success in some ways but it just hasn't been the same festival for the last few years and was so much better when it was run by Carling. The headliners and 75% of all bands on the main stage were awful.

Anyone who cares about real music rather than bland pop music will tell you it was all about the tents this year (Lockup stage, NME stage BBC stage etc), and there is only so much you can blame on the sound being blown away by the wind although personailty wise I beleive it about Radiohead...

Hugh Janus, Reading
02/09/2009 at 16:15

If you're quick and organised you can buy tickets for next year's event now - a limited number went on sale yesterday and they are at this year's prices. Saves on the mad scramble come April - try ticketmaster or seetickets.