Reading '08 In Review.

Well, according to my previous post, I done went to Reading festival last weekend. So did 90,000 other people.

It was quite good.

Allow me to elaborate: There is no bonding experience quite like that of burning a disheveled camp chair with deodorant. With 20 people whom you have just been acquainted. By means of beer shower.
But none of this amounts to anything even vaguely resembling 'culture', so I shall press on to the very crux of the festival: music. Last year I saw a band during every single slot, many of which I disliked. However, that was my first year, and by damnit I was going to get my money's worth. I was also young and foolish. Quite to the contrary, this year i was only to see bands that interested me in the slightest.. and they were few and far between (the time in between was well spent. My liver has since fallen out with me - we had a fight last night and, well, she's packed her bags and left. She'll be back before too long though. She always comes back). Anyway, here's a summary and a short review of the bands I actually saw:

Friday

Biffy Clyro

Not a massive fan of Biffy, but it was worth watching them none-the-less. I can't really comment on the intensity of the crowd (I was waaaay back), but given the furious passion energy with which fans throw themselves into everything associated with the Scottish giants , I can assume some stuff went down. Striding on stage clad only in matching bright blue drainpipes, the bearded bombshells opened with breakthrough single 'Saturday Superhouse', before ripping through a set that included 'Who's Got A Match', 'Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies', 'Machines', 'Get Fucked Stud' and 'Mountains'. And yeah, they were pretty good. However, I'm not the best source for a review - I'm sure they would have sounded 17 and a half times better should I have been at the front. But I wasn't. And compared to their performance last year, they were distinctly meh. But as I said, I'm not an über fan, so I'm not fully equipped to comment.

Vampire Weekend

I have a lot of love for Vampire Weekend. Their afro-beat-infused-feel-good-strung-out-pop-rock sound has singlehandedly depleted the world's supply of hyphens has lent a definitive soundtrack to summer. Although their performance at Reading 08 was nothing new, it was stonking none-the-less. From the first plinky-plonky notes of set opener 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa' to the anthemic 'Oxford Comma', Vampire Weekend did what they do best: make people very happy. very happy indeed. This was reflected in the crowd's reaction: die-hards with every lyric on the tip of their toungues mingled quite happily with the newcomer, the majority of whom were totally wom over . Even my friend who earlier claimed 'I only like Babyshambles, Brand New and The Libertines' was won over. No mean feat indeed.

Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Still hazy from Vampire Weekend, I struggled out of the NME tent sans any companions and without any way of contacting them. Luckily, however, this put the ball in my court somewhat; the two headliners of this year caused a musical division between my friends this year: those who would see Babyshambles, and those for Rage Against The Machine. Unfortunately, neither of these bands hold a modicon of appeal for me. The absence of familiar faces therefore meant I was not tied down to seeing either - woohoo! After considering a return to the campsite, I turned my attention to the 'Festival Republic' stage, a showcase for talent both big and small. And lo and behold, who would be playing but the Nathan Barley-esque 'Does It Offend You, Yeah?'. I remained in the lower reaches of the tent for this one, but the attitude of the 200 strong crowd did not wane. I didn't know any of their songs, but this mattered not - every song instantly danceable - a fact payed testiment to by the alcohol fuelled assortment of fans. Also, top marks to the kid who dragged his paternal escort into the fray. I've never seen a 40 year old man look so afraid.

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

Rage may, by all reports, have been 'mesmerising', but I think a billion-odd people missed out on a gem. Well, a couple of gems. One squat and chubby, the other impressively bearded. Hunched over his powerbook, Dan le Sac sends the set fiddling with buttons, while his hip-hop counterpart surveys the audience. The first hint of set opener 'The Beat That My Heart Skipped' was a thunderous 'BOOM BOOM BOOM BAD-EE AAAAH BAD-EE BAD-EE AAAAH BOOM AAAAH BOOM BOOM BOOM' that rang out from the near - frenzied audience. The 50 minutes that followed were as political as anything the headliners have ever done, but retained an omnipresent element of danceability. And the reaction to breakthough hit 'Thou Shalt Always Kill'? All the superlatives in the world do it no justice. So think up something for yourself.

