Wow - What can I say ........
Juliette and The Licks, blew me away. She crowd surfed within inches of my face which was amazing! She was energetic and threw herself into the whole thing, providing a performance that is definatley on my top 5 Reading 2005 Act List!
The Killers were brilliant, got pretty near the stage, which really added to the atmosphere - Fantastic.
Goldie Looking Chain - Never heard of them before, but the minute they started I just had to stop and watch. Full of energy, each doing their own little thing in their own little world! And I couldn't help chuckling while I grooved my thing to "If you leave me now can I f*ck your sister" Brilliant!
The Foo Fighters, definatley took the prize for best lighting! The lasers were OUT OF THIS WORLD! Performance was just as good :-) Couldn't stop dancing, even though my feet felt like they were separating from my ankles in me wellies!
Razorlight was wicked! Really wicked! Right up the front of the stage level with the audience ... they went wild!
Not overly into Iron Maiden, but bloody ell, once I started watching I was transfixed. Just like I was with Marilyn Manson! Undescribably awesome - both of them!
Incubus - OMIGOD! What a band! Snuck in round the side, about 8 rows back, then spied a guy in the crowd selling drinks - He He He - If ya wanna get near the front ask one of these guys nicely to move to the front of the crowd to sell and ask if they mind you following - THREE rows back he took us :-D Then I lost both my friends and was left in the crowd alone! Like I give a sh1t thats the whole reason I was at Reading, to see the best band in the world. Incredibly, every second was superb. Even with the cracked ribs, broken bag, torn trousers and enough sweat wrung out of my clothes afterwards to water a third world country for a few days. Right at the end, a drum stick was heading towards me, I was knackered, so knackered, who knows where the energy came from to reach up and lock a hand on that drum stick!!!! But I jumped and grabbed it, with both hands and slumped to the floor of the crowd, holding with all my might. I held onto that bloody stick, through a punch in the head, a good shoeing in the ribs, several people bundling on top of me, and a few footprint shaped bruises left on my shins. I got it tho, two guys said I had earned it and deserved it and to let me get up and then both gave me a hand to my feet. If you read this I just want to say Thank You! Heaven knows what would have happened if I was down there much longer! But I got it and I slept with it all night and woke up holding it this morning lol! It was the first thing safely packed away in the car this morning, and I checked it was still in my bag about every 10 minutes! Its now going in a display case in my living room - THANK YOU INCUBUS - You Truly Rock Ass!
I saw so many other great bands ..... Bad Religion was well worth getting squashed for!
Was quite a star struck weekend really, with the Incubus Drum Stick, meeting 2 of Kasabian who came down to us at the side of the signing tent to sign my friends shirt, cos we were to late to queue, one of the guys from Goldie Looking Chain came to "share the wealth" at the same place by the signing tent, a few inches away from Juliette Lewis, Natalie Imbruglia was about somewhere too and we saw a guy from casualty! I was blown away by the whole experience!
The camp sites were pretty varied, different toilets too I noticed .... is that like an experiment - Well let me tell you, they all stink violently of shit, you always get piss everywhere, and bog roll is like finding a needle in a haystack and its hard to hold your breath long enough to take a dump! Do you ever find someone passed out in any toilets from the stench alone? We had the ones with no roofs, no locks on the door and a toilet seat over a hole, with a giant communal shit trough under it! Mix that withh 2 days of searing heat and people eating too much chicken curry and chips and you have something really rotten. So the toilets are rough, I have had to use most of the loos you get at these places and they all stink basically! But its all part of the experience I guess, gives you something extra to talk about!
I would seriously advise camping as far away from the arena as possible if you want an aggro free stay!! It seemed the closer to the main arena you were (espec on the last night) the noisier and more rowdy it was! And dont pitch your tent on the edge of a walkway, people jump onto your tent, spew on your tent, fall on your tent and generally cause a lot of nuisance!
Other than that, the security staff done a blinding job, well our camping end anyway, all the riff raff was kept away and I only heard of one tent being ruined by someone jumping onto it! Everyone in our camp field was pretty cool and friendly and although they a good time was had by all it seemed, noone spoilt it for anyone else, which was really nice! Those that go just to trash the place and cause havok for those just trying to have a good time, should do it somewhere else and let EVERYONE enjoy the festival and the break it gives people from daily life! And as for the person that asked if we liked exploding things like he did and could he throw a aerosol on our tent ..... If you like exploding things so much ..... next time make your own f*cking fire and blow something up near your own tent! Some people just wanna have a good time without setting fire to things, without trashing the whole place, and without ruining things for everyone else!
THANKS MEAN FIDDLER - See You All Next Year
