REVIEW: Reading Festival [Festival Fever]

REVIEW: Reading Festival

Posted on August 26, 2008 10:47 PM
5 comments

Reading Festival 2008

Review by Katie Spain

String me up and call me a ‘diva’ but after a hectic festival season, I chose to stay in a hotel for the Reading Festival. I’d heard stories of burnt tents and reveller anarchy at the king of UK Rock festivals and I have a genuine fear of fireworks and loud noises (of the non-Metallica variety) so the thought of a warm bed was appealing. Plus, the chance of meeting some of the biggest bands in the business is never going to go down well if you smell like three day old festival funk.

Luckily, Reading is an ideal location for a fest of this kind; a thirty odd minute train ride was all it took to get there, five minutes later we’d arrived at the hotel (journalist central) with enough time to oil our insides and arrive in time for the first of Friday’s bands. The cat calls and snide remarks on our way in proved that a) Reading Rock folk don’t like glitter or b) Reading Rock folk don’t like women. Josh Homme, frontman of Queens Of The Stone Age later reassured us that “They’re intimidated by your glitter but trust me, they want it near their pants”. And so the tone was set.

As usual, it’s hard to sum up a festival in one written review. You’d have to chat to every punter about their individual experiences, see every set and roll in the mud with every dirt covered reveller. Our posse of troops tried our best and with a line-up like 2008’s there was no shortage of eardrum euphoria on offer. We had headliners on the brain and did our best to catch them all. Here’s a summary of the top memories deposited firmly in my memory bank. I hope yours are still with you too.

Queens Of The Stone Age
Whilst interviewing these guys, they called me the meat between their buns and scored themselves a special place in my little heart. Not only did the Californian band provide a fitting lead-up to Friday’s headliners Rage Against The Machine, they also proved that their music is still as fun for them to play as it is for the fans to listen to. Frontman Joshua Homme explained all backstage. “Creating the songs in your head, making them come alive and chasing that passion is the best thing ever. It’s really hard in this life to be understood and music is the best way so it’s awesome. Musical safety is death so it keeps making you want to f*** things up.” Rawk.

Rage Against The Machine
It was rough, it was sweaty and the fans gave it their frenzied all. Few bands suit the festival atmosphere as well as the Californian Rap Metallers. We braved the front and it wasn’t long before my little frame was thrown over the metal barriers. A quick dose of begging convinced security to let me stand amongst them and from this prime vantage point watched Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk storm their way to a stream of political ranting and a gob-smacking set. The sight of thousands of angst ridden fists pumping the air to ‘Killing In The Name Of’ was another unforgettable moment in festival history. It was the biggest crowd response of the whole festival. The lads did good.

Pendulum
The Aussies delivered a consistently gut wrenching set to a packed-out tent on Sunday. The mix of Drum and Bass, electric guitar and authentic drums caused a flurry of crowd surfing and extreme bouncing. These guys are a guaranteed ‘pick me up’ at any festival. The expats in the crowd certainly agreed. Unfortunately, the enclosed location wasn’t as good as the open air setting they played at Download but to be honest, the crowd barely noticed where they were once the music took hold.

Tenacious D
Jack Black and Kyle Gass hit Sunday night’s crowd with just the right amount of humour and Rock. The duo stood beneath a mock Metallica logo and played up to the masses with a set featuring lizard costumes, Satan, monsters and an outright Metal battle. The pair’s sexual prowess and their protruding beer bellies won outright. Ludicrously brilliant. My companion came out of the set wanting Jack Black’s babies. We lost her later that night… maybe, just maybe she was successful.

The Killers
Some folk will burn me at the stake for this but their set was remarkable only because they were so dull. Sure, frontman Brandon Flowers gave it his cabaret all but amongst the shining sing-along favourites was a succession of forgettable background music. There, I said it. Burn my tent, I dare you.

Metallica
One word; awesome. Who better to smash Sunday’s headline slot into a musical oblivion? The heavy metal Gods led the crowd into euphoria with an extended set ranging from the old to new tracks from the unreleased album Death Magnetic. Frontman James Hatfield brought tears to the eyes with gut wrenching vocals and solos. Nothing Else Matters, Enter Sandman, Master Of Puppets... the list went on. As fireballs shot up above the main stage and ‘One’ hit our eardrums, the crowd let out a collective roar. Some sets should just never finish. I came out of this one wanting Hatfield’s offspring. What a voice.

