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

Aug 26, 2025

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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