Reading 2007 by Liam R and Claire The Karma Whore
When we left our brave adventurers, alcohol had been consumed and the love for Ben Affleck was very much in the air. What would Saturday bring? More love for Ben Affleck? More cowbell which had been severely lacking the previous day? Would any of the headliners actually live up to their lofty position at the top of the bill? Would there be more drinking? The answers to these questions and more lie below…
Claire: It’s Saturday and my fucking head is banging, I learn fast, and swear I won’t touch another Carling until at least 5pm today, and will drink plenty of bottled water… Drag Liam into Reading city centre for a Starbucks breakfast, and a trip to Boots for paracetamol. But we have to hurry, The Eagles of Death Metal are due on stage at 2pm and I want feeding first…..
Liam is not familiar with this band, which is a first, so for those of you not in the know all you do actually need to know is this. Its Josh Homme's band, yes, sexy ginger guy from Q.O.T.S.A, and they are great, and their videos are funny. They have been around since around ’98 or ’99 I think, and often have a few famous faces helping them out in their videos or on stage. Brody Dalle, Jack Black, Dave Grohl, Liam Lynch and Taylor Hawkins all have contributed at some point.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying they were the best band on the day, but what they lacked in performing live (which wasn’t a lot to be fair) they make up for in personality. The Kings of Leon should really have taken notes from these guys on how to win over your audience, the obvious highlight being “I want you so hard (the boys bad news)” which even without the comedy video, still rocked. If you enjoy some proper old school metal, and have a sense of humour, indulge in some of this, tis good stuff. Also they made good use of a cowbell, so Liam and Phil thought it was hilarious to shout “Needs more cowbells” quite a lot. Will Ferrell you have a lot to answer for.
Liam: Well after the bizarre man-love of the Eagles Of Death Metal (not birdlike, not death metal) I drift over to the Carling Stage for a very good reason. Actually, calling the Carling Stage isn't particularly apt as it's less of a stage than a glorified toilet and fuck knows what it would have been like when the Arctic Monkeys played here a few years back. The Foo Fighters near crush disaster of 1995 is a likely result. Anyway, I have moved this way because Cobra Starship just so happened to have done the theme tune for some movie about some snakes that happened to be on a plane. You may have heard of it. Anyway, I was actually pretty surprised when they actually turn out to be quite good in a disco-punk kind of way. Of course, they end on a rip-roaring version of 'Snakes On A Plane' but not before Claire has dumped half a pint of lager on some twat who happened to be standing in front of her and in a moment of what can only be described as 'evil and cunning genius' blames it on condensation. That's my girl! Though I do blame that entire episode on the Beer Bishop…
Claire: Panic! At The Disco AKA Picnic! At The Disco, Hispanic! At The Disco, you get my drift… Mmm, wasn’t sure about seeing these guys if I’m honest. Loved the single “I write sins...” enough to go and buy their album, but I loathed the album, no idea why really. I just thought it was a bit crap to be honest. But putting that aside, it’s a nice afternoon, I’m in a big field stuffing my face and they are due on stage, so it would seem a tad rude not too. And they seem like such sweet kids….. Sweet as in Cadbury mini rolls, yummy but you wouldn’t want one in your pants.
After releasing their debut album “A fever you can’t sweat out” Panic! Have joined Fall out Boy and My Chemical Romance in the teen emo heart throb must shag/marry/snog/touch list. Considering their youth (average age of about 11 I think) the boys can play, it’s just what they play I’m not too keen on. They were better live than I thought they would be, no one hit them with a bottle (though a few tried) and they were cheeky enough to try out a few Bob Dylan covers. I cant over – enthuse, but I can say that I will dig out the album and give it another listen, and “I write sins…” will stay on my favourites list on my idiot pod. And I’m glad I saw them, even if it was to annoy the small emo child that resides with me……
Hang on, if Panic! Have a fever they can’t sweat out, what’s the best cure for a fever??
MORE COWBELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Liam: Dusk settles over the Berkshire farm and out to play come Bloc Party and well… they underwhelm. It's not that their performance is bad because it's not, it's pretty good. But they suffer more than most from not being a headliner and their sound is better suited to a tent or top of the stage billing where they can actually control the sound. As it is, their angular guitar noise and bonkers beats come off a little flat and more in tune with listening to someone else's walkman with nowhere near enough cowbell.
The sound problem is no problem for Arcade Fire who seem to number about one billion people, and sound like it too. Even Claire, who had seemingly been unaware of their existence until about 8pm on the Saturday night is impressed but as I watch the Canadians literally charging around the stage and playing like this is the last gig on Earth I can't help but thinking that these guys deserve to be a massive, massive band who sell out stadiums across the universe. Yes, they are that fucking good, mixing stuff from their last two albums with an ease and power that a few bands (namely the headliners) really could take a lesson from. And closing with the trifecta 'Rebellion/Lies', 'Neighbourhood #3 (Power Cut)' and 'Wake Up' is the equivalent of dropping a nuclear warhead in the middle of the festival, mixed with the best sex you've ever had plus winning the ultimate sporting trophy of your choice in the very last possible moment all at once. The world is theirs for the taking, but is the world ready for them?
As night falls, the crowd continues to swell before the Red Hot Chili Peppers take to the stage. And then as soon as they come on stage, it all goes to absolute shit as Anthony Kleidis wrecks his microphone and his band goes into a fucking fifteen minute jam to cover for him. It then gets worse as most of their set is culled from their new album with maybe half a dozen tracks that your casual fan would know. Now, I've never been a big fan of the Chilis but they always seem to know how to play a festival set, or at the very least they fucking should know considering how long they've been about. And let's be honest, it's not hard: pack your set with 85% singles that people will know and fill the rest with album tracks. What you do not fucking do is make 75% of your set album tracks, and bookend it with boring fucking jam sessions. The band themselves also look so disinterested in playing that it starts taking its effect on the crowd and by the hour mark I had had enough of the circle jerk they were performing on stage and simply walked away from the whole sorry mess, and it seems that most of the crowd did the same. Simply put, this was the worst performance by a headliner in the 11 years I've been coming to Reading and if I had bought a day ticket just to see them, I would have been demanding my money back. What a load of fucking bollocks…
Next time: Reading turns a funny shade of metal, Liam pimps out piggy-backing and scientists have a rave in a field flooded with piss….