Time to make this thread, now that I've just woken up from 16 hours of recovery sleep :)
This year's festival was no disappointment, with many memories that will stay with me forever. Although the line-up wasn't quite what I'd hoped for, the bands that I saw were more than good enough to make up for it.
Some shows were recorded on the BBC website and you can see them here hopefully. I defaulted it to Lostprophets because the atmosphere was really awesome live - check out 25:00 minutes in when they start playing Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja. In a few seconds you will see the huge circle pit that I was in, with my friend on my shoulders running around!
In order, this is how my weekend went (any band that played is bolded):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FRIDAY
12:45pm - We'd had a heavy night on Thursday so we missed the Pipettes and joined the main stage to see Little Man Tate. Not very memorable, indie-rock but not much wrong with it. 6/10
1:35pm - My friend was dead keen on watching King Blues on the Lock Up stage, a very good punk/reggae/acoustic band from London - I'd recommend checking them out. 7/10
2:45pm - The gig was over and there was nothing much to do for a while so we sat at the back of the main stage soaking up the sun watching Gogol Bordello. Not exactly my kind of music. Gypsy punk rock from god knows where? 4/10
3:00pm - We realised that Blood Red Shoes were on in the Carling stage so we shuffled over and actually had a very good time. They're similar to Death From Above 1979, but female-fronted (the singer has been asked to join The Go! Team). Energetic, grungy indie-rock from Brighton. 7/10
3:45pm - Frank Turner! The first act I saw where I actually knew most of the songs. We were pretty tired already so we leaned on a handy fence and appreciated some good old-fashioned lyrical genius and pleasingly accurate guitar. In watching Frank, we missed Gossip on the main stage (ha) and Plain White T's on the Lock Up (ha) so everyone was happy. 6/10
4:45pm - We were all so tired of standing up that we sat at the back of the main stage and enjoyed the melodic sound of Jimmy Eat World, who I still have a soft spot for. They played many classics like Bleed American, The Middle and Sweetness, which brought back some happy memories. 7/10
6:05pm - My group was split, with one girl particularly keen on seeing Capdown and a few wanting to see Get Cape Wear Cape Fly. I ended up going to see the latter which I kind of regretted because it was like standing in an art gallery, trying to appreciate what you see but really just wanting to run around and have fun. Not to mention I think he's a dick 3/10
7:05pm - The biggest decision of the weekend, Interpol or Enter Shikari. Now I'm a bit of a sucker for British post-hardcore, which is in the end what made the decision for me. I'd also been wanting to get in a mosh pit for weeks, so that is exactly what I did. If I'd known the songs, this would have been an amazing gig for me - as it is, I only knew the most famous releases. We started right at the back and moshed our way to around the 4th row of hundreds. 7/10
I also caught the last few minutes of Interpol and I have to say I am happy with my decision to see Enter Shikari - from what I saw, 5/10
8:15pm - Something very rare at Reading - a four-way split decision of what to go and watch. On the Radio 1 stage were the Subways, who I knew some of my friends particularly wanted to see. Jack Penate was on the Carling stage, and I am quite fond of him, however middle-class-art-school he is. I was very tempted by the Mad Caddies on the Lock Up stage, as I didn't get to see any ska for the whole weekend. Eventually we settled on Kings Of Leon on the main stage, and they put on a good show with all their best songs. 7/10
9:30pm - I actually have no idea what we were doing at this point. Brand New and Patrick Wolf both played in this space and I think we must have been smoking a few joints or something because this is a complete blank. 10/10 hehe
10:30pm - The headliners weren't all that tempting - Razorlight were on the main stage, Ash on the Radio 1 stage, Jimmy Eat World played again on the Lock Up. We went to see the underdog, Albert Hammond Jr, guitarist of the Strokes. However, we messed up! We sat in the Alternative tent watching some weird video jockey and getting really, really baked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SATURDAY
My friend got up and set off at nine o'clock in the fucking morning to queue for three hours before Paramore. He was first in the queue of thousands and promptly got rugby tackled as soon as he got in! Schadenfreude anyone? He still got to the front though. Anyway...
