Reading Festival 2007
Friday 24th to Sunday 26th August 2007Little Johns Farm, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 8EQ, England MAP
£145 for weekend (including camping), £62.50 for any day each day - Friday tickets only
Daily capacity: 55,000
By Sunday the staminas down, meaning we dont make it out of bed for the two bands we really wanted to see opinion splitting grime-rockers Hadouken! and ace Nottingham Gary Numanites, Late Of The Pier.
We do make it down in time for The Sunshine Underground on the Radio 1 stage, but sadly the Leeds indie-dance gang fail to impress. Their debut album Raise The Alarm had a couple of fantastic singles Put You In Your Place and Commercial Breakdown in particular but live theres simply too much filler.
Despite looking good on paper, Sundays line-up isnt all that. The mainstage is dogged by the traditional black t-shirted metal and emo acts, while the other stages have loads of big names that get you excited but, when it comes to it, youve seen them all before anyway so its not that exciting really. As a result, most of it is spent loitering around taking in the sun, eating crap festival food and messing about with friends a.k.a the best things about a music festival.
Its not until Gallows take to the Lock Up stage that things are getting exciting again in the early evening, maniac lead singer Frank Carting overcoming the lack of things to climb on in the large tent (usually they play tiny indoor venues with plenty of things in the vicinity to break) by diving in the crowd, climbing a tent pole and, most significantly getting a tattoo live on stage. Noting that this is the best gig of his life, he has a lock with seven stars (The Lock Up Stage, 2007) etched into his skin, before finishing off the fierce set with the circle-pit starting Orchestra Of Wolves.
Back over on the Radio 1 stage, LCD Soundsystem play a steadfast and sturdy set that has people dancing and cheering in celebration of the festivals final night. From Daft Punk Is Playing At My House to recent single North American Scum, James Murphy lets the music do the talking, as the faceless act drive punk-funk to its limits over their hour long set. A monumental Yeah is a highlight.
While The Smashing Pumpkins indulge themselves with their boring reunion rock on the Main Stage, over in the Radio 1 tent people are crammed as tight as they can to catch a glimpse of Klaxons play their most triumphant gig ever. This time last year they were halfway up the Carling Tent bill, now theyve got the whole of the second stage singing every word of their songs back at them. What a progression. They stick to the now familiar set list opening with The Bouncer and Atlantis To Interzone, going through a few slow ones then picking up again towards the end but it goes down as sweetly as ever, the atmosphere in the massive tent being celebratory. It rounds off the festival perfectly, not to mention their own year and a half of touring their debut album.
Reading Festival, yet again, proves itself as the most enjoyable festival the planet has to offer. See you in 2008.
review by: Alex Hoban
photos by: Kirsty Umback
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