Reading Festival 2011

It’s that time again. You know, the few days when every 16+ Student in the South of England wakes up and thinks ‘What the fuck happened last weekend?’. The time where every other Facebook status is about how wet/muddy/stoned the last few days were.
Yeah, it’s post-Reading (and Leeds) festival time again and in exchange for pulling pints and mopping floors for half of the weekend I got to go for free. Aren’t I a lucky chap?

Of course the whole having to work six or seven hours in a day meant that I wouldn’t be able to see every band. Come Friday I worked all morning so it wasn’t until three that I got to the arena, just in time to catch the end of American heartland rockers Mona on the Radio One stage complete with guitar smashing and all that jazz. This, followed by Cerebral Ballzy’s set in the Festival Republic tent was a pretty incendiary start to the day’s music. The ‘Ballzy were in fiery form as ever, with a beer fuelled insistence on circle pits and labelling the crowd ‘thrashers’. ‘Cutting Class’ was a highlight in what was, as ever, a delight of a show.

A solid block of American alt. rock and metal occupied the Main Stage afternoon. Rise Against were as tight and highly impressive live as expected, certainly not a case of them not living up to their reputation. Singer Tim McIlrath even managed to give a little speech on the London Riots without sounding condescending before the bands rather swish cover of ‘White Riot.’ Deftones were even better. They’ve always managed to marry the ‘heavy’ aspect of their music seamlessly with still managing to sound ‘pretty’ (as they themselves put it in a pre-festival interview). Certainly their atmospheric brand of alt. metal came across pretty staggeringly from the stage. There was a sizeable helping of energy as well, especially from Chino Moreno and his stage roaming ways and overall I was pretty disappointed to have to leave the crowd early.

The reason I did that wasn’t (as you might guess) because I didn’t like the band but because I wanted to see someone who is (possibly) my favourite front man ever over on the Alternative Stage, Henry Rollins of Black Flag. An hour of very funny and very insightful spoken word performance later and I wasn’t sad about missing Deftones’ finish. With stories from Black Flag’s touring days right through to his travels around the world more recently there was always a punch line around the corner, even if it was paving the way for a serious point. If you ever get the chance to see him live, do it.

That done with, and with darkness now falling over the Arena I hot footed it over the Radio One/NME stage to, in the absence of much else, watch the Vaccines. Now I’ve been very critical of their brand of music in the past but I thought I’d give them a second chance and at least try them out live. The tent was packed to the rafters and with an atmosphere very much like Two Door Cinema Club’s set the year before (i.e. hype band on stage). It would be very unkind of me to pour scorn on the set itself because they were actually a very very good live band. Lots of energy and near perfect live vocals combined with the size and singalong nature of the crowd all came together very nicely. In fact the songs themselves sounded much better from the stage rather than from my speakers at home. Everything had more depth and just sounded much less boring. I’m not exactly sold on the band yet, but I no longer have an urge to kill something every time I hear their music.

If The Vaccines were my change of heart of the day, Tom Vek was my surprise artist of Friday. Having heard nothing of his music apart from good things and single ‘A Chore’ I stood in the Festival Republic tent and was pretty gob smacked by what I saw. The smallish crowd was given a real treat, atmospheric, slightly trippy electro-indie at its finest, with a light show to match. The singer and his band’s low key stage presence was more than made up for by the music itself, in fact it was pretty charming to see the geeky Tom Vernon-Knell look so shocked as he looked up from his mic to see the ecstatic reaction he was getting. Almost instantly this year’s Leisure Seizure was added to my post-festival album list.

After that things finished off a little on a downer. Dragging myself to My Chemical Romance in the hope of old material coming out I was disappointed from almost the word go. There was always a sense, even a long way back, that bottles were about to be thrown and the newer material, solid enough on its own, was still completely outstripped by the earlier stuff. ‘I’m Not Ok’ was the highlight of the part of the set I saw by a very large country mile. Of course it could have suddenly got much better but I left after I doubt it. Going to see The Horrors, who started later back at Festival Republic, was a much wiser move. Although I only got to see the set from a distance and the sound was fairly average the performance was still mesmerising. They’ve come a long way from the faux-Goth garage rockers they were back when ‘Strange House’ came out. If they keep their currently shoegazey hit rate up they’ll be being christened ‘the new My Bloody Valentine’ or ‘A British Sonic Youth’ in a few albums time. Overall, much more fun that watching Brain May try and look credible while performing with MCR in the other side of the field.



Once again, come Saturday morning I was mopping floors and being bored, so I didn’t get to see any bands before I rocked up at the arena about half way through Tribes’ set at Festival Republic. The much talked about Camden band were one of the ‘buzz bands’ of the day and the tent was packed out with the crowd being treated to a set of classy Brit-Rock anthem material. My opinion that this one is a band to watch was not damaged in the slightest.

Grouplove were a reason to stay in the tent after the Tribes crowd had melted away. Although not managing to fill the tent they were still as well received. With their debut album round the corner (as I type it has been released) and a couple of high profile UK tours as a support behind them the interest wasn’t surprising. Add that to the quality of ‘Colours’ and album single ‘Itchin’ on a Photograph’ and sing along moments/arm waving/emotional happy faces were almost guaranteed to spring up all over the crowd. Certainly it wasn’t worth leaving early, which meant I only caught the end of the OFWGKTA set at Radio One/NME. Not being a hipster kid with a love of triangles ad ‘ironic’ inverted crosses I wasn’t really that excited to see the American Hip-Hop collective, more just curious. In summary, I’d rather have had a few more Grouplove songs. If I want to listen to ‘shocking’ rap then I have a number of Eminem albums on my iPod. The fact that Tyler, the Creator is pretty ripped is the only thing that learnt from the set, although maybe if I’d see the whole thing it would have been different…

Mariachi El Bronx brought out the party vibes back at Festival Republic and by that I don’t mean they rocked up with a few six packs, beer bong and a set of iPod speakers. Instead the Mexican incarnation of the LA hardcore band brought a full blown Hispanic street party and dumped it straight on everyone’s heads. The results, including a mass conga line circle pit, were pretty euphoric. In fact, after that performance, Madness on the Main Stage were the only band I could think about seeing, such was my desire to keep dancing like your drunk Uncle at a wedding.

