Is rage the soundtrack of summer 2025? Can joy exist alongside political solidarity when climate change turns fields into dust clouds? Are main stages becoming platforms for resistance? And how do grassroots venues create the community foundations that allow festivals like Reading to exist at all?
This DiSpatch captures Reading Festival 2025 as both a celebration and political flashpoint - a weekend where Chappell Roan's euphoric main stage triumph coexisted with Palestine solidarity, climate crisis manifestations, and urgent conversations about the grassroots music ecosystem that supports it all. Sean Adams and Emma Wilkes navigate backstage conversations revealing how artists choose which urgent topics to address when "there's a lot of things happening in the world."
From Enter Shikari's pioneering grassroots levy work to Cliffords’ Cork scene community building, the episode maps how small venues create the collaborative culture that eventually reaches festival main stages. These conversations connect individual artist journeys to systemic challenges: venue closures, climate impacts, and the intersection of music with broader political movements.
Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction: Festivals as cultural battlegrounds in climate crisis era
05:00 – Chappell Roan: Joy as political resistance on main stage
08:00 – Cliffords on optimism as radical act and Cork scene collaboration
11:00 – Sofia Isella: From classical training to festival mud, building versatile artistry
16:00 – Rage as summer's soundtrack: Artist perspectives on political expression
22:00 – Enter Shikari: Choosing urgent topics and grassroots levy pioneer work
28:00 – Grassroots venues: Community infrastructure beyond music
35:00 – Climate crisis reaches UK festivals: Dust storms and venue sustainability
43:00 – Political solidarity: Palestine flags and artist platform responsibility
47:00 – Reading 2025: Cultural battleground assessment
Featured Links:
<ul>
<li><a href='https://www.youtube.com/@drownedinsound'>DrownedInSound YouTube Channel</a> - Full artist interviews from Reading Festival</li>
<li><a href='https://www.instagram.com/drownedinsound/'>DiS Instagram</a> - Behind-the-scenes festival content and artist clips</li>
<li><a href='https://grassrootslevy.org'>Grassroots Music Venue Crisis</a> - Learn about the £1 levy supporting venues</li>
<li><a href='https://www.nme.com/blogs/history-muse-reading-leeds-festival-1884798'>Muse at Reading Festival 1999</a> - A history of Muse performances at Reading Festival</li>
<li><a href='https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/drownedinsound'>DiS Bookshop</a> - Supporting independent bookstores and music writing</li>
</ul>
Artists Featured:
Chappell Roan, Cliffords, Sofia Isella, Enter Shikari, Heartworms, The Linda Lindas, Mannequin P*ssy, Amyl and the Sniffers, Lambrini Girls, and more
About DiSpatch:
DiSpatch episodes capture music events as cultural moments that reveal broader political and environmental currents. These aren't traditional festival reviews - they're explorations of how live music spaces become essential infrastructure for community building, political discourse, and cultural resistance in the climate crisis era.
Continue the Conversation:
<ul>
<li>Email sean@drownedinsound.org with your thoughts on festivals as political spaces</li>
<li>Join the discussion in our <a href='https://community.drownedinsound.com'>community forum</a> about venue sustainability</li>
<li>Subscribe to <a href='https://drownedinsound.org/newsletter'>DiS newsletter</a> for climate crisis generation journalism
</ul</li>
</ul>

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DiSpatch: Raging at Reading Festival - Backstage with Enter Shikari, Sofia Isella, Cliffords, and more

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