Ben Sherman Blog: Reading is the Reason

The worst kept secret of the weekend was that The Rats billed on the Lock-Up stage were actually Watford punk outfit Gallows and to a crowd size testament to their popularity they stormed through a set that can only cement their place as one of the best live performers in the UK today. Wall’s of death (where two sets of fan’s race and collide into each other from across the tent), Human pyramids and a wheelchair crowd surfer are things that you seem only to expect from Reading Festival, which, is where I was pitched up for the Glorious(debatable) Bank Holiday weekend.

The line-up was one of the most diverse I had seen in a while and show how much the average festival goers musical tastes had changed in recent years. Performers like Dizzy Rascal were met with great adulation by half and disgusted by the rest. Being in the latter half my weekend was spent drifting from stage to stage taking in as much as I could.

Friday saw a dejected and sodden crowd wake up to a baking hot day, but still a few inches of mud that would making walking around the camp site and painful process. Reading staples Gogol Bordello put on a typical high energy performance that only a bunch of gypsy punks could do. Start Wearing Purple being a particular highlight as a set finishing sing along. Veteran punks NOFX made no secret of their distaste of being on the main stage but still put on a good 20 minute set, although it was their unannounced set on Saturday night that they really put in the effort and made a cracking show. Biffy Clyro and Queens of the Stone Ages both cemented today as the day of rock with some performances that got the by now huge crowd jumping along and ready for headliners G’n’R. Not being my cup of tea I missed out on the near 2 hour wait before they graced the stage, and by all accounts it was not worth the wait.

Saturday was all about two bands for me Gallows and The Libertines, having seen their Forum warm up show I knew their was every chance that they would be able to take that kind of performance onto the big stage, and boy oh boy did they do that. With a front man as frowned upon as much as Peter Doherty it would have been all to easy to write them off completely no matter how they performed. And yet I have not seen a single bad word wrote about them since. Long may it continue. Earlier in the day The Cribs and The Maccabees kept the crowd going along with typical indie rock that although not spectacular were by no means average. So just to confirm they were somewhere between spectacular and average, some might call that, good, but hey not me.

Sunday saw sporadic showers and sunshine that made sure leaving the tents was never a safe option unless running to the bar or the dreaded toilets. Finally the clouds parted long enough for a sizeable crowd to watch undeniable start of Shooting Starts Angelos Epithemiou and his bag grace the Alternative stage. And supplied with an entire 3 jokes his 20 minute slot seamed surprisingly short. On the main stage comedy rap act (well, in my mind they are) Limp Bizket brought back the sound of ‘99 to an audience who were barely out of nappies at the time of album Significant Other. After a, what I imagine to be great set by Cypress Hill that I missed thanks to the loss of my time schedule along with my wallet, Weezer took the stage. If asked to name their songs I would get Buddy Holly straight away and then struggle for awhile. So it is testament this vastly underrated band that even I knew most of their 16 songs they played. Although it was a cover of Wheatus’ Teenage Dirtbag that was greeted with some pretty pop filled crowd pogo-ing. Surprising my favorite band of the day came about as a total fluke, after missing out on pie-n-mash I went in search of some food that wouldn’t melt my guts the next day, I then stumbled across the Introducing stage and a 4 piece called Redtrack who hail from Southend-On-Sea close to my neck of the woods. A small crowd had gathered which wasn’t a good representation of the 4 or 5 songs that I witnessed. Songs like The Trier and Imogen were played with a real tightness that shows that these guys mean business, I doubt the crowd next year will be as small. Apparently they have already won a Hollyoaks music competition but I won’t hold that against them, as since getting home their songs have been practically all that has graced my spotify playlist. 3 last words, CHECK THEM OUT. If Limp Bizket took us back to ‘99 then headliners Blink-182 tied us down till '04 with a hit laden set. Although in my opinion they seamed sloppy and under-rehearsed there was one shining light that blew the crowd away. Drummer Travis Barker who I think is one of the best drummers around was soo frantic in his display and yet never missed a beat. They highlight being a Tommy Lee style drum solo where Travis and drum kit where lifted up into the air and rotated upside down and still never a symbol was hit out of place.

So with Reading 2010 over with, the question is does the quality of the bands outweigh all the rubbish hats, crap weather, cost and the over zealous security. By the skin of its teeth I would say yes, but the line up next year will have to be just as good to convince me not to attend a few smaller festivals instead.