12:00pm - As I mentioned, Paramore played but I wasn't too keen. Instead, I went to watch the Teenagers. No, not those Teenagers, these Teenagers. Although they played Homecoming, which is the song I listen to every time I get stoned, they weren't all that great as I didn't know many of their songs. It was cool having a joint to a song that I have heard so many times but now it was live :) 6/10
12:45pm - We stayed in the Lock Up to watch Crystal Castles who were actually better than the Teenagers. Have a listen here, I find it hard to describe them! 7/10
We went back to the campsite and chilled out for a long time in this period, during which Nine Black Alps, Foals, the Shins and the Pigeon Detectives played - four bands that I'd actually quite wanted to see. Oh well - I was absolutely knackered at this point. Panic! at the Disco got bottled again which was hilarious, and my friend went to see Cobra Starship which he said was the best gig of the festival (dubious, as he also wanted to see +44 before they were cancelled).
6:25pm - BLOC PARTY were absolutely amazing. The sun was setting and a huge crowd at the main stage singing back all the lyrics made this one hell of a gig! Go and watch it on the BBC website on the link I posted earlier, it really was that good. 9/10
7:45pm - RIGHT after the amazing Bloc Party were the even amazinger Arcade Fire. This was, in my opinion, one of the highlights of Reading and I really pity those who could have seen it but chose to go and see Biffy Clyro instead. Everything was perfect. If you ever get a chance to see them in a big outdoors arena at sunset on a blisteringly hot day, do it. 10/10
9:30pm - The Red Hot Chilli Peppers were a bit disappointing as a Saturday night headliner, and we left before the encore because it was just tiresome. Too many improvised solos at the end of every song made it feel like filler until they could leave. A few of my other friends went to see Hot Hot Heat at 10:30pm and it was apparently an amazing show. Wish I'd gone! I could have seen The Academy Is... before, then seen Hot Hot Heat later in the time it took the chillis to play one boring set after another. A disappointing 4/10 (they didn't even play Under the Bridge, the only reason I stayed for so long. Fuckers)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY
Up bright and early after another night of drinking and smoking and shouting and walking around Reading at night which is the best experience ever. Four of us had crashed in my mate's two-man tent, so I was feeling a bit worse for wear! There was an excellent line-up to be seen for Sunday so I put on my black Billy Talent t-shirt and started sweating.
12:00pm - Gym Class Heroes were on the main stage and a few of my friends went to see them. However, me and my best mate had other plans - we went to the Lock Up to watch Ghost of a Thousand, a hardcore punk band from Brighton (again). They were really good and kick-started my Sunday :) Check them out! 8/10
1:05pm - Hellogoodbye were fucking awful but there was nobody else on so we sat around and booed, 1/10 (they get a point because I recognised one of their songs). At this point I also missed Hadouken! which I was really looking forward to - they started halfway through Hellogoodbye and I'd assumed they were on directly after. Booooo.
2:10pm - The gig the weekend had been leading up to so far. As soon as Hellogoodbye were over, we got as far forward as possible, very close to the main stage. It must have been over 30ºC with not a cloud in the sky, standing in the middle of a crowd of very hot sweaty people with no water in sight, wearing a black t-shirt. My best gig of Reading 2007 was BILLY TALENT! They played all of my favourite songs, I had my shirt on and jumped around the whole way through. My wristband got ripped off but I just didn't give a shit, they were excellent. 11/10
3:15pm - I was tired as fuck so I went and sat down with my friend at the back and watched The Used. They put on a very good performance and I almost wished I'd been in the thick of it but seriously I was soaking with sweat. They split the crowd and played Box of Sharp Objects which I really wish I'd been in the middle for. 7/10 because I was sitting down and also one of their songs ended in "(BAN ME PLEASE)S (BAN ME PLEASE)S (BAN ME PLEASE)S (BAN ME PLEASE)S" which was just dumb.
4:20pm - A few of my friends went back to the campsite but I stayed out and watched Funeral for a Friend, who exceeded my expectations. They only played one or two songs from their latest two albums, sticking to awesome stuff from their debut like Juneau and She Drove Me To Daytime Television. 8/10, unexpectedly good gig!
Fuck watching Fall Out Boy. I went back to the tent and had a bit to drink and smoke in preparation for the final night. We missed From Autumn to Ashes but I'd been jumping around all weekend and was just not up for it. I was happy just chillin'!
