Check Out This Epic Reading Line-up From 23 Years Ago Today

23 years ago today, you would have seen Pulp headline Reading and Leeds festival, and that’s after Oasis headlined the day before and Stereophonics headlined the following day.

Elsewhere on the line-up, Eminem is surprisingly low – the fourth billed act after Stereophonics – while Slipknot, Placebo, Primal Scream, Foo Fighters, Beck, Gomez, and many more appear on the main stages.

On the Radio 1 Evening Session Stage, Muse already locked in a headline slot there, with Embrace and Ian Brown taking over the Saturday and Sunday, and Elliott Smith, Ween and Graham Coxon appearing further down.

Not far from blowing up, Black Eyed Peas took over the Dance Stage, while Queens Of The Stone Age would’ve proved their headline-worthy status on the Premier Stage.

In 2000, Reading and Leeds was a genuine alternative festival packed with many of Britain’s most popular acts, as well as their most beloved international artists.

This year, The 1975, Billie Eilish, The Killers, Sam Fender, Imagine Dragons, and Foals headline the legendary UK festival. It’s difficult not to compare current-day line-ups to the older days at a festival like this one.

While Billie Eilish is a pop artist dabbling in alternative areas, likewise with Imagine Dragons and The 1975, the other three – The Killers, Sam Fender and Foals – are pretty traditional rock and roll acts, finding inspiration in 80s rock music popularised by Bruce Springsteen to name one influence.

Even more remarkable about the Reading and Leeds 2000 festival was the price. For the entire three-day weekend, punters got to see all the mentioned acts and many more in the tour poster below for £80 – that’s $157 AUD. That’s not even a one-day festival price anymore.

In February 2015, dance duo heavyweights Knife Party, one of 2014's buzz outfits DMA's and Sydney indie-folk group Little May were booked to play the festival in August that year, representing Australia in the cities of Reading and Leeds.

They joined some pretty esteemed company, with the likes of Metallica, Kendrick Lamar, The Libertines, Mumford & Sons, Deadmau5 and Bring Me The Horizon all locked in to perform.

In 2014, Flume, DZ Deathrays, RÜFÜS and Panama all performed at the festival.