From Red Hot Chili Peppers, Disclosure to A$AP Rocky – Reading Festival was a mixed bag of music genres – with Rock, electronica indie, punk and hip hop to name few, six stages brought a whole new level of diversity. There is something for everyone at Reading and when the sun shines (as it did) the festival is a joy, a real treat for all of us.
I have to admit It’s hard to be objective when you are a fans of something ’d always hated the sound of Reading Festival. All I ever heard were horror stories of teens heading there after final year exams and experiencing alcohol & narcotics for the first time, and casually setting tents on fire with gas canisters. It really sold it to me..
However the reality of Reading was far from the tales that had been told over the years (well from what I saw anyway) – and with it only being down the road, it seemed silly not to even give it a go at least once (and only for a day). With Biffy Clyro topping the bill, the price for a day ticket more than sufficed just to see them – let alone the endless amount of options thrown in for added value throughout the course of Sunday.
Arriving into Reading around midday, it was shocking to see so many worn-out souls heading for their trains home. I sort of sniggered to myself; they wouldn’t last a single day at Glastonbury! Nevertheless it cleared out space for us Sunday veterans, as jaded as we were from the antics of the night before. August bank holiday, you relentless beast.
The setting of Reading Festival was beautiful and the location was ideal. The site ran alongside the thames and was only a fifteen minute walk from the station – easy escape route for the drunken stumble out of the site. The festival organisation on a whole was efficient and attentive to Sunday newcomers, and before we knew it we were onsite and armed with beers by 1pm (the Jägermeister was yet to come).
Over the course of the day, it was as though we’d be served up a 12 course meze. For starters we delved into Brixton-born Sneakbo who kickstarted the madness, plying us with the Jetski Wave & multiple moshpits. It was amazing to see so much energy from the crowd and from Sneakbo who signed a deal with Virgin EMI earlier this year.
In-between pints & Jagers, we got stuck into the next few courses; Sleeping With Sirens, Five Finger Death Punch, followed by Half Moon Run – all before warming up to acts such as A$AP Rocky & Dave Rodigan. The variety of talent on offer blew me away and I really started to kick myself for turning down years of Reading Festival.
After chucking loads of money at various carnival rides, we staggered over to the main stage to be greeted by the nations favourite Scottish Rockers. Having been to 6 Glastonburys, 2 Bestivals & various day festivals in recent years, it was bewildering how I’d managed to dodge the Biffy Clyro bullet. With that said, Biffy came, they saw & they conquered – signing off a remarkable weekend and one of the last UK festivals of the season.
My advice to anybody thinking of going next year – bloody do it! But if you’re like me and don’t think you can handle camping amongst teenie boppers, then just cross reference the line up over the 3 days and dedicate yourself to a day of debauchery and phenomenal talent.