6:55pm - I was a fan of Lostprophets back in the day when their only album was Thefakesoundofprogress and they hadn't sold out yet. However, they really did put on a good show! One of the highlights was when they announced a new single that nobody had heard yet. I was expecting some pussy anthem sway-your-hands shit but seriously, this was heavy! I'm looking forward to a turnaround. They ended as always with Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja and well.. What can I say... There was a fucking massive circle pit behind the dividing barrier. That barrier is there to stop circle pits from erupting too far back, but everyone was so up for it that it just happened! One of the biggest pits I've ever been in, check out the video at the top of this thread. 8/10
8:15pm - A few of us were now in the mood for some punk and what better way to celebrate than with Gallows in the Lock Up? They put on an AMAZING show! It was obvious that they wanted to make a big impression with their first time at Reading, and that they wanted to remember it for the rest of their lives. The lead singer got a tattoo live on stage and then proceeded to crowd-surf to the centre pole that holds up the Lock-Up tent, climbed up it and jumped off into the circle pit that was going around it. Fucking insane. 9/10 just because I don't know any of their songs well (believe me I am going to for next time). We missed Nine Inch Nails for this but really who cares when you've been at one of the best gigs of the weekend!
9:20pm - LCD Soundsystem were in the Radio 1 tent, so we thought why not? However, we hadn't counted on being absolutely exhausted! We ended up sitting outside watching it on the screen. I can't even rate this gig it is all just a blur. Not particularly my kind of music though. Apparently there was a vicious mosh pit, haha!
The headliners were The Smashing Pumpkins, The Klaxons, The Hold Steady and New Found Glory. None of us are real fans of the Pumpkins, we watched for a few minutes while eating our giant yorkshire puddings (one of the staples of Reading Festival). We'd originally wanted to see the Klaxons but they took so fucking long to set up that we got bored and went back to the camp. One of my friends stayed for NFG who apparently were pretty good - I'd walked past and not been able to tell which song it was so I left. My regret of this night is that I completely forgot that the Hold Steady were playing, otherwise I'd have been well up for going.
So, that was the end of the weekend. Or was it? Stay tuned to this thread to find out...
(awesome pictures to come!)
This year's festival was no disappointment, with many memories that will stay with me forever. Although the line-up wasn't quite what I'd hoped for, the bands that I saw were more than good enough to make up for it.
Some shows were recorded on the BBC website and you can see them here hopefully. I defaulted it to Lostprophets because the atmosphere was really awesome live - check out 25:00 minutes in when they start playing Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja. In a few seconds you will see the huge circle pit that I was in, with my friend on my shoulders running around!
In order, this is how my weekend went (any band that played is bolded):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FRIDAY
12:45pm - We'd had a heavy night on Thursday so we missed the Pipettes and joined the main stage to see Little Man Tate. Not very memorable, indie-rock but not much wrong with it. 6/10
1:35pm - My friend was dead keen on watching King Blues on the Lock Up stage, a very good punk/reggae/acoustic band from London - I'd recommend checking them out. 7/10
2:45pm - The gig was over and there was nothing much to do for a while so we sat at the back of the main stage soaking up the sun watching Gogol Bordello. Not exactly my kind of music. Gypsy punk rock from god knows where? 4/10
3:00pm - We realised that Blood Red Shoes were on in the Carling stage so we shuffled over and actually had a very good time. They're similar to Death From Above 1979, but female-fronted (the singer has been asked to join The Go! Team). Energetic, grungy indie-rock from Brighton. 7/10
3:45pm - Frank Turner! The first act I saw where I actually knew most of the songs. We were pretty tired already so we leaned on a handy fence and appreciated some good old-fashioned lyrical genius and pleasingly accurate guitar. In watching Frank, we missed Gossip on the main stage (ha) and Plain White T's on the Lock Up (ha) so everyone was happy. 6/10
4:45pm - We were all so tired of standing up that we sat at the back of the main stage and enjoyed the melodic sound of Jimmy Eat World, who I still have a soft spot for. They played many classics like Bleed American, The Middle and Sweetness, which brought back some happy memories. 7/10
