The 1975 Are Replacing Rage Against The Machine At Reading And Leeds Festival And Fans Have Thoughts

This week, Rage Against The Machine were forced to cancel their Europe and UK dates on the Public Service Announcement Tour due to singer Zack De La Rocha’s leg injury. The complications from his on-stage injury in July are too much to bear right now for the singer, given the flights, tours, etc., and the band has had to turn back headlining performances at arena shows and music festivals. Among those festivals is the UK’s titanic Reading and Leeds festivals in September, and The 1975 have just been announced as the replacement headliner for Rage Against The Machine.

This is a significant advancement for UK fans, who haven’t had a chance to see The 1975 play live since 2020. The band has their new album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language coming out on October 14th, and singer Matty Healy recorded a video on his Instagram story explaining that he was actually planning to see Rage at Reading, but now, plans have changed. “The 1975 are going to headline Reading and Leeds and it’s going to be f***ing sick,” he said. “There will be guys and girls my age who are like “that’s not a replacement for Rage Against the Machine” and it isn’t I mean, who can replace Rage Against The Machine? But it’s going to be a different day, a different festival. Outside of like rock bands, we’re the best f***ing band in the world, so I’ll see you on Friday and Sunday.”]

That hasn’t stopped fans from poking fun at how it’s truly a different festival now, especially considering that other headlining acts include Halsey and Arctic Monkeys. Some of the responses on Twitter to the news that The 1975 are replacing Rage Against The Machine at the Reading and Leads festival have ranged from elation to downright hilarity though.