Reading Festival 2019: Backstage with The 1975, Charli XCX, Royal Blood and more

Hands up who had a stonking Reading & Leeds Festival? Team NME braved the sun to get down the front and round the back with all your favourite bands. Here's who we met swanning about the artist compound throughout the bank holiday weekend.

NME

3rd September 2019

Reading Festival 2019: Backstage with The 1975, Charli XCX, Royal Blood and more

1Tyla Yaweh

Jenn Five/NME

Signed to Posty's label, Tyla Yaweh is the new big name in rap. He still had time to stop for a chat though, mid puff.

2Yungblud

Yungblud (Credit: Jenn Five/NME) Jenn Five/NME

Dom from Donny aka Yungblud seems to have forgotten his manners when we bump into him bounding around the backstage area. He did however grab his buddy Machine Gun Kelly over for a chat, which we filmed. It's funny.

3Charli XCX

Jenn Five/NME

It's Charli baby! We managed to grab XCX backstage who revealed she's written a techno song with Grimes. Something we need to hear ASAP.

4The 1975

Jenn Five

It's your Friday night headliners, The 1975!

5Royal Blood

Jenn Five

Wanna fight? Royal Blood get amped up for their huge Main Stage show.

6Pvris

Jenn Five

American rockers Pvris joined us for a quick snap before their set on the BBC Radio 1 Stage.

7Pup

Jenn Five

Positive punks Pup enjoyed a pre-show sit down in the sun.

8You Me At Six

Andy Ford/NME

You Me At Six are busy working on their seventh album, but managed to find the time to join us at Reading for a snap and chat. Any collaborations planned for the next record? "Drake" they joke. Or do they...

9Palaye Royale

Jenn Five

We managed to grab the band of brothers for a few pictures backstage.

10Against The Current

Jenn Five/NME

Against The Current joined us after their mega Main Stage set.

11The Chats

Andy Ford

Shed-rockers The Chats revealed what happened when Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and Alex Turner went to one of their gigs earlier this year (Dave told them "don’t fuck it up" before they went on) when we found them backstage at Reading. And they posed for a few pictures.

12Poppy

Andy Ford

We caught up with Poppy who gave us the deets on her new album ("it's even heavier than the last") and what it's like to go to Marilyn Manson's birthday party (“It is what you would have imagined it to be”).

13Chvrches Reading Festival 2019

Andy Ford/NME

Backstage Chvrches chatted about playing their third Reading and Leeds, with multi-instrumentalist Martin Doherty telling us: “It’s kind of funny with bands like Bastille and The 1975 as we all kind of came through at the same time...you become friends with them over the years so it’s cool that we’re all back on the same cycle. Everybody’s still going so it’s quite cool.” Reading and Leeds, basically a big ‘ol school reunion for bands.

14Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

Andy Ford/NME

Frank Carter and rattlesnake Dean Richardson cuddled up for a snap.

15Fidlar

Andy Ford

Fidlar looking ready to conquer The Pit stage.

16Machine Gun Kelly

Jenn Five/NME

MGK managed to fit us into his busy schedule that included performing on the BBC Radio 1 Stage and joining Yungblud on the Main Stage in one afternoon.

17Kim Petras

Jenn Five/NME

Woo Ah! It's Kim Petras, making her Reading Festival debut.

18Mini Mansions

Jenn Five/NME

The Mini Mansions lads, who considerately colour coordinated their suits to the backdrop.

19Bastille

Jenn Five/NME

Checkmate - the Bastille boys psych themselves up to headline the BBC Radio 1 Stage.

20Counterfeit

Jenn Five

Counterfeit are all smiles after their killer set opening the Main Stage on Saturday.

21Pale Waves

Pale Waves at Reading Festival 2019, by Andy Ford/NME Andy Ford/NME

Pale Waves pucker up before they brought their goth-pop to the BBC Radio 1 Stage.

22Nothing No Where

Jenn Five

Nothing No Where joined us backstage for a quick pic.

23The Distillers at Reading Festival

Brody and the gang returned for their first show in the UK for over a decade on Sunday afternoon.

Reading Festival 2019: Backstage with The 1975, Charli XCX, Royal Blood and more

1Tyla Yaweh

2Yungblud

3Charli XCX

4The 1975

5Royal Blood

6Pvris

7Pup

8You Me At Six

9Palaye Royale

10Against The Current

11The Chats

12Poppy

13Chvrches Reading Festival 2019

14Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

15Fidlar

16Machine Gun Kelly

17Kim Petras

18Mini Mansions

19Bastille

20Counterfeit

21Pale Waves

22Nothing No Where

23The Distillers at Reading Festival

General Election 2019: Conservatives declared winners after disastrous night for Labour

General Election: Stormzy, Thom Yorke and Yungblud lead reactions as Conservatives secure huge victory

Edward Norton: “If you take your work seriously, it’s all-consuming”