.:Reviews:.

 

Me and my mate had decided to get the Early Entry Permit, so we got there on the Wednesday afternoon, and although we did get a great place to camp we had to suffer the rain, and was there a lot of it, with me and my mate jus sitting in the tent waiting for it to stop. Luckily at about 7ish it stopped and then the rest of our party arrived - about 20 of us in the end, which helped. The rest of the day and night was spent putting up tents, getting firewood, and getting absolutely wasted.

Waking up on the Thursday at 10, with a splittin headache, we decided we had to eat, so we go into town to the nearest pizza hut for a quick buffet breakfast/lunch. However on arriving we found out it opens at 11.30, however luckily the weather was with us and we spent a nice hour lounging around in the sun, much to the annoyance of other residents. After eating as much pizza as possible (to save money) we returned to the site for a full day ahead of drinking. It was only at 11 that night, when I was absolutely wasted, and chuckin my guts up on the ground where I began to think it wasn't too good an idea to drink solidly for 8 hours. After having made a vow never to drink again, I crawled in after my mates had ensured I wasn't gonna vomit on my own face or anything. Overall a good day.

Friday, woke up, and I believe still partially drunk, we got ready, finally for the music to begin. After a cooked breakfast, we entered the arena to catch the first two acts on the main stage. I hadn't heard any of Do Me Bad Things before, and I was reasonably impressed with their quirky and eclectic music, however, it was nothing special. Then came one of the acts I had seen last year, Goldie Lookin Chain. Although they played their classic songs well, I think they focused too much on their new material and trying to market their new album rather then sticking to their older, and in my opinion better songs. It was at this point my wristband fell off, so after GLC I left the Arena to get it replaced, not really too bothered as there was no one else I wanted to see until the subways at 5. Expecting to simply get another wristband, I had to wait for 2 and a half hours only to be told that I didn't have proof that I bought a ticket, and so was refused a ticket. Incensed I queued up again for another 2 hours, in the meantime missing the Subways, where a different official had a kinder heart and replaced it for me. Furious at missing one of the acts I had been lookin forward to the most, I ran to catch the opening of Queens of the Stone Age. I was very impressed with their set and the songs they played, and still believe they are great musicians, in particular with songs like No One Knows and Little Sister. After them, it was straight onto the Killers, who I thought played excellently for their first time at reading, and Jenny was a Friend of mine, and All These Things that I've Done are still uplifting and anthemic tunes that really got the crowd going. As soon as they had finished I rushed over to the NME tent were Kasabian were playing. They were simply fantastic. From Reason is Treason, to Club Foot, they were excellent and their songs were so perfect for the atmosphere of the NME tent, with the crowd going wild for them. After them I wandered back to our site, feeling very happy with the quality of the music, but still angry about the whole wristband thing. After only a few drinks, remembering the night before, I turned in.

As I woke up I was surprised to not have a headache for once, and although for me this was the day I was least looking forward to music wise, There were a couple of bands I really wanted to see. After the usual routine of breakfast and toilet in town, I stayed at the campsite, not bothered to see from autumn to ashes or all American rejects on the main stage, and instead decided to start drinking as I had had a minimal amount the day before. I did however want to catch three acts who were on at the same time in different tents, so I saw a little of Biffy Clyro on the main stage, a small amount of Emanuel on the Carling Stage, and all of Nine Black Alps' set on the NME stage. NBA were very good, and me and my mate managed to create about 9 pits during the set, as we are both big fans of NBA. In particular Ironside and Shot Down were great, really 'involving the crowd' songs. Then, wishing to get a little more wasted, I returned, only really wanting to next see Hot Hot Heat in a couple of hours. When I did, I thought they were very good, and was very impressed with the lead singer, and I still think he has an excellent voice. In particular 'Bandages' and 'Goodnight Goodnight' got the crowd going. After their set, it was straight over to the Main Stage for the last bit of Razorlight's set, which although I only saw the last 20 mins of, thought they were a little disappointing, and still believe Johnny Borrell is getting pretty damn arrogant, although they do have some addictive and catchy songs. Then, it was the Kings of Leon, who in my opinion, although I'm sure others will disagree, were the first really poor act. I thought they were stale, and certainly too far up the bill to be second headliners. Although songs like Four Kicks were quite good. Their other songs only managed to bring their set down, and so as they finished, I couldn't wait to see Foo Fighters who were definitely one of my favorites for the weekend, so me and my m8 threaded through the crowd, getting as close as possible, about 8 rows away from the barrier, and we could not wait. We were certainly not let down. They were immense, the second best act for me of the whole weekend, and as Grohl opened with the title track from their new album 'In Your Honor', you could feel the excitement building, until the heavy riff of the song came in, and the crowd was just going wild, everyone jumping up and down like this was the last night of their lives. Unbelievable. Their set list was excellent, playing all of their fast paced exciting songs, in particular my favorite 'All My Life' but also softer songs, like 'Everlong' which were brilliant and accompanied by a great laser show. Foo Fighters certaintly made the day for me, and although exhausted and sweat-covered, I met my mates at our site, and we talked for hours about how fantastic the Foo's were, getting pissed at the same time. Incredible.