When I’d finally prised myself away from the skank fest I caught a slice of an impressive Comback Kid set (sadly shortened by a late start) before taking my place front of stage for Jimmy Eat World back outside.

You may remember the rather lukewarm review I gave them when I saw their Brixton Academy show earlier this year. This time round I have nothing but praise. As before the musicianship on show was of the highest standard, but this time the set list matched it. With only three new songs played and all the classics wheeled out for all to see you got a sense of why, if you look over the Reading line ups of the last decade, you’ll see Jimmy Eat World there consistently. Basically, you play songs like ‘Sweetness’ to a festival crowd and no one seems capable of not having a good time.

Glassjaw on the Radio One/NME stage had, by the time I got there, reached the ‘let’s play loads of new stuff’ part of their set and seemed to attract more of a crowd due to the need to shelter from the rain rather than on the quality of music, which was a shame. Capdown over on the lock-up stage on the other hand were another case of party vibes brought to the extreme. Having checked out their set on a friend’s advice I was, for the second time in the day, overtaken by the urge to skank like a fool. Saxaphone wielding ska-punk-hardcore delivered with furious energy and enough charisma to fill a lake? Why not? Easily my ‘band to check out afterwards’ of the day.

By now it was getting late and after a quick two song stop by Bombay Bicycle Club (magical as ever) I set up camp at the main stage again for the headliners.

If I’m honest, the two acts couldn’t have been more different. Pulp were energetic, charming and downright good fun. Sure you don’t notice much more of the band that Jarvis Cocker. But then when a man is that snake hipped why would you need to? ‘Disco 2000’, ‘Mishapes’ and ‘Common People’ are three of my favourite songs of the Brit-Pop era and they, along with a cart load of other classics, were delivered in all their glory.

And then there was The Strokes. Now unlike many music critics, I don’t like giving bands shit reviews, but I was pretty fucking disappointed by the whole thing. Zero stage presence and the sense that the whole thing was being cobbled together on the spot really didn’t add up to make the set enjoyable. The songs themselves sounded good but there was no energy in them. I might as well have been sitting in my tent with my headphones in.

I know some people will say that the ‘cool’ and ‘detached’ nature of The Strokes’ live show is part of their charm. But if that’s so, it doesn’t really work for me. And to add insult to injury the plug was pulled early because the band had started late and didn’t realise they couldn’t play past the curfew. The only saving grace was The Cars cover performed with Jarvis Cocker just before they got pulled off stage. A highly disappointing end to the day.



For the first time in the weekend, Sunday saw me in the Arena early and able to catch the bands playing in the morning. Tongue twisting Scottish band Danananananakroyd were my first port of call, with a lively, stage dominating set that was a good a wakeup call as any. Following them were Canadian hardcore heroes Fucked Up whose new album ‘David Comes To Life’ has had critics all over the world getting a warm feeling in their pants. As usual, singer Pink Eyes was shirtless within the first song and hilarity and brilliance ensued.

Using my time traveling festival powers I also managed to catch a sizeable chunk of the Taking Back Sunday set on the main stage before Frank Turner played. This was another festival treat for the memory box. Classic songs played in a manner that suggested the band deserved to be higher on the bill.

The sun came out (sort of) for Frank Turner which only helped him and his band (The Sleeping Souls) own the stage. Some people find his style a bit too ‘preachy’ but the ex-Million Dead man I think strikes just the right balance between sing alongs and getting his message across. The crowd participation during ‘I Still Believe’ was particularly good although the post-set news that he is planning a new hardcore band is, for me, just as exciting as the live show he’d just given.

After all that The View (who I only watched in order to hang out with a friend) were decidedly average at best and the beginnings of the Enter Shikari set fell a little flat, although as I missed the crowd surfing phase I can’t really pass comment on the show as a whole. Instead I was at the Radio One/NME tent for Warpaint’s final show before returning to America to have break and work on a new record.

Arriving on stage the band announced that they wanted to ‘have fun’ before returning home and their wish was granted. I’ve still never seen a band look as happy on stage as they do and all three time’s I’ve seen the band play they’ve managed to pass that onto the audience. Classic ‘Billie Holiday’ was missing from the annoyingly short set but ‘Undertow’ and ‘Elephants’ more than made up for it as, just like last year, a set long trance settled upon the crowd.

Finally, with the start of my shift looming I ran over to the Lock-Up stage to see the band that more than any other that I’d been excited about pre-festival. 90s emo legend’s Hot Water Music may have been in and out of the hiatus stage over the last few years but after a summer tour (ending with the Reading set I think) and with new material in the works you can expect to hear more and more about them from me soon. In short, their set was one of the best of the weekend that I saw. Tight, loud and performed to a more than receptive crowd there wasn’t anywhere else I would have rather been over the forty or so minutes they played. Considering the live form they’re in I’d happily predict that next time they tour over here you’ll find packed shows and five star reviews up and down the country.

I did see one more band. That was Muse who I watched on TV from behind the bar in Reading Town Football Club where I was serving bar staff who’d just come off shift. But I guess that doesn’t count does it? Overall it was another pretty sweet Reading, maybe not the strongest line up in recent memory but it certainly had its high points. See you next year? Probably…