My First Time
This was my first ever festival, so, as you would expect, I was
apprehensive, especially as I was basically going on my own. After
waiting in two hours of traffic, i walked from the station, through
reading and got to the campsite. I found Green E, and met all the peple
Id be spending my festival weekend with. I spent most of thrusday
getting to know people and basically getting myself in the mood for the
upcoming music, and most importantly, sleeping, to get my energy for
friday. At about 7pm I went to the RFO meet, where i met a load of cool
people. For the rest of the evening i chilled out then got some sleep.
On the friday, i got up at about 11pm, had some breakfast and took a
load of pro plus to help me on my way. First up to see for me was Goldie Lookin'
Chain. Despite what everyone says about them being 'funny for 5 minutes'
and being a one hit wonder sort of thing, I, and everyone i was with,
thought they put on a brilliant and entertaining performance, playing
such songs as 'Soap Bar', 'Guns Dont Kill People' and 'Half Man, Half
Machine', but also dropping in some great new ones called 'Adams Charm
School' and 'Your Missus Is A Nutter'. All in all, they really got me
geared up for the day.
Then it was a break until dropkick murphys, I decided, then realising I
was still at the campsite half way through their saet. I still managed
to catch a few of their songs and they looked pretty good to me.
After that, i really cant say that there was anything on that
interested me until Audio Bullies came on in the dance tent. Now let me
tell you, these guys put on a f***ing amazing show, the whole crowd was
buzzing and it was spectacular to say the least. PLaying some of the
old classics off their old album and throwing in 'Shot you Down' to
finish off. I intent to see these guys again based purely on their Reading performance.
After them a managed to catch the last 30 minutes or so of the Killers'
set, which was fairly good, but didnt look all that to me. After them,
i wandered back into the dance tent to see a bit of Lemon Jelly, who
I'd never heard of. I dont normally enjoy seeing acts ive never heard
of, but he was really something quite special, a very interesting style of music.
On Saturday, i didnt wake up, purely because i didnt sleep on friday
night, but i was intending on seeing No Comply, or FATA, but couldnt
make my mind up and decided to go into town for breakfast and a pint
instead. Id seen both of them before so it wasnt such a bad choice to
make. I started by going off to the main stage to see biffy clyro, who
ive seen twice before, and i have to say i thought it was slightly
better than previous performances i have seen them do, especially '57'.
Then Roots Manuva came on, and ive seen him twice in the past as well,
and can say he was AWFUL both times, so i wasnt going to miss capdown
on the offchance that he might have got slightly better since last
time. Anywho, i strolled off to the lock-up tent with some mates, who
soon got separated, but Capdown got the crowd moving really well, playing classics 'Ska Wars' and 'Cousin leotis'.
Unfortunately i got elbowed in the neck by someone which ended with me
losing my voice :(. Nevertheless i still really enjoyed seeing them
again, however i can strongly reccomend seeing them at a gig where they
are headlining because they are much better. I then had fuck all to do,
as there was noone i really wanted to see until bad religion, so i
returned to the campsite, and, although i cant remember exactly what i
did, it probably involved a lot of shenanigans. I then went to watch
bad religion, but i was feeling fidgety and couldnt be in the same
place for more than 2 minutes so i left and went back to the campsite
to get inebriated. I then had a massive cigar, fucking excellent.
The rest of saturday was a bit of a blur, so onto sunday I go. First up were bullet for my valentine. For the record, ive seen them at the astoria in London, and they did a bloody good show, and i wasnt expecting them to live up to that, but they did a lot better than i expected, a really good performance. I did intend to stay to see turbonegro, but i got distracted and stayed at the campsite. Shenanigans ensued, and i came back to the main stage in time to see a bit of alkiline trio who ive always thought were a bit meh, and they were from what i saw. Funeral for a Friend were up next, and although i didnt, and still dont, think they are mainstage material, i thought they did fairly well, playing such songs as 'Streetcar', 'Escape Artists Never Die' and 'Juneau'. I couldnt be arsed to watch any more mainstage bands for a while, so i returned to the campsite, but then hurried off to the dance tent for Mylo. Now, let me tell you one thing, id never seen Mylo before, id only heard one of his songs, and i really didnt know what to expect. What i saw, BLEW ME AWAY. He was one of the best live performances ive ever seen in my life. Definately in top 3 live shows ive ever seen. He played so many good songs, and on tuesday after reading i went to buy his album, and its currently been in my cd player for a week solid.
All in all, i think as a first reading this was frigging excellent, and im definately returning next year. Fro Green E all the way!
Evan
