Fuckboys, roadmen, shit chants and some very, very good bands.
In my eyes the perfect way to describe Reading 2015. The traditional
post GCSE music festival appears to be evolving into less about the music and
more about the ‘social’, the generally underwhelming headliners in comparison
to previous years highlights this in the clearest way possible.
The Wednesday/Thursday of sitting around nursing warm cans of cider
were as expected but in comparison to last year the site seemed dead. Though
this could be down to the heavy rain turning the paths into swamps and
restricting the freedom to explore the camps but from the off something just
wasn’t as I remembered. Wherever I looked there seemed to be a sea of
stereotypical ‘lads’ wearing bucket hats shouting ‘WHAT ARE THOOOOSEEE’ in the
direction of everyone despite the same wellington boot footwear being sported
by all. Morons.
Friday rolled around quickly and the music (the saving grace began).
Starting off with the Districts in the NME tent, a four piece from
Pennsylvania who are probably best likened to the Orwells. Opening with very
impressive ‘4th and robeling’, which was pretty much written for
festivals, set the tone for a very energetic live performance combined with the
upbeat atmosphere (despite getting bitten by another person!!) made it a great
way to kick of proceedings and I urge everyone to give them a listen.
Running over to the main stage to catch three back to back
performances by Drenge, Palma Violets and Panic! At the disco respectively.
Somewhat underwhelming, Drenge were not best suited to the main stage and even
the usually fierce ‘I want to break you in half’ didn’t seem to translate well.
Palma Violets followed and were, as expected, chaotic and good value, the
always euphoric ‘best of friends’ did not disappoint.
Panic! At the disco followed and the 13 year old within me was
screaming with excitement, and I was not let down. Performing a great set
including classic hits and some new tracks which had more mainstream success and
even a magnificent cover of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which was met by an
anthemic sing-along by every member of the crowd. Brendon Urie proves to be a
very good frontman and for me their set was a sentimental high point of the
weekend.
Peace, beforehand I expected little. I had seen Peace a fair few times
and they’d always been good; apart from their underwhelming set on the main
stage last year. Opening with ‘I’m a girl’ and immediately I knew this was
going to be different from any other Peace gig I’d ever attended before. The
atmosphere was electric, violent mosh pits opened up all around me and everyone
was having a good time. Their set included an excellent rendition of ‘bloodshake’
with the crowd going wild and howls of ‘you vibe so hard’ flooding the NME
tent. Every track was a good as the last and culminating with Sam Koisser’s
delicious bassline at the end of ‘world pleasure’ summed up the set perfectly.
It really was one of the best sets I’ve ever seen and no doubt it was the best
I saw all weekend.
Alt-J were the last band of the day for me and they were impressive to
say the least. Their second LP ‘this is all yours’ transferred from studio to
the stage much better than expected with ‘left hand free’ and ‘every other
freckle’ being met with excellent receptions from the crowd. Every song seemed
to be a hit and this was certainly helped by the crowd belting every word. A ‘Bloodflood’
into ‘Bloodflood pt II’ combination was a real treat and accompanied by some
stunning aesthetics it really was a great live show by a great studio band. Highlights:
Matilda, Breezeblocks and Taro.
Saturday started off with a bang. Fidlar, the LA skate punk rockers
played a loud and rowdy half hour set powering through old hits ‘cheap beer’ and
‘no waves’ before coming to new material ‘drone’ and ‘40oz on repeat’ both of
which were met with a very positive reception. Debut album bonus track
‘awkward’ provided the only sing-along moment in an otherwise brash set. I left
during the closer ‘cocaine’ and from what I could hear sounds like I did miss
out but I just had to get a good position for what was coming next…
The secret act. Foals. A few weeks before there was a blatantly
obvious hint of ‘wild horses’ which all but revealed it to be them and it was
officially confirmed on twitter that morning. As ‘Twin Peaks’ set drew to a
close the NME tent had already began to fill to its brim. There was a real buzz
around the place and their entry onto the stage and flourishing into ‘my
number’ sparking mass cheers from the almost overwhelmed crowd. As the Oxfordshire four piece played a
criminally short 6 song set including songs from all 4 of their studio LP’s
Yannis remarked how ‘it’s good to be back’ and that the NME tent feels like
home, there was definitely an air of sincerity in his voice and you could tell
how much playing in front of thousands of adoring fans means to this band.
Closing with the eponymous song off their latest album ‘what went down’, the
crowd stepped up a gear and screamed every word in response. A very, very impressive
performance and if they were to return to the festival next year it would have
to be as headliners as they deserve nothing less.
After the intensity of Foals there wasn’t a moments break as up next
were Slaves, the Tunbridge Wells/Maidstone two piece punk outfit. As my
hometown band they hold a sentimental place in my heart but my God do they
deliver. Coming out of their 45 minute set drowning in my own and others sweat
just showed how good it was. Opening with the acoustic track ‘are you satisfied’
before blistering into my favourite ever slaves song ‘white knuckle ride’; the
boys from Kent caused carnage with more raucous hits including the trademark
pre-song skit for ‘where’s your car Debbie?’; as well as debuting new track
‘facing the wall’, which I have to say sounded very good live. But the biggest
cheer came from Isaac Holman instructing the crowd to watch through their eyes
not their phones. Despite it being the most violent set I experienced the whole
weekend it was also the most fun, slaves translate well into an exceptional
live act. But the absolute highlight for their set was the tribute to Laurie's late fancy goldfish, 'Gerald'. In which the crowd responded in true football hooliganism style with the repeated chant of 'GERALLLD GERALLLD GERALLLD!'
