Reading Festival 2007

Little John's Farm, Reading - 26 Aug 2007

by Laila Hassani

Glorious weather but mixed performances on Reading's day of rock

"It’s all about Lostprophets. Consummate professionals, Ian Watkins and co have the biggest crowd of the day by far – even surpassing rare appearances by the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins"

Sunday is the Day of Rock (no rest for the wicked, ho ho) and the typical Reading main stage sound problems are in full effect; the usual fade-in-fade-out waves of sound coursing through the air. This could be a blessing in disguise, since it brings blissful moments of relief from Billy Talent’s warbling. When did the Canadian boys become so irritating?

The Used can usually be relied on for a fantastic live performance, but over the last year or two, their magic seems to have been on the wane too. Where they once were a razor-sharp, now they seem flabby. Frontman Bert McCracken, for all his protestations of how much he loves the crowd, music and all the hardcore Used fans, looks and acts like he’d rather be somewhere else. Distracted and unfocused are not words that would previously have been deployed to described the Utah quartet.

On the other hand, Funeral For A Friend have become the perfect festival band. Over their three albums, they’ve amassed enough great songs to ensure that singalongs are the order of the afternoon. Unlike McCracken, Matt Davies is jovial and the band sound like the aural equivalent of an ear to ear grin, playing old favourites like ‘Juneau’ alongside glorious recent single ‘Into Oblivion’.

Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy must be sweating buckets; he’s wearing what is essentially a jacket made of binliners and in this heat, just the light reflecting off him sends sweat pouring down the faces of the audience. Silly man. But he’s written some of today’s most infectious anthems in ‘Thanks For The Memories’ (we refuse to write it out without vowels, as they do), ‘This Aint A Scene…’ and ‘Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down’. Pete who?

Today's all about Lostprophets though. Consummate professionals, Ian Watkins and co have the biggest crowd of the day by far – even surpassing rare appearances by the legendary likes of Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins. FOB may have catchy songs, but so do Prophets and they bring them with flair, giant 80s quiffs and anthems that will truly stand the test of time. ‘Last Train Home’ and ‘Rooftops’ get the fans going and with the sun setting as they play the classic ‘Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja’, they have everyone eating from the palm of their hand.

By the time Nine Inch Nails come onstage, the long, hot day is taking its toll, but Trent Reznor is still immensely popular and the stage show NIN put on is nothing short of impressive. Smashing Pumpkins’ set is met with some trepidation and when they finally appear, it’s with all the pomp you’d expect from Billy Corgan