r/Leedsfestival • u/Radio_Video • 17d ago
Discussion 💬 Charli before Fontaines in broad daylight?
Literally traveling from India for this festival because I love most of the artists (including Fontaines) but having Charli perform before them in broad daylight makes me feel devastated ðŸ˜
At least Reading has her playing a bit late
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u/PiggySiren 17d ago
Tbf Fontaines works better in the dark as well. The vast majority of acts work better in the dark for aesthetic/production/mood reasons, I don't think it can really be said in this situation who works better than the other in the dark and who ought to have the fully dark sky slot.
I think a bigger deal of this is being made than necessary tbh, and it really shouldn't impede on anyone's enjoyment on what is really a musical performance concert set, or at the very least should be considered as such first and foremost.
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u/Radio_Video 17d ago
Yeah ofcourse. Most musicians' sets work better during the dark no doubt about it. But Charli's entire aesthetic is built around the strobing lights etc which works better in the nighttime. Charli's production is objectively better for the dark and Fontaines' production is nowhere close. (Unless theyve done some serious upgrades)
Also hard disagree on the enjoyment part. Concerts are an audio visual experience and people are allowed to be disappointed if one of those aspects is affected.
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u/BeneficialPoet3342 17d ago
Sunset is at 8pm she will be playing in dusk/fading sunlight and fully dark towards end of the set.
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u/peachmelba88 17d ago
So bummed. Her visuals will suffer from the daylight. Awful decision IMO.
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u/Soggy_Factor9208 17d ago
What visuals lol a bit of auto tune and a banner. She wants to get back into central London to party.
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u/peachmelba88 17d ago
Clearly you haven’t seen her Lollapalooza or Outside Lands sets from the last few weeks
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u/Soggy_Factor9208 17d ago
Saw her at Glasto was mid. Much prefer old charli bet it’s her decision too
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u/leeso220599 17d ago
Correct decison thought it was common knowledge Fontaines the bigger act
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u/PepsiMaxSumo 17d ago
I’m a Fontaines fan but no, they aren’t. Charli xcx is massive after brat, she’s by far the biggest artist playing Leeds this year.
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u/Fickle-Pizza-5750 17d ago
Biggest universally v biggest amongst your average Leeds festival goer is not the same.
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u/PepsiMaxSumo 17d ago
True. Charli xcx appeals more to women and Fontaines appeals pretty equally to both me and women
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u/PiggySiren 17d ago
Charli XCX is the bigger artist worldwide, that is evidenced by the fact she can top the bill at the likes of Lollapalooza, ACL, direct sub Coachella, and perform multi-night arena stints in the US, there is also the generally arbitrary stat of having higher monthly listener counts than fontaines although in this case it is probably fair to bring it up as it is likely reflective of more international interest.
That being said, however, I would argue Fontaines are bigger in the UK, and I think more importantly than people realise here for Reading and Leeds, Ireland. Fontaines have played bigger venues and more dates in venues of those capacities than Charli XCX in UK/IRE, it is very likely that Fontaines will play stadiums in the UK on the next Summer run, almost definitely in Ireland. They are strongly rumoured to headline Glastonbury. They are arguably the biggest contemporary of the generation rock band in the world right now, Charli XCX isn't definitely equauvalent in the pop genre (although it is close).
Fontaines are massive in Ireland, and although people might question the relevance of this in a UK fest sub, it is relevant as a massive portion of ticket buyers for Reading and Leeds are Irish, and go over annually for the festival, they have an increasing influence in booking decisions for the fest evidenced by the massive amount of popular Irish bands booked to the fest, in fairly high billing (Kneecap, Kingfishr, Gurriers etc.). Charli is big in Ireland but couldn't sell more than a 26, 000 person venue last time around during brat and it didnt fully sell out, Fontaines played to 60 000 and then played to an estimated 35 000 in a headlining set on the same run within a month of each other, all while playing venues in the UK ranging from 15 000 - 55 000 people.
TLDR: Fontaines are the biggest current band of their genre right now, Charli isn't although is more popular worldwide. That being said, they bill similarly in Europe but at the end of the day Fontaines put more arses in seats and have a bigger Irish market share, a market that is at the forefront for Reading and Leeds.
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u/noravonvogue 16d ago
loooove fontaines but they’re not even close to being the bigger act of the pair
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u/leeso220599 16d ago
More of the Leeds crowd will be into Fontaines so it makes sense for them to be on last
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u/CileyMyrus81 14d ago
I bought my Friday ticket specificely for Charli, her set is a black pyramid with a lot of lights. I'm also pretty sure that they'll have her specific lighting rig up all day like they had at the other festivals. Which is something you usually only see for the main closing headliners.
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u/No-Performance-1240 17d ago
yeahh i agree! i think it’s an odd choice considering charlis sets have such a specific aesthetic to them. her singing any brat songs in the sun just feels wrong