So the first of the weekend’s hangovers is here, and yeah, it hurts but fuck it. There’s a whole day of awesomeness ahead of us so let’s get going.
SATURDAY
Opening up the lock up stage and hoping to dust off some Saturday hangovers is Decade who have managed to get a fairly decent crowd. Having recently signed to Spinefarm Records, the band chose today to play a fair few newer tracks which seem to go down well. It’s clear that Decade have a growing fan base and they could very well be tUnquestionably hyped, up-and-coming New York “plasma punk” band Skaters find themselves with a comfortable crowd for their early afternoon Festival Republic set. With little known other than their breakthrough track ‘I Wanna Dance (But I Don’t Know How)’, we are surprised by their characteristically downtrodden performance and punk persona. It may not be punk as we know it, but there’s a uniquely authentic quality to their persona that will keep audiences coming back for more.he next band to follow in the steps of Lower Than Atlantis and Young Guns and play the Reading Festival main stage in the near future. [Chris Marshman]
Mallory Knox are the owners of “that” slot – the make-or-break opening slot on the main stage reserved for the up-and-coming British alternative band. Rising to the challenge, frontman Mickey Chapman traverses the stage as if it were his all along. Zipping through eight songs including ‘Hello’ and ‘Death Rattle’, the band deliver a note perfect set. The inclusion of a ballad and the questionable moment to incite a circle pit may hint at a vague identity crisis, yet a later timeslot is definitely within their grasp [Ben Tipple]
Up next on the lock up is Great Cynics in what can only go down as a career defining appearance for the band. The thing about Reading Festival is that it’s rarely ever not experiencing frequent outpourings of rain, which in turn means that when it happens many people seek solitude under the nearest tent they can find and a lot of the time they end up finding out about some brilliant new music. This is exactly what happens here and the best thing is, when the rain was all but gone the tent remained full of people showing sheer appreciation for the band they’d just stumbled upon. It made for a cracking atmosphere and you can tell that Great Cynics fed off the energy to put in one of the best sets of the weekend. [CM]
Unquestionably hyped, up-and-coming New York “plasma punk” band Skaters find themselves with a comfortable crowd for their early afternoon Festival Republic set. With little known other than their breakthrough track ‘I Wanna Dance (But I Don’t Know How)’, we are surprised by their characteristically downtrodden performance and punk persona. It may not be punk as we know it, but there’s a uniquely authentic quality to their persona that will keep audiences coming back for more. [BT]
Even Deaf Havana are aware of the hipocracy in playing ‘The Past Six Years’ in front of a particularly crowded Radio 1/NME crowd. “Look at us now,” laughs James Veck-Gilodi as he completes the line, “John played at Reading and Leeds, and we’re still playing the Purple Turtle on New Year’s Eve.” With the sound faltering by the time it reaches our ears at the side of the tent, the entire band find themselves drowned out by the enthusiastic crowd returning each lyric. The new accompaniments retain the intimacy despite the bulging crowd, particularly when ‘Anemophobia’ is brought out in its acoustic glory. Ignoring the volume issues, this is the moment Deaf Havana probably realised they have made it. [BT]
The Blackout take a few songs to get the crowd bouncing on the main stage but as always their brilliant fun nature and great live show do wonders for the main stage crowd. Their hip hop medley goes down an absolute storm and ensures of another job well done for the boys from Merthyr.[CM]
Marred by incessant sound issues, Twin Atlantic don’t fare as well on the main stage as they did in the more intimate Festival Republic stage two years back. As we reposition ourselves behind a speaker tower little improves, other than being able to belt out the likes of ‘Free’ and the excellent ‘Crash Land’. Undeterred by audible problems, Twin Atlantic look jubilant throughout.
Today, Off With Their Heads are pretty much in their natural festival environment, and there’s little doubt that Ryan Young & Co are having a great time today. The sound suits them perfectly, and tracks from their latest, ‘Home’ sound awesome. A great afternoon punk rock, and one that harks to exactly what the Lock Up stage is all about. [TA]
It was always going to be a popular set, so we aren’t surprised to see recent crossover sensations The 1975 playing to a packed out tent… and a packed out surrounding area… and even a packed out bar area across the disappearing pathway. Playing ten well received songs without ever having released a full-length is testament to their clever songwriting, even if a large proportion of the crowd takes a wander following the final note of hit single ‘Chocolate’. Only time will tell whether this band go from strength-to-strength or wither in the modern day equivalent of one-hit-wonder obscurity. Our money is on the former. [BT]
We said back at Slam Dunk that we’d like to see King Prawn after a few more shows, and today they’ve proven our suspicions correct. Today, the sound is better and the rust has worn off a bit, so they’re almost back to being as great live as they were back in the day. A nostalgia trip for sure, but if you can’t get into a bit of ska punk at a festival, then you probably have no soul. Probably. [TA]
Staying with the lock up and it was time for The Bronx and let’s get one thing straight, if there’s one thing that’s guaranteed with this band it’s that you’re always in for a fucking great time. The Bronx just never disappoint and today is no exception. They’re ferocious as much as they are energetic and it’s a great spectacle to watch. [CM]
In what was perhaps the highlight of Saturday, Lonely The Brave took to the BBC Introducing stage to a modest crowd and showed each and every person there, exactly what they’re about. Maybe it’s the tipsy state we found ourselves in but set closer ‘The Blue The Green’ was absolutely monumentally huge and left everyone agreeing that Lonely The Brave are one of the most exciting, genuinely good British bands out there right now. [CM]
You may have heard rumours that Eminem was miming or about the overbearing backing track, or his disproportionate input to the performance compared to his rumoured pay… and from our perspective we certainly had some similar questions about the set. Parts of the tracks are suspiciously louder than others and his hype man Mr. Porter (formally of D12) does a large part of the work. Still, when ‘Criminal’, ‘Kill You’, ‘Cleaning Out My Closet’ or the trio of his most famous work ‘My Name Is’, ‘The Real Slim Shady’ and ‘Without Me’ come out to play, we can’t help but go nuts. Perhaps not as relevant as he used to be, Eminem is still able to entertain with the best of them. If nothing else, Dido’s appearance for ‘Stan’ is just one of those festival moments [BT]