Reading & Leeds festivals return this week, and speculation surrounding potential secret sets has begun.

The 2023 edition of the twin-site event is due to take place at Richfield Avenue in Reading, and Bramham Park in Leeds between August 25-27. You can buy any remaining tickets here.

Headlining this year’s R&L will be Billie Eilish, Sam Fender, The 1975, The Killers, Foals and Imagine Dragons. Also featured on the line-up are the likes of Wet Leg, Central Cee, Inhaler, Steve Lacy and Knucks.

Earlier this week (August 21), Soft Play – formerly known as Slaves – announced that they’ll be playing the Festival Republic Stage at 7.45pm on Saturday (August 26) at Reading and 7.20pm at Leeds on Sunday (27).

It was then rumoured that both Girl In Red and Bombay Bicycle Club could be appearing as surprise special guests.

Girl In Red performing live on stage
Girl In Red performs onstage at the Mojave Tent at the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 23, 2022 in Indio, California. CREDIT: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella

As Leeds Live reports, Ticketmaster listed Reading & Leeds’ dates when you search for the former – real name Marie Ulven – on its website.

The Norwegian singer-songwriter is scheduled to perform at All Points East in London on Friday (August 25) and Monday (August 28) in support of The Strokes/Yeah Yeahs Yeahs and Haim, respectively. Girl In Red, who last played at R&L in 2021, is free this Saturday and Sunday at the time of writing. However, a spokesperson for Girl In Red has since denied that she’ll be making an appearance.

Bombay Bicycle Club, meanwhile, have teased that they could also be popping up onsite. Following the release of their latest single ‘Diving’ – a collaboration with Holly Humberstone – the group quote-tweeted a post from Reading & Leeds’ official Twitter (X) account.

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“If only there was a way we could play this [track] on stage @OfficialRandL this year 🤔,” Bombay Bicycle Club wrote. “Let’s work something out 👀.”

The band later posted “dreams.paper.steps” in response to the rumours – which are the tracking code on mapping app What Three Words which direct you to a location at Reading Festival.

The band are set to perform at Rough Trade Bristol on Thursday (August 24), but it appears that they’re available for the following three days.

Humberstone will play on the Main Stage East at Reading on Saturday, and Leeds on Sunday.

You can see the full stage and set times for Reading & Leeds 2023 here, and check the latest weather forecasts for both locations here.

In other news, R&L organisers have confirmed that they have increased security to “weed out” drug dealers operating at the sites, and banned campfires, BBQs and disposable vapes.

Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Reading & Leeds 2023



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