It’s the rock festival where his father famously headlined 26 years ago.
And today Oasis singer Liam Gallagher’s youngest son Gene, 25, took to the stage at the Reading music extravaganza with his band Villanelle.
Gene, whose mother is Nicole Appleton, looked remarkably like his famous dad with his rock-chic black hair and sunglasses as he performed his biggest performance yet at the two-festival event taking place today and all weekend in both Reading and Leeds.
Together with his two bandmates, he appeared on the Canopy stage, which is smaller than the main stage where Oasis performed in 2000.
But he wasn’t the only musical nepo baby to perform at the festival. Several descendants of world-famous musicians are performing there this weekend, prompting accusations of elitism after festival organizers scrapped the BBC Introducing stage, first launched in 2008 to host new talent.
Despite launching the careers of musicians such as Ed Sheeran and Florence + the Machine and around 70 percent of the British artists in this year’s line-up, Festival Republic bosses last month announced a review of its venues and said it would now be open to a ‘much wider pool of emerging talent.’
However, after giving slots to players like Cruz, Gene, Violet and Moses, there has been a lot of online activity.
Shortly before Gene took the stage, Moses Martin, the 20-year-old son of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow, took the stage with his indie pop band People I’ve Met at the Reading music extravaganza for a 35-minute set, 27 years after his father sang there with Coldplay.
Oasis singer Liam Gallagher’s youngest son Gene, 25, took to the stage at the Reading music extravaganza with his band Villanelle
Shortly before Gene took the stage, Moses Martin, the 20-year-old son of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow, took the stage with his indie pop band People I’ve Met
Dressed in a white T-shirt and dark blue jeans, Moses, who like his father is the singer of his band, took the stage with the band that also consists of Orlando Wiltshire and Andrew Suster.
They originally formed the group during their school days together in Los Angeles, California, but only started performing live two years ago.
Gene and Moses’ performances put a second-generation spin on one of Britpop’s icier rivalries, which saw Oasis star Liam, 53, mock Coldplay frontman Chris as a “geography teacher” and branded the band’s fans “bed-wetters”.
Also on stage on Friday was Violet Grohl, the daughter of Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl, who attended the Leeds event held in the city’s Bramham Park before appearing in Reading on Sunday.
Despite canceling two gigs in Liverpool and Manchester earlier this week after losing her voice, she recovered in time to sing hits from her album Be Sweet to Me.
Like Gene and Moses, Violet’s father Dave also appeared in Leeds and Reading seven times, the last appearance being in 2019 when they headlined.
Also this weekend, David and Victoria Beckham’s youngest son Cruz, 21, will perform with his band The Breakers in Reading on Saturday and in Leeds on Sunday.
His proud parents, who have previously attended his performances, will watch his sets as they continue their summer holidays in Spain.
The nepo babies will be tagging along to both festivals all weekend long.
Other headliners include Fontaines DC, former Little Mix singer JADE, RAYE, Chase And Status and Florence and the Machine.
Liam Gallagher’s youngest son Gene is the singer and guitarist of the grunge/indie rock band Villanelle (pictured together)
Like his famous father, Moses has built a career in music (pictured together)
Gene, whose mother is Nicole Appleton, looked remarkably like his famous father with his rock-chic black hair and sunglasses
Together with his two bandmates, he appeared on the Canopy stage, which is smaller than the main stage where Oasis performed in 2000.
Gene gave his biggest performance yet at the event with two festivals taking place today and all weekend in both Reading and Leeds
On Friday, Violet Grohl, the daughter of Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl, was also on stage
Violet is the eldest daughter of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and Jordyn Blum (pictured together in January)
It is expected that more than 100,000 festival goers will descend on both locations during the three days.
And it appears Britain’s long summer spell of hot and dry weather is over as crowds of people were seen donning their boots and ponchos on Thursday as they arrived at both festival locations to set up camp, bracing themselves for rainy conditions.
The Introducing stage was first launched in 2008 and also played host to the 1975 and Charli XCX, one of this year’s headliners, before they got their big break in the music industry.
Reading Festival was launched in 1971 and expanded to Leeds in 1999.
The biggest sets will be broadcast by the BBC and streamed on iPlayer, including RAYE on Saturday evening and Chase And Status the following evening.
