'Playing Reading Festival is full-circle moment'

In Parallel is a dance music duo from Staffordshire, made up of George Stevenson from Hixon and Harrison Baker from Penkridge. They are getting ready to headline the Smirnoff Stage at Reading Festival on Saturday night. This is a huge opportunity for them, especially since they only formed their band ten months ago. Despite being a new group, they have already played shows in other countries, including a tour in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year. George, who is 20 years old, said that he used to feel nervous before performing, but now he is mostly worried about whether people will show up to watch them. He told BBC Radio Stoke, 'Once you start playing and people are there, it's great. ' George remembers going to the Leeds Festival, which is similar to Reading Festival, when he was a teenager. He said that playing at Reading Festival feels like a 'full-circle moment' because he used to be in the crowd and now he is on stage.

The two musicians met after George signed to Harrison's music label two years ago. They discovered they lived close to each other because they shared the same postcode. They spent time at writing camps with friends, working on music together. Last October, they officially formed In Parallel. Since then, they have performed at several big events, including Boardmasters in Cornwall, where they played in front of about 8,000 people. Harrison, who is 23, said that was a highlight for him. He described how, just before their set, they saw hundreds of people walking towards the tent to see them perform. He said, 'That was a very special feeling - to know people were going specifically for your set. '

Harrison said it feels 'pretty mad' to be playing at Reading Festival, especially since they will be performing at the same time as the popular band Bring Me The Horizon. He is excited to see how many people will come to watch them. 'I think it's going to be a bit mad walking out on stage to that many people,' he said. Both George and Harrison are confident that they will put on a great show and are looking forward to seeing the crowd's reaction. Harrison said they expect summer 2026 to be busy for them and hope to play at Glastonbury in 2027. The duo is excited about their future and hopes to keep performing at bigger and bigger festivals.