Getting back to Music Festivals - more specifically Reading (on this weekend) - which since 1999 has been known as Reading & Leeds Festival, taking place simultaneously over the Bank Holiday weekend. 

The Reading Festival, the older of the two, is the world's oldest popular music festival still in existence, having gone through various musical phases over the years. Originally The National Jazz and Blues Festival it began in Richmond in 1961. The venue moved location throughout the sixties and by 1969 Jazz had all but disappeared from the line-up of artists playing. 1971 saw it move permanently to Reading and become The National Jazz, Blues, Folk & Rock Festival. I did a feature last year when I attended in 1972: (link reminder). 

Looking at this year's festival reveals the degree of change, from a single stage in the 70s to today's: Main Stage East, Main Stage West, Radio One Dance Stage, Festival Republic Stage, Radio 1xtra Stage and finally BBC Music introducing Stage !

The scale and number of artists involved covers a change in genres that saw Heavy Metal, Punk and New Wave in the 80s, Brit Pop and Indie in the 90s, Hip Hop and Rap in the 00s and Grime artists added to the predominately Rock line-ups. Recent years have seen less Rock acts which results in me not knowing many of the bands playing this year's festival. The headliners I know but then it becomes a mystery. But I found one band I knew and a video from their performance at Reading in the sunshine in 2019. They are on again this afternoon at 3pm on the Main Stage West: You Me At Six with ‘Take On The World’ - join the audience and sing along !

You Me At Six are from down the road in Weybridge, Surrey - there's another live video from Ally Pally > check out the wild ending here. 

I also unearthed some old footage of the National Jazz & Blues festival from 1964 (no sound though) - short but sweet (click) and 1969 with a classic voice over and artists performing (mostly the Bonzo Dogs) and some idiot dancing to take you back.