This, then, is what mounting tension feels like

As if it makes any real difference to the children of rich kids who use it as a backdrop to drinking cider, burning plastic and sexual experimentation, but Reading and Leeds is having three American headliners this year.

Melvin Benn, the tease, won't reveal who, though.

He has announced that the fest is going to be unsponsored this year:

"The contract was up for renewal and I wanted to reclaim the name of the festivals to return to their roots. I didn't want the festivals to be named after a sponsor.

"I am not asking another sponsor to come in and take it over. I wanted it to be less corporate like your listeners wanted."

So, the Carling Weekend is no more, then. But it's a mutual separation. We're not quite sure how the Leeds Festival is going to return to its roots - perhaps they'll call it 'Attempting to work economies of scale from the Reading Festival 2008' or something, but its good to hear Benn taking such a brave decision.

Of course, it could just be that as the economies take a bit of a downturn and there's a million ways for sponsors to create their own events around music the cost of having your name ignored by everyone but the organisers of ("attached to") the Reading/Leeds festival became to great to justify. But we're sure that's not the case.