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THE VINES have pulled out of their scheduled appearance at the CARLING WEEKEND: READING AND LEEDS FESTIVALS, NME.COM can exclusively reveal.

The band, who also pulled out of a massive US tour with Incubus so they can "take a break and deal with mental and physical exhaustion issues", were scheduled to appear at the festival in August.

However, they will now not play. A spokesperson for the band told NME.COM: "The Vines have reluctantly made the decision to pull out of their scheduled Reading and Leeds performances this year. The band were unable to take part in a planned US summer tour with Incubus due to lead singer Craig Nicholls’ needing to rest and recuperate following a mentally and physically demanding period. With the festival shows coming directly after the cancelled US dates, The Vines felt they would still not be ready to return to the stage."

A statement has been issued that reads: "We’re really sorry that we have to pull out and want to thank all of our fans and friends for being so understanding about our situation this year. Reading and Leeds are definitely festival highlights – we all remember Reading two years ago as our best gig ever – so it’s been a very hard decision to make, but sadly we’re just not ready to play live again."

In the downtime, bassist Patrick Matthews will be standing in for recently departed Youth Group member Johnno Lattin on their forthcoming Australian tour.

A spokesperson for Matthews told NME.COM Patrick has been a long time fan and close friend of the Sydney based group.

He said: "The Vines are definitely still together. We haven’t broken up and I haven’t left the band. Morrissey once said that the music industry is full of bitter ex-players, and I’m hoping to stave off temporary ‘ex’ feelings by playing some Youth Group songs for the next month."