Reading Festival 2007

24th-26th August 2007
Compared to the other festivals Carling Reading Festival is the one where unruly behaviour, riot acts like burning tents are acceptable to the point that it wouldn't be Reading without these. Music on the other hand is another excuse to throw yourself around. Compared to previous years this year's line-up was pretty much disappointing. You had the "new" bands who have been playing at every festival available all summer, you had the bands who play Reading every year, then you had the major names, who with the exception of one didn't really live up to the expectations.

It appeared the Friday's real headliners were Ash. Much to everyone's amusement the main headliner was Razorlight. Most asked why but most went to sing-a-long to America anyway. Being over the 90s and not being into egomaniacs I stayed in the bar and drank instead. One band that shone on Friday was Reverend and the Makers. There is something special about Sheffield bands. They have the inexplicable ability to produce songs that make you want to swing your head and arms left and right. They simply sold their upcoming album to me with their performance which was followed by the muchly talked about Cajun Dance Party who filled the tent with balloons but didn't do any "dancey" stuff. Still they were worth checking out. Sandwiched between them and one fabulous Patrick Wolf was Jack Penate who had what seemed to be his family and Jo Whiley dancing in the pit. I am not a fan of George Michael doing Elvis impressions so if I looked bored, it was because I was. Luckily my evening was saved by another terrific performance by Patrick Wolf who was keen on playing tracks from Lycantrophy.

As the disappointment with the headliners go, none could have beaten the Saturday's. Step forward Red Hot Chili Peppers. If one band needed to blamed for lack of enthusiasm, lack of interaction and lack of festival spirit, everyone can point their fingers to RHCP. So disappointing they were, it felt like this was a band who's been around for a year or two, so had to rely on 20 minute jamming sessions followed by minutes of silence in between songs to fill their 2 hour slot. They blamed sound problems. Maybe their non-existing greeting of the crowd was due to the sound problems too. It wasn't all bad tho. Especially if you were in the dance tent earlier that day. A lot of people were for Crystal Castles who were followed by Does It Offend You, Yeah? which were probably the best act of the day. They sound like Discovery era Daft Punk but with an edge, not necessarily offending but you get what they mean with their title. Scroobius Pip was in his most articulate, measuring his audience and telling them that he has to dance it up a bit.

Thankfully Sunday headliner was a major act who has been doing many festivals this year to know how to act. But long before them there was Late of the Pier, who were the first act of the day pulling enough audience to prove there was interest. They kept their clothes on too. The Maccabees did a secret set in the Nokia Tent in the afternoon. Later, the day heard stories about how someone threw a lemon at Kate Nash while she was performing Foundations. Packed tent is an understatement; it was obvious everyone Kate Nashed to see Kate Nash, and I wonder if anyone needed a Kate Nash how they manged to leave the tent for the toilets. Yes this is how I entertained myself through her set. Previous to Nash, Devendra Banhart was over in the BBC1 tent. It was good to see the messiah-like performing again. By the time the clocks hit half 8, Nine Inch Nails, who could have easily been the double headliner, were on stage. What can be described as brilliant audio visual show came to end with Aaron North smashing his guitar and throwing the amp to the security. Trent Reznor later appeared on its own to sing Hurt. The closing act of the festival was Smashing Pumpkins. And they came and went with bang and a wow! Billy Corgan was surprisingly in good form, not shy of addressing the audience and being generally charming. The band gave the fans the classics and the under-rated Zeitgeist tracks which are brilliant. Cherub Rock sent everyone singing along and jumping up and down and closed the festival in great spirit.

For full line-up info - check out the Official Website