Reading & Leeds Release First Bands on 2016's Lineup

Can you believe it?!

After years and years of rumours and speculation, Red Hot Chili Peppers will FINALLY be gracing the main stage over the weekend at both Reading and Leeds Festivals. The time has come to don your silver body paint, conception art and runaway taxi driver costumes to mosh along to classics like Give It Away Now, Californication, Under the Bridge, Can't Stop and Dani California.

To get you excited, here's Snow -

Other bands to get excited about include R&L first timers Twenty One Pilots. With a huge surge in their popularity after performances at MTV awards shows and fans spreading the word online, TOP are set to bring incredible energy to R&L.

If you've never listened to Twenty One Pilots, check out their most popular song off their new album, Blurryface, Stressed Out - 

The 1975 are back on the festival scene this year after some time off working on material for their new album. With Love Me already dominating the indie charts, I am looking forward to seeing what else they have to offer before hitting the circuit in 2016. After many successful festival performances with their debut album, I am sure they will be welcomed back to R&L like an old friend.

To give you a taster of the new album, here's Love Me -

It's been one crazy year for punk duo Slaves with a Mercury Prize nomination, and winning a number of other awards including Kerrang's Spirit of Punk award, they are promising an even bigger and better show than this year's performance at R&L. Expect shouting, mosh pits and tons of celebrity fans mulling around the stage.

Here's Feed the Mantaray from the critically acclaimed Are You Satisfied -

Other acts announced so far are Courteeners, Boy Better Know, DJ EZ, Crossfaith, Hinds and Rat Boy. Tickets are available now from the official Reading and Leeds websites.

Top 5 Things To Do At Download Festival

There are only a few days before the gates of the biggest festival for the UK rock scene open. It feels like forever since last year's festival, but this year the organisers of Download have gone above and beyond to create the ultimate rock experience. Yes, there are some amazing bands like Kiss, Slipknot and Muse who are ready to blow your minds, but there are also some great activities for you to try out while you're bathing in rock goodness, or mud.

5. Laser Tag

Is there really much of an explanation needed for this one? You'll run around, shooting people with lasers. It will be amazing. You'll probably be very drunk. And is there really anything better than that?

4. Wrestling

This year's dress up theme is pro-wrestling, so expect to see fully grown men walking round in just a mask, a cape and speedos. To fit in with the theme, Download ramping up the wrestling at Donnington by making some amazing additions to the programme, including the country's best independent wrestlers, Progress wrestling and continuing the long standing tension between the reigning champion Jimmy Havoc and Download's own figurehead, Download Dog.

3. Dog's Bed Stage
Have you ever dreamy of playing to the masses at Donnington? Got your own band who need a few extra fans? Download's Dog's Bed Stage lets YOU become the star of the festival with their fully equipped open mic experience. Just try not to be too bad.

2. KISS Face Painting
Kiss are set to close the festival with a bang on the Sunday night, but let's face it, are you going to be alive enough to paint your own face like the band? Visit Download's face painting station to get your Kiss look expertly applied. Don;t forget to bring your own tongue!

1. Love
A heavy rock festival is probably the last place you expect to be going on blind dates, but Download have teamed up with Heavy Metal Dating to bring speed dating to all the single festival goers. If it all goes well, why not pay a visit to the inflatable chapel where you can marry whoever and whatever you like? Will it be that certain someone you've been with for a while now, that random person you bought back to your tent last night, your beloved case of beer, or if you're lucky, your favourite band member? Just remember it's not actually legal, so you won;t end up in court a few months down the line filing for a divorce.

Don;t forget you can also watch your favourite bands at this music festival, so try not to get so caught up in marrying everything and shooting lasers at your mates that you miss your favourite band! Have an awesome time and stay safe.

Weekly Roundup

It's been a busy week in the music world with some huge releases and the start of the festival season! Here's 4.3.5's highlights of what has been an incredible week.

New Releases

We have seen 2 huge new albums from Victory Records this week. On Monday Broadside and Victorian Halls unleashed some incredible new music, and neither band has disappointed. Broadside's Old Bones has the power to transport any pop punk defender back to the good old days when the movement was first starting. They have also released their brand new video for Damaged Kids off the album, be sure to check it out.

Victorian Halls have released Hyperalgesia (I have no idea how to pronounce it either!) and have impressed here at 4.3.5 HQ. Their style is very difficult to pinpoint, but they sound like the musical lovechild of Enter Shikari and Fearless Vampire Killers with their electronic undertones with a gothic, creepy aura provided by some killer vocals. These are really worth a listen if you are a fan of anything from the most popular indie bands to the heaviest of rock.

Festivals

It really excites me when festival coverage starts popping up on my TV, and the extreme mixture of genres at Radio 1's Big Weekend means it is the perfect way to get everyone hyped for the British festival season (one of the best in the world). With amazing bands like Fall Out Boy, the Foo Fighters and Muse, the weekend is bound to set the standards high for the rest of the summer.

Discoveries

I have been doing a bit of digging this week and found some little crackers for you all to soak up and enjoy over the next week. The first song comes from a group of guys hailing from Cheshire in England. Indigo Shores are a relatively new band with some big plans for the future. If this band don't take you back to the summers of the late 2000s with their indie riffs and catchy lyrics, are you sure you sure you lived through them?!

A little bit of credit must go to Spotify this week for throwing this amazing cover of Dark Horse at me. I was (unfortunately) a bit of a fan of the original when it first came out, but like most pop songs it became tired and overplayed. Listening to Our Last Night's over of the sugar coated anthem was like listening to a completely different song and actually brings a whole new level of darkness to Katy Perry's hit.

Let me know what you have been loving this week and if there is anything I should feature in next week's round up!