6:05pm - My group was split, with one girl particularly keen on seeing Capdown and a few wanting to see Get Cape Wear Cape Fly. I ended up going to see the latter which I kind of regretted because it was like standing in an art gallery, trying to appreciate what you see but really just wanting to run around and have fun. Not to mention I think he's a dick 3/10
7:05pm - The biggest decision of the weekend, Interpol or Enter Shikari. Now I'm a bit of a sucker for British post-hardcore, which is in the end what made the decision for me. I'd also been wanting to get in a mosh pit for weeks, so that is exactly what I did. If I'd known the songs, this would have been an amazing gig for me - as it is, I only knew the most famous releases. We started right at the back and moshed our way to around the 4th row of hundreds. 7/10
I also caught the last few minutes of Interpol and I have to say I am happy with my decision to see Enter Shikari - from what I saw, 5/10
8:15pm - Something very rare at Reading - a four-way split decision of what to go and watch. On the Radio 1 stage were the Subways, who I knew some of my friends particularly wanted to see. Jack Penate was on the Carling stage, and I am quite fond of him, however middle-class-art-school he is. I was very tempted by the Mad Caddies on the Lock Up stage, as I didn't get to see any ska for the whole weekend. Eventually we settled on Kings Of Leon on the main stage, and they put on a good show with all their best songs. 7/10
9:30pm - I actually have no idea what we were doing at this point. Brand New and Patrick Wolf both played in this space and I think we must have been smoking a few joints or something because this is a complete blank. 10/10 hehe
10:30pm - The headliners weren't all that tempting - Razorlight were on the main stage, Ash on the Radio 1 stage, Jimmy Eat World played again on the Lock Up. We went to see the underdog, Albert Hammond Jr, guitarist of the Strokes. However, we messed up! We sat in the Alternative tent watching some weird video jockey and getting really, really baked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SATURDAY
My friend got up and set off at nine o'clock in the fucking morning to queue for three hours before Paramore. He was first in the queue of thousands and promptly got rugby tackled as soon as he got in! Schadenfreude anyone? He still got to the front though. Anyway...
12:00pm - As I mentioned, Paramore played but I wasn't too keen. Instead, I went to watch the Teenagers. No, not those Teenagers, these Teenagers. Although they played Homecoming, which is the song I listen to every time I get stoned, they weren't all that great as I didn't know many of their songs. It was cool having a joint to a song that I have heard so many times but now it was live :) 6/10
12:45pm - We stayed in the Lock Up to watch Crystal Castles who were actually better than the Teenagers. Have a listen here, I find it hard to describe them! 7/10
We went back to the campsite and chilled out for a long time in this period, during which Nine Black Alps, Foals, the Shins and the Pigeon Detectives played - four bands that I'd actually quite wanted to see. Oh well - I was absolutely knackered at this point. Panic! at the Disco got bottled again which was hilarious, and my friend went to see Cobra Starship which he said was the best gig of the festival (dubious, as he also wanted to see +44 before they were cancelled).
6:25pm - BLOC PARTY were absolutely amazing. The sun was setting and a huge crowd at the main stage singing back all the lyrics made this one hell of a gig! Go and watch it on the BBC website on the link I posted earlier, it really was that good. 9/10
7:45pm - RIGHT after the amazing Bloc Party were the even amazinger Arcade Fire. This was, in my opinion, one of the highlights of Reading and I really pity those who could have seen it but chose to go and see Biffy Clyro instead. Everything was perfect. If you ever get a chance to see them in a big outdoors arena at sunset on a blisteringly hot day, do it. 10/10
9:30pm - The Red Hot Chilli Peppers were a bit disappointing as a Saturday night headliner, and we left before the encore because it was just tiresome. Too many improvised solos at the end of every song made it feel like filler until they could leave. A few of my other friends went to see Hot Hot Heat at 10:30pm and it was apparently an amazing show. Wish I'd gone! I could have seen The Academy Is... before, then seen Hot Hot Heat later in the time it took the chillis to play one boring set after another. A disappointing 4/10 (they didn't even play Under the Bridge, the only reason I stayed for so long. Fuckers)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY
Up bright and early after another night of drinking and smoking and shouting and walking around Reading at night which is the best experience ever. Four of us had crashed in my mate's two-man tent, so I was feeling a bit worse for wear! There was an excellent line-up to be seen for Sunday so I put on my black Billy Talent t-shirt and started sweating.