For me the surprise band of the weekend were Spector. After taking
some heavy bruising from the last 3 sets a bit of calm was needed and Spector
more than sufficed. Off the back of new album ‘Moth boys’ they put on a great
show and, of course, the anthem to end all anthems ‘chevy thunder’ was the
pinnacle of the set which also included ‘all the sad young men’ with an
extended outro to finish. It was a really nice change of pace to have a dance
and focus entirely on the music and not whether I was going to survive or not.
But after seeing them live I’m hooked, and their new album is one of the best
released this year.
Up next were Royal Blood who could only be described as painfully
average. Now there was nothing explicitly wrong with their set it was just so
bland and the crowd’s reaction showed that. Not playing the best song they’ve
released ‘hole’ was a big disappointment. They played new song ‘hook line and
sinker’, not that it sounded any different from the rest. The whole tone was
summarised with a black Sabbath iron man outro to set closer ‘out of the black’
which just sounded like one great big faff around and as if it had never been
rehearsed before, more like a gimmick than anything else.
With Catfish and the Bottlemen I got what I expected, a good live
performance playing the same songs as ever. People seem to worship this band
and I just don’t see it. They are a good live band but there’s just nothing
special about their catchy repetitive songs. Though this may sound as if I’m slating
their set at reading I am not. It was good fun and I the people around me were
all enjoying themselves, it was probably one of my favourite of the weekend as I made a lovely new friend, but
I just felt like I’d seen it before, song wise it was very similar to last year
and likewise with performance. Though there were no dickheads with flares last
year thinking they’re the dog’s bollocks. ‘Homesick’ was, as always, the peak
of the set.
As an alternative to Metallica I chose to watch my childhood band ‘The
Wombats’ and I most definitely made the right decision. Filling out the
festival republic stage long before they came on the huge crowd was deserved.
Playing a selection of tracks spreading over their 3 albums the Wombats opened
with a real certified banger ‘moving to New York’ and from the off the tone was
sent. Every lyric bellowed out and echoed around the tent. A basic stage setup
drew no diversion of the crowd’s attention and the longer their set went on,
the more people kept arriving. Personally it was heart-warming to see a band that
means so much to me get such a positive reception. Ending with ‘Let’s Dance to
Joy Division’ followed by an instrumental where everyone was ordered to lose as
much of their shit as possible, and it summarised how much fun everyone around
me was having with the response to this.
Sunday was a day of seeing very few bands. Starting off with
Ska-reggae-punk band the Skints just for a little wind down and relax with
joints being sparked up in every direction in the most stereotypical manner. A
feel good way to start the set and it’s nice to see a band offering something
different. Frontman Joshua Waters Rudge aimed a big ‘fuck you’ at Theresa May
her role in banning Tyler the Creator from the UK and this no doubt received
mass cheers as any anti-government comment would.
The Maccabees on the main stage drew a very large crowd and it would
have been hard to find someone leave disappointed. Despite the notable absence
of their largest success ‘toothpaste kisses’ the set was excellent. Mainly
featuring material from their recent number 1 ‘Marks to prove it’ the
atmosphere was anticipative, as I suspect many of the crowd were waiting for
Jamie T but nonetheless everything they played went down well. ‘Something like
happiness’ felt particularly special as did ‘marks to prove it’ before an
eruptive performance of ‘Pelican’ to end affairs.
Jamie T. it is no secret how much this man means to me and he is
probably my favourite artist on the planet currently, so it’s fair to say I was
excited. So for this reason it is heart-breaking to me that I was slightly let
down. In no way shape or form the fault of Mr Treays, but entirely down the
tedious conglomerate of pricks which formed the crowd. Even before he came on
people were being tossed over the barrier thanks to what looked like the
stereotypical roadman who thought pushing everyone out of their way even before
he came on was a considerate thing to do. Arseholes. Once he came on my mood
increased slightly especially as it was one of my personal favourites ‘operation’
to open. But I was surrounded by people who didn’t know a single word. And
unfortunately I discovered that this was the case throughout with only the
chorus for ‘Sheila, sticks and stones, and zombie’ being sang. There was more
interest in fighting their way to the mosh pits to try and maliciously attack
someone. His ability to perform is not the problem, it’s the crowd. Performance
wise he was unbelievable and congratulating stage predecessors and friends the
Maccabees on their number 1 stating it to be ‘well fucking deserved’ was a nice
touch.
The shift of Reading’s nature was summarised no better than by the
choice of Libertines or Boy Better know. This resulting in a somewhat
disappointing turnout for the libertines and probably the oldest crowd of the
festival, but regardless Libs smashed it. It was a very emotional moment; The
Libertines were a proper band again. Like an actual real band. Coming on stage
to Vera Lynn’s ‘we’ll meet again’ before taking off into a blistering set, the
likely lads played hit after hit from their extensive back catalogue. Obvious highlights
being ‘can’t stand me now’ and ‘music when the lights go out’. During a moving
version of ‘you’re my waterloo’ with Doherty wandering the stage mic in hand was
when I realised how special this band really are and how they really were back
and what seems for good. Despite the omission of personal favourite ‘what
became of the likely lads’ the encore was the stuff of dreams including ‘what a
waster, don’t look back into the sun and I get along’. With almost every member
of the crowd shouting ‘FUCK EM’, you really couldn’t ask for a better way to
end a festival.
Overall Reading was a good weekend down to the acts I saw but it is
clear that it’s getting less and less about the music. With the price
increasing year on year and the quality decreasing I feel there are so many better
value for money festivals out there.
Losing the chaos of their earlier singles Baby Strange’s
latest release ‘Pure Pleasure’ shows an ever growing sense of musical maturity
following on from their July release ‘California Sun’. 
