Acoustic Dreams &
Hardcore Screams

So, here I sit, sunburnt nose and all, 'fresh' (smell the irony) from getting back from Reading Festival 2010. There's a purple wristband firmly on my right wrist which will inevitably stay there until I hit another festival next year. I'm tired. I'm sore.

All in all?

It's been a blast.

Let's not kid ourselves into thinking I'll be able to properly review every band I watched. For starters, for some I was sitting/lying down and soaking in the atmosphere and others were good, but not worthy enough of fully constructed descriptive sentences. So I'll do what I do best: summy-uppy bits of festival goodness.

For those of you who went to Reading or Leeds; hopefully this will help bring the whole weekend back to you and for those of you who didn't go - let me help paint you a picture with the most memorable acts I caught during the weekend.


Young Guns
Young Guns put on a good show opening the entire weekend on the main stage at 12pm but what really made them shine was the acoustic performance they did for Radio One on the BBC Introducing stage. The delightful and delectable DJ Greg James came onstage to introduce them live on the radio and had a bit of pre-song chat with them before they launched into ‘Crystal Clear’ followed by a cover of Ellie Goulding’s ‘The Writer’; much to the bemusement of Greg (current boyfriend of Ms Goulding). But they pulled it off – their track sounded lovely acoustic and they managed to ease Greg’s cringing with an inoffensive and pleasing to the ears rendition of ‘The Writer’.

Lostprophets
In recent months I've fallen out of love with Lostprophets. They used to be up there with the best of them for me; hell, I've even got a poster of them from 'back in the day' framed on my wall (this was mainly because I have three frames in a row and it's black & white... you don't want to know this do you?). But I just don't like their newest material. It does zilch for me. Apart from 'Where We Belong' I can take it or leave it... but mainly leave it. However, when festival time comes around, you know you'll get a pretty good mixture of old and new for the sake of pleasing as much as the crowd as possible. Headlining your own show is a different bag - you can play what you want because people have chosen to go specifically for you. Festivals are different and because of that I got what I wanted - older songs. I sang my heart right out to treats such as 'Last Summer', 'Last Train Home' and 'Burn Burn' to name but a few. I have to say their backdrop was quite special too...


Biffy Clyro
Only caught the first few songs and I love them half to death but I have only one thing to mention of this particular time of seeing them... Simon Neil, what the hell have you done to your hair?! You do not wear bleach blonde well.


Guns N Roses
I’m sure you know all about Guns N Roses performance (or lack thereof) from the internet, television, radio or simply word of mouth. Hey, maybe you even heard Axl Rose’s wailing from your living room without even having to be in the near vicinity of the festival site. But here’s my perspective of the whole event.

It had notoriously been enforced to Axl and the rest of the current line-up of GNR that they were to be dead on time coming onto the stage at 9:30pm if they were to guarantee getting through their whole setlist before the strict curfew hit at 11:30pm. Did anyone expect them to come on stage on time? No. Was it still really bloody annoying having to wait? Yes. But you got the sense that people wanted to watch the crash and burn. Due to previously established predictions that they would either pull out at the last minute, or just be incredibly late, the crowd wanted to see what the actual outcome would be. So, as 10 minutes late grew to 20, and then 20 to 30 (and so on) until 60 minutes had been reached. With each minute that passed the heckles grew and the unappreciative shouting continued (see below for specific words of choice from the crowd).

Finally, at 10:30pm, one hour late, on they all came. Like many others alike; I only know the classic GNR tracks and, despite not being the biggest fan, I was looking forward to witnessing them played before me. However, as the first recognisable track to my ears ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ was played; it was clear they were not going to be presented with the full pelt and iconic sound that I had imagined. Axl’s vocals were all off and all I could hear around me was criticism aimed at the members of the band who could never be as good as the originals.

Each song’s end was met by a barrage of booing and it never let up. There was either silence or pure disgust coming from those who’d made the effort to stand there and receive the band. After half an hour we left. From what I have read it seems the band continued until a little after curfew when they then returned to the stage to find their sound had been cut to prevent backlash from the local Council. So they continued to stage a protest by singing silently with only the drums to be heard before exiting the stage 5 minutes later. What a shame it is that a band so well known in the rock world ended up being one of the biggest letdowns at one of the most well-loved rock festivals in history.



3OH!3
3OH!3 are one of those acts that you can't help but like, even if it's only a teeny-eeny bit. They are what I would essentially call comedy rap. For those not in the know; their songs tend to revolve around sex and girls and everything that may come with each or both. So to see them was a must, if only out of curiosity of how their stage show is pulled off and they were damn entertaining. The average age of the crowd was about 16 and they all had their hands thrown up in the air in the 3OH!3 symbol (hold forefinger to forefinger, thumb to thumb and kinda stick the other fingers out and you're there people). The two blokes that make up the band created a great energy amongst everyone who watched and they were infectious to the max. Even those who didn't really have a clue what was going on were smirking at them, if nothing else. Definitely one of the surprise hits of Reading if only for their novelty.

Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee is king at what he does and he confirms it each time he puts on a show. Having seen him at Reading Festival 2006 in a packed-out tent it was clear his main stage performance would be just as popular, if not more so, 4 years down the line. The Rascal has put out some huge hits during his career and they inspire the biggest sing-a-longs and massive dancefests. It doesn't matter if this isn't the sort of music you usually listen to because it's pulled off so well that you'll probably end up liking it by the end of it anyway. A true showman.

The Libertines
And so came the first of two heavily anticipated reunions of the whole weekend (let me confess I’m most excited about Robbie back with Take That; true –guilty pleasure- story). For me, I came away loving The Libertines far more than I ever did before. That’s the power of live music for you. It ended up being a total love fest between Carl Barat and Pete Doherty with frequent embraces and manly head rubs between songs but it was lovely to see. What seemed to be genuine affection for one another seemed to filter into the passion they put into each of their tracks and save from a minor blip towards the end of their set where the sound was cut and they had to exit and re-enter the stage (allegedly the crowd was getting too rowdy and it was done to quell the severity of the crush) it was a glorious show of Libertines classics and sing-a-longs all around.

Arcade Fire
Another band that set the stage alive with an explosion of different instruments and unique individual charms is Arcade Fire. The crowd for the second headliners of the weekend appeared somewhat modest in comparison to those for GNR & Blink 182 but the reception that they got was strong enough to conquer any lack of number. The thing about Arcade Fire is that they don’t need many extra flourishes or special effects to set them alight on stage; they do it all with their harmonies and immense talents with several members of the band flitting between instruments with ease. Win is undoubtedly the ‘leader’ of the band and spoke with such sincerity and true modesty including a moment where he spoke with disbelief that they were headlining the main stage after ‘not even having a hit record’. How that is fact I will never know; their songs are full of magic and intrigue and the beautiful noise that they collectively create as they twirl, leap and bound about leaves you in an Arcade Fire trance.


All Time Low
Any band who can keep my attention and a smile on my face during a torrential downpour is a band worth watching. All Time Low fulfilled this without a doubt. Having seen them twice before I knew their style - pop punk? check. Pubescent rude and suggestive banter between songs? check. And you know what? How frickin' refreshing. These guys fulfill the status quo of the genre they play and they fulfill it well. Their songs are ridiculously catchy and they perform them awesomely to a crowd. I wasn't sure whether they'd translate well from a small indoor venue to a large open space but it made no difference. The rain came and though some did run for cover they didn't run far in favour of continuing to watch a band who can raise laughs and spirits without fail.

The Drums
Good lord that band can dance like groove is on its way out.

Weezer
Would you believe me if I told you Weezer pulled a bigger crowd than Blink 182? Probably not, but it's true. Some people may question it but I swear the crowd was bigger though I obviously don't possess exact statistics. Weezer are a band that look least likely to be a band but a band that pack a delightful punch of fresh air. Epic classics such as 'Hash Pipe' and 'Buddy Holly' had the audience caught up in a frenzy of nostalgic happiness and covers of Lady Gaga and MGMT as well as 'Teenage Dirtbag' by Wheatus just topped it all off. There wasn't a single person without a grin on their face. Pure joy.

Blink 182
For myself and many others alike; Blink 182 were the most anticipated band of the whole weekend. Having never had chance to see them before they split I had fond teenage memories riding on how they came across at the festival and my gosh, they did not disappoint. From the word go to the final curtain call they played out every Blink hit you could ever think of and whipped the crowd up until they were putty in their hands. Each member of Blink possesses charisma and utter likability - Tom Delonge's banter with Mark Hoppus kept the laughing coming and Travis Barker's vocal silence is more than made up for by the immense talent he possesses for playing the drums.

The best thing about Blink is that they come across like they haven't changed. Not one bit. It just makes you love them even more. As the encore came and Travis came onstage alone strapped to his drum kit only to be risen high in the air and not only tilted, but mother-f*cking turned UPSIDE DOWN, is too ridiculous to comprehend but he pounded those skins as well as he could on solid level ground. The jokes, the tunes, the men: everything about their set was perfection to a longstanding Blink fan.

Ironically this piece about Blink 182 isn't as long as acts I disliked (namely Guns N Roses and Neil Hamburger) - just goes to show that poor performance encourages a lengthy rant and pure music magic doesn't always need many words when you're too speechless to sum it up in text.

Honorable Mentions
Paramore
The Futureheads
The Maccabees
Lights