Foals hopes to inspire younger artists with their headlining gig at Reading and Leeds 2016. The band will headline the festival along with Disclosure. It is both acts' first time headlining the festival where the Red Hot Chili Peppers was confirmed as the top billing act at the festival last year. Their purpose is to inspire bands that are just starting in the industry to reach for their dreams and not lose sight of their goals in music.
“There’s a lot of bands out there who can do the same,” front man Yannis Philippakis said in an interview with NME. “The Maccabees aren’t far off being able to headline major festivals. There’s bands like Alt-J. Florence smashed it at Glasto last year. It’s happening. If anything, I hope young bands look at us and go: ‘Look, they did it their own way, took their time, grew organically and focused on the music and playing shows and not cashing in or compromising - and they got there.”
He further said, “I hope that our trajectory has been encouraging to other bands. You can do it on your own terms and you can break through.”
Philippakis told fans to be prepared for the ultimate live show from Foals in the interview, saying that, “We just gotta get up there and smash it - and that’s what we’re gonna do. We’ve just gotta prove ourselves. We’ll probably get a bit of extra firepower with the lights and lazers and stuff but in terms of changing what we do - I wouldn’t. No way.”
Reading and Leeds has added a lot of acts to the bill recently, including Fetty Wap, Imagine Dragons, Crystal Castles, Parkway Drive, Nothing But Thieves, The Internet, Oliver Heldens and Hannah Wants. The festival also just added Skrillex and Diplo to the line-up, who will perform under the combined Jack U name as well as Two Door Cinema Club. It will be the only date for Two Door Cinema Club in Europe over the summer. Kurupt FM, who stars on BBC3’s People Just Do Nothing, will be manning the Champagne Steam Room's club night at the festival.
Foals is also making waves in the US and recently performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where the band performed “Mountains At My Gate.” The performance on the show was the last time that the band will perform in the states until their sets at Coachella and Hangout music festivals.
