Jamie T asked Reading Festival on Instagram to squeeze him onto the 2026 bill at the last minute, and by the end of the same day he had the slot.
The request was specific. In a video posted on the morning of Thursday August 27, hours before the gates opened, he asked whether he could join the line-up at the last minute, offering to play any time on any stage, and said all he needed was 33 minutes and 10 seconds. Short and sweet, he added.
The number is a reference to "3310", his new single named after the Nokia phone, which is the first taster of the album Ghosts (100 Days of Morning), out on October 9 through Polydor Records. That record is the follow-up to 2022's The Theory of Whatever, his fifth.
The festival confirmed him later the same day. He was given the opening slot on the main stage, renamed The Grid for 2026, at noon on Friday August 28, and did not appear at the sister site in Leeds. A second secret set followed at 2pm from Royal Blood on The Gallery stage.
The performance itself ran to the promised length. He opened with "Hippodrome" and moved into "The Old Style Raiders" for the early arrivals, telling the field they were there to open the celebrations. "Salvador" and "3310" landed next, and the crowd warmed up properly for "If You Got The Money". A boisterous "Sticks N Stones" drew the best response of the set before a singalong of "Zombie" finished it.
Walking the gangway built for that night's headliners Charli XCX and Fontaines D.C., he told the crowd he felt like Bono out there. On arriving, he had a simpler line: we got on the bill then.
The set came a week after a secret sold-out show at London's Scala, his first at the venue in 20 years. Royal Blood's own Reading secret set followed on the Friday afternoon, and Charli XCX had teased a different show for her headline slot. The rest of the weekend is on the festival tracker, alongside the site's indie and rock coverage.
The facts
- Jamie T posted a video asking Reading to add him at the last minute
- He requested a slot of 33 minutes and 10 seconds
- The length is a nod to his single 3310
- He opened Reading's main stage, The Grid, at noon on August 28
- He did not play the Leeds site
- Royal Blood played a second secret set at 2pm on The Gallery stage
- His album Ghosts (100 Days of Morning) is out October 9 via Polydor
How this checks out
Single source
Reported by a single outlet
Only one outlet has reported it so far, so it stays a single source.
Cited sources 1
Every outlet that reported this, linked to what it published. Equal credits, in alphabetical order.