Backstage
When the muddy floor got too much, the best place to seek refuge was backstage. The guest area not only provided a nice bit of muso spotting, it also featured corny 80s music and lots of it. How very Rock. Unlike Cinderella, the masses didn’t head home when the clock struck ‘late’ and punters could be found pulling shapes until the wee hours. We met some fine young specimens amongst the plastic tables and chairs and missed a lot of bands because the pull of the bar (and no line-up) was just too damn easy. Clean loos never go astray either; wet wipes are a godsend but you’ll walk like a mobile slip and slide if you use too many of the little blighters.

The Costumes
It wasn’t a patch on The Secret Garden Party and the preferred attire seemed to be band emblazoned T-shirts but a few people went to some effort on the dress-up front. A stroll through the grounds revealed bears, superheroes, Telletubbies, ghouls and cross-dressing Rockers. Full marks to the brave sods who walked the streets of Reading in the middle of the night.

The Little Uns
The Reading Festival crowd definitely erred on the young side. The crowd was full of little moshers and the hormones in me kicked in every time I saw one race towards the pulsating mosh pit. If I wasn’t such a midget myself I’d have run in and rescued them. Luckily the security were some of the nicest I’ve seen at any festival this year. The kids were in safe hands and probably came out of the experience with as many amazing memories as they did bruises.

Rubbish
The music was great and there was plenty of greasy food on offer but praise the Metal lords above, the site was a pigsty. Sitting down involved as much careful buttock negotiation as your average landmine site. We found ourselves perched on used condoms, half eaten ships, noodles and bodily fluids. Our posteriors had never encountered such debauchery. Do yourself a favour and take a picnic rug in 2009. It’ll come in handy if you ‘get lucky’ too.

Campsite Anarchy
People went crazy on the last night. Maybe it was post-Metallica elation or maybe they’d just downed the remainder of their intoxicating supplies; either way, when a crowd of men attempted to tip over an ice-cream van, we knew we were in for a long night. Campsite shenanigans included burning tents, exploding deodorant canisters and dismantled portaloos. Blank eyes stared out from pale, sleep deprived faces as the masses launched into their own version of Shaun Of The Dead. The award for bravery goes to the camping stewards; the poor sods deserve a medal (and a holiday).

Fun? You bloody betcha. See you there next year.

Comments (5)

Denise
Totally AWESOME!!!!
Posted on August 27, 2008 3:54 PM

Loose Cannon
the festival well!!! Jolly good i say like a neat swift kick in the balls followed up by a good old champagne cocktail bravo to midnight anarchy posted by General Cannon and the review i couldnt put it better if i was there myself hangon i was oh yeah "f**k you i wont do what you tell me" does that ring any bells anyone!!
Posted on August 27, 2008 4:24 PM

Gaz
Wish I could have been there. Damn it to hell. Like the inclusion of the non-stage elements at the fest... it's amazing how much time I spend not even seeing bands at some festivals. Some of the best fun can be had in the campsites, behind the scenes and random interesting arty tents. Not that you get many of them at Reading...
Posted on August 27, 2008 5:05 PM

Ann
The Killers were awesome and in my opinion do not have any forgetable songs, how on earth could you call them dull, the fans were certainly enjoying themselves, and don't forget they have only made two albums with a third shortly to be released, so obviously they have not got a huge range of songs to sing. They always include the ones the fans like best, and I certainly think they are the best band in the world right now, and I would like to burn your tent.
Posted on August 27, 2008 6:11 PM

Chris Todd
The Killers are possibly the dullest most over-rated band on planet Earth right now. Their music is dirge like (the only truly great tracks they've made being 'Read my mind' and 'Smile like you mean it') and Brandon Flowers is one of the least charismatic men in music right now. Why do all festivals insist on booking them as headliners? This is about the 5th headline slot in the UK since their last album. Kings of Leon have been going around the same sort of time and they can fill their sets with hit after hit (no, I don't like them either). KOL also peppered their festival slots this Summer with plenty of tracks from their forthcoming fourth album whereas The Killers played just one at the Leeds festival...the others you didn't recognise, Ann, were b-sides and as for their disco cover version of Joy Divisions' Shadowplay' - pathetic.
Posted on August 28, 2008 9:56 AM