Reading/Leeds headliner for 2015 confirmed - organiser

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Melvin Benn
BySinead Garvan
Newsbeat music reporter at Leeds Festival

The first headline act for Reading and Leeds festivals 2015 has been confirmed.

Melvin Benn, who organises the event told Newsbeat: "We've got the first one done."

Speaking to Newsbeat backstage at this year's Leeds festival, he said they are in a great position.

"We are actually in the same position as last year, we've got our first headliner confirmed."

"We are waiting for them to decide which night they want to play," the festival organiser told Newsbeat.

"Once we've done that then we can make the offers for the others."

Arctic Monkeys
Image caption,

Arctic Monkeys headlined in 2014 along with Blink 182 and Paramore

He wouldn't give too much information about who the first act confirmed are, only to say they have had an album in top 10 in the last year.

As for this year's festivals, he wanted to thank some quick-thinking BBC engineers.

Paramore's set at Reading was interrupted by 15 minutes because of a technical fault.

"The BBC very much came to the rescue of Paramore actually," he explained.

The problem was with a fibre optic cable and according to Melvin "nobody knew how to fix it".

"Fortunately there was a chap in the BBC who was mixing for the TV and Radio and said 'why don't you use our mix?'

"It was unbelievable, it was amazing quick thinking that completely and utterly rescued something that I was beginning to worry about.

"If they hadn't have done it then I don't think we'd have got away with putting that set on because it would have been too complicated."

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