Saturday

Dirty Pretty Things

Clad in typically bohemian attire, Carl and co swaggered on stage, droopy cigarettes in hand(s). The ex-Libertine proceeded to lead his band through a set that was, thankfully, all but but free of their new album. Aside from 'Deadwood' and 'You Fucking Love It', the only track worth of mention was their cover of Nirvana's seminal 'In Bloom'. I liked it, but whether that opinion is universal remains to be seen. In summary - yeah, good. (Carl also looked like a total God, so that helps..)

We Are Scientists

Armed with a repertoire of gags and anecdotes, WAS played a set that was on-par with the best of their previous performances. Having polished follow up album 'Brain Thrust Mastery' to a mirror-shine, Chris Cain and Keith Murray (+ touring session guitarist) unleashed hit after hit on the baying audience. Enthusiastic as they were, it only took the opening bars of 'the Great Escape' to send 40,000 people into fits. Really, really dancey fits. An A+ performance, augmented with some trademark We Are Scientists humour: 'What ever you guys are on, I don't want any! Holy Shit!, (Roadie tries to fix drums) 'OH! You think you can just take a souvenir?! Go on! get out of here! Get! Get! Jeez, people like this ruin it for the rest of us'. Classic.

Editors

They played their singles.

Which are awesome.

Everyone sang along.

Every danced.

To Editors,

which is strange.

It was good.

Nuff sed?

Bloc Party

Who ever set up Bloc Party's sound needs a right proper rough-housing. No two ways about it. The lack of decibels destroyed what was sure to be a spell-binding set. Though, to be fair, the Bloc Party obssesives that surrounded me more than compensated for the lack of noise - although they're not quite yet up to Kele's standard. That said, once I had picked out a few notes over the cacophony of cheering, each track proved to be a sing-a-long and a half. If they turn up the volume for their inevitable return to the mainstage, their 3 albums chock-full of choons are sure to kill massacre.

The Killers

Ah, the Killers; an softish-indie-rock staple. Loved by many, hated by an equal number. However, on Saturday, August 23rd , all differences were thrown aside in favour of a mass scream-your-lungs-out-athon. Such is the ubiquity of every single note the Killers have produced, noone was left with a voice come Sunday Morning. It seems a bit futile going through every single song (just fire up itunes and you'll get the gist), and aside from a handful of new songs, there was nothing remarkable about the set. This does not, however, detract from their all round good-ness, and their performance was tipped over the edge of awesome with liberal use of Pyro and ticker-tape cannons. Thumbs down for making me lose my voice though..

Sunday

Crystal Castles

Notorious for the rowdiness and controversy that follows them, Crystal Castles played a hectic set in the packed out Dance Tent. The situation demanded that normally sedate tracks (think 1991) wereto be kicked up a notch with some hardcore screaming courtesy of the elfish 'singer' Alice Glass. Ethan Kath spent his time huddled over a black box (I should really found out what's in there - A Gameboy and an Atari in a fight to the death perhaps?), firing off bleeps and what-not. To give an idea of the sheer intensity inside this miniscule tent, I genuinely feared for my life during the opening bars of 'Alice Practice'. Naturally, I came out worse for wear. Black and blue with bruises, I realised, some time after the music had stopped, that they were injuries of affection. If that's even possible. A way of one dance-punk fan to say to the other; 'This is awesome!'. And indeed it was. Although extenuating circumstances have to be taken into account (I was very drunk at the time), I'm going to call this my gig of the weekend - fitting, given it was my last..

Top Threes:

Weirdest shit I saw:

One) Man suspended by gaffa tape 10 ft up a telegraph pole.
Two) Teenager clad only in a poncho insisting that I 'don't get raped..'.
Three) A gimp.

Bands:

One) Crystal Castles
Two) Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
Three) The Killers

Brands of alcohol:

One) Absolut vodka
Two) Carlsberg
Three) Strongbow

'Reading moments':

One) Laughing ourselves crapless about 'the moongobbler'
Two) Drinking 7 cans for breakfast
Three) Getting chased through the campsite by some guy. (I tripped over the guidewire on his tent)

So in summary: yeah, frickin' awesome!