By Dexter "Box-Office" Reel
Reading Festival is getting louder, later — and not everyone in town is thrilled about it.
This year's edition, which lands later this month, will stretch its music schedule with headline sets running longer into the night, according to the BBC. Topping the bill are pop provocateur Charli XCX, London rapper Dave, and drum-and-bass duo Chase & Status — a lineup built to fill a festival site that has hosted acts for decades on the banks of the Thames and Kennet.
But the extension has revived a familiar August complaint from residents near the festival grounds: noise. The BBC reports concerns have been raised locally over the later finishing times, a friction point that has trailed the festival in previous years as organizers balance a headline-hungry crowd against neighbors trying to get their kids to sleep before a school-week Monday. The BBC's reporting does not specify exactly how much later the sets will run or precisely who has lodged the complaints — this desk is reporting what was confirmed and no more.
Still, on paper, this is a strong bill. Charli XCX arrives as pop's reigning critical darling after a run of acclaim that's made her one of the most-discussed acts in the genre; Dave remains one of Britain's sharpest lyricists, a Mercury and Ivor Novello winner whose sets tend to double as state-of-the-nation addresses; and Chase & Status can be relied on to turn a field into a rave on command. Whether that's enough to quiet the neighbors is a separate question from whether it's enough to satisfy the crowd — and this desk will be watching to see which wins out.
Loved it, hated it, or wasted my afternoon — here's which.
— Compiled from reporting by the BBC.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."