Fans gear up for Reading and Leeds festival

Fans are braving bad weather and fields of mud to attend the Reading and Leeds festivals (27 August).

Eighty-seven thousand people will see Gun N' Roses headline the main stage at Reading's Richfield Avenue tonight.

At Leeds' Bramham Park, Canadian rockers Arcade Fire top the bill on the first night alongside reformed London band The Libertines.

Californian pop-punk outfit Blink 182 complete the line-up, and the weather is due to improve over the weekend.

Festival drama

The lead-up to this year's event has seen its fair share of drama.

Last week, organisers were forced to quash rumours that Guns N' Roses had pulled out after someone hacked into lead singer Axl Rose's Twitter account and said the gigs were off.

Meanwhile, 'co-headliners' Arcade Fire and The Libertines have enjoyed some friendly banter in the months running up to the event.

Speaking to Newsbeat last month about their joint billing, Arcade Fire's Win Butler joked: "The Liber-what? That's the one with that guy right?

"We don't have anything to do with that stuff. I mean, they're an exciting rock band. I think it'll be a good double bill."

Carl Barat, lead singer of the reformed Libertines, replied by saying: "That's surprisingly nice of them. I didn't think they wanted it to be a double bill.

Chris, Steve, Liam and Jack, all from Hull, get ready to party in Leeds

"I guess we'll see on the night. I know they're a well respected band. This sounds like a boxing match. They're great - I like what they do."

The original four members of The Libertines - Peter Doherty, Carl Barat, Gary Powell and John Hassall - announced they were to reform to play the festivals during an inebriated press conference at a north London pub in March.

After performing a short acoustic set there, the band played two warm-up shows this week at London's Kentish Town Forum - one for 'friends and family' and another for the general public.

'The spirit'

Fans at Leeds festival seem most excited by the return of The Libertines after six years away.

Chris, 23, from Hull said: "I'm really looking forward to The Libertines. Un-planned setlist - it'll probably be mental."

Jack, 23, also from Hull, added: "I think it's whether Pete [Doherty] can keep it together - that's the big worry. They might not get to Reading but that doesn't matter!"

And their friend Steve said: "There's more anticipation about The Libertines than Arcade Fire - they're consistently good but with Libertines it's hit or miss. It's exciting - the spirit."

Other bands playing the first day at Reading include Queens Of The Stone Age, Biffy Clyro, LCD Soundsystem, Mumford And Sons and Marina And The Diamonds.

Day one at Leeds will see Dizzee Rascal, Pendulum and The Cribs join The Libertines and Arcade Fire.

Radio 1 will be coming live from Reading festival between 1-4pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.