12:00pm - Gym Class Heroes were on the main stage and a few of my friends went to see them. However, me and my best mate had other plans - we went to the Lock Up to watch Ghost of a Thousand, a hardcore punk band from Brighton (again). They were really good and kick-started my Sunday :) Check them out! 8/10
1:05pm - Hellogoodbye were fucking awful but there was nobody else on so we sat around and booed, 1/10 (they get a point because I recognised one of their songs). At this point I also missed Hadouken! which I was really looking forward to - they started halfway through Hellogoodbye and I'd assumed they were on directly after. Booooo.
2:10pm - The gig the weekend had been leading up to so far. As soon as Hellogoodbye were over, we got as far forward as possible, very close to the main stage. It must have been over 30ºC with not a cloud in the sky, standing in the middle of a crowd of very hot sweaty people with no water in sight, wearing a black t-shirt. My best gig of Reading 2007 was BILLY TALENT! They played all of my favourite songs, I had my shirt on and jumped around the whole way through. My wristband got ripped off but I just didn't give a shit, they were excellent. 11/10
3:15pm - I was tired as fuck so I went and sat down with my friend at the back and watched The Used. They put on a very good performance and I almost wished I'd been in the thick of it but seriously I was soaking with sweat. They split the crowd and played Box of Sharp Objects which I really wish I'd been in the middle for. 7/10 because I was sitting down and also one of their songs ended in "(BAN ME PLEASE)S (BAN ME PLEASE)S (BAN ME PLEASE)S (BAN ME PLEASE)S" which was just dumb.
4:20pm - A few of my friends went back to the campsite but I stayed out and watched Funeral for a Friend, who exceeded my expectations. They only played one or two songs from their latest two albums, sticking to awesome stuff from their debut like Juneau and She Drove Me To Daytime Television. 8/10, unexpectedly good gig!
Fuck watching Fall Out Boy. I went back to the tent and had a bit to drink and smoke in preparation for the final night. We missed From Autumn to Ashes but I'd been jumping around all weekend and was just not up for it. I was happy just chillin'!
6:55pm - I was a fan of Lostprophets back in the day when their only album was Thefakesoundofprogress and they hadn't sold out yet. However, they really did put on a good show! One of the highlights was when they announced a new single that nobody had heard yet. I was expecting some pussy anthem sway-your-hands shit but seriously, this was heavy! I'm looking forward to a turnaround. They ended as always with Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja and well.. What can I say... There was a fucking massive circle pit behind the dividing barrier. That barrier is there to stop circle pits from erupting too far back, but everyone was so up for it that it just happened! One of the biggest pits I've ever been in, check out the video at the top of this thread. 8/10
8:15pm - A few of us were now in the mood for some punk and what better way to celebrate than with Gallows in the Lock Up? They put on an AMAZING show! It was obvious that they wanted to make a big impression with their first time at Reading, and that they wanted to remember it for the rest of their lives. The lead singer got a tattoo live on stage and then proceeded to crowd-surf to the centre pole that holds up the Lock-Up tent, climbed up it and jumped off into the circle pit that was going around it. Fucking insane. 9/10 just because I don't know any of their songs well (believe me I am going to for next time). We missed Nine Inch Nails for this but really who cares when you've been at one of the best gigs of the weekend!
9:20pm - LCD Soundsystem were in the Radio 1 tent, so we thought why not? However, we hadn't counted on being absolutely exhausted! We ended up sitting outside watching it on the screen. I can't even rate this gig it is all just a blur. Not particularly my kind of music though. Apparently there was a vicious mosh pit, haha!
The headliners were The Smashing Pumpkins, The Klaxons, The Hold Steady and New Found Glory. None of us are real fans of the Pumpkins, we watched for a few minutes while eating our giant yorkshire puddings (one of the staples of Reading Festival). We'd originally wanted to see the Klaxons but they took so fucking long to set up that we got bored and went back to the camp. One of my friends stayed for NFG who apparently were pretty good - I'd walked past and not been able to tell which song it was so I left. My regret of this night is that I completely forgot that the Hold Steady were playing, otherwise I'd have been well up for going.
So, that was the end of the weekend. Or was it? Stay tuned to this thread to find out...
(awesome pictures to come!)