The last day, Sunday, I woke up feeling so up for it, as this was by far my favorite day out of the three. One of my mates is obsessed with Alkaline Trio and was desperate to be on the bar for them when they came on as the third act on the main stage, so we got there early and we were practically on the bar, which was fine by me as I wanted to see Bullet For My Valentine, who opened the last day on the main stage. I thought they played reasonably well, playing in front of such a large crowd, especially songs like 'Hand of Blood' and 'Just Another Star'. Unfortunately the sun had really come out and it was really hot and that coupled with the heat of the crowd forced me to retire to sit and watch Turbonegro who I thought were ok, but I didn't really know many of their songs, so I simply found them a little weird! Then it was Alkaline Trio's turn, who I have always liked, and I thought they did a great job, very professionally done, with a good set list containing old classics like 'Private Eye', but also with newer stuff from their new album like 'Mercy', which I found good and rocking' as well. Overall I could not wait for the next act, Funeral for a Friend, one of my all time favorite bands, They were great, and being in the pit for 'Red is the new Black' was awesome, with everyone just going crazy, and also the same at the end with 'Escape Artists Never Die' was also excellent. They were so good, and although I have seen them twice before they are still just as good. After them, it was Incubus' turn, another of the acts who I had been looking forward to a lot. I really enjoyed songs like 'Nice to know You' and 'Megalomaniac' and Brandon Boyd has such a good voice. However I think they could have done a much better set list, playing more of their older, better songs rather then focusing on their new material, but they were certainly good and I was glad I had seen them. Then I decided to go back for a bit, to build up my energy for this evenings festivities. The weather was now incredibly hot and I had managed to get a great bit of sunburn watching the previous acts. All I could really do was just sweat and drink and try to protect myself! However, luckily the evening came creeping on, and with it The Futureheads and Bloc Party respectively on the NME stage. We had to push to get a good place, and so, thick in the crowd, we watched the Futureheads, who I thought were great, in particular songs like 'Decent Days and Nights' and 'Hounds of Love' which is such a great song for a crowd like the ones at Reading. I really enjoyed them, and they had set me up well for what for me was the highlight of the festival. Bloc F***ing Party! They were quite literally stupendous. Every song of theirs was just incredible. Being there screaming myself hoarse along with thousands of others to songs like 'Banquet' and 'Helicopter' and just enjoyin the music of 'So Here We Are' and then goin crazy with 'Pioneers'. They were just everything I had hoped, and a quite brilliant end to the Festival for me anyway, although I was sorry I had missed Iron Maiden, but what can you do?

So, these are my top 5 bands of the great weekend.

I'm sure there were acts that I did not get to see that were also good, but you cant watch em all.

On the Sunday night, there was the usual business of getting wasted and stoned, however this time it was like x10. It was just so great sittin round our fire, just chillin out for hours. With loads of people running around completely wasted, it was just hilarious watching all the different people rushin around. Great fun. On the next morning, we all set about getting the hell out of there, be it bleary eyed and very hungover. We hurried as massive fires were eruption everywhere, with people burning their gas canisters, so the sound of small explosions eventually became normal. So finally at about 11 o clock, we left the site, tired, filthy, hungover, bruised and sunburnt, however, we had enjoyed an incredible weekend, one I will never forget.

Rich Fox