It’s one of the most iconic music festivals around today, but sadly, music fans are rather miffed with this year’s Reading & Leeds lineup, complaining that the famous UK festival is lacking the rock music on which it built its reputation.

Following last year’s lineup controversy, which focused around the fact that the bill consisted of barely any female artists, this year is no different, with fans asking “where’s the rock?” instead of “where’s the women?”

Announced yesterday, the 2018 Reading & Leeds festivals lineup is headlined by the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Fall Out Boy, and Kings Of Leon, while plenty of other big-name popular acts, such as Post Malone, BROCKHAMPTON, Skepta, Courteeners, and emo favourites Panic! At The Disco also join the bill.

The lineup for the 2018 Reading & Leeds Festivals
The lineup for the 2018 Reading & Leeds Festivals

Almost immediately, fans took to the Internet to share their dismay. As The Daily Mail reports, many fans who bought their tickets on pre-sale have offered their tickets back for sale, claiming the lineup was not worth the £205 ticket price (£16.50 booking fee).

“Reading and Leeds prides itself on being a music-first festival and this year’s line-up already proves that,” said Melvin Benn, head of UK promoter Festival Republic. “Kings of Leon and Fall Out Boy are bands that have grown with the festival and its fans and we couldn’t be more pleased to invite them back to headline.”

“Adding Panic! at the Disco and Kendrick Lamar, probably the most sought-after act in the world right now, we think Reading and Leeds Festivals 2018 are off to an amazing start – with even more to come, so watch this space.”

Of course, there are plenty of bands who play some variety of rock, including Sum 41, Papa Roach, Nothing But Thieves, Underøath, Hollywood Undead, and The Wombats, to name a few, but many are claiming a lineup such as this is in no way up to the standards of the same festival just ten years ago.

One Twitter user posted a picture of the 2008 Reading & Leeds lineup, which featured Rage Against The Machine, The Killers, and Metallica as headliners alone, sadly stating “Oh how you’ve changed in 10 years.”

While we’ve all seen plenty of underwhelming lineups in the past, we can only hope that the festival is still withholding a few of the heavier acts to make this year’s fest a bit more appealing to those who aren’t keen on popular music or hip-hop.

Of course, some might begin worrying that if a lineup like this is what Reading & Leeds have scored, what hope does that leave us for the upcoming Splendour In The Grass lineup?

Well, considering we’ve had rumours of both The Arctic Monkeys and MGMT making their way to Australia for the annual fest, we can be pretty certain that this year is going to be a good one yet again.

Check out Reading & Leeds headliner Kendrick Lamar’s ‘HUMBLE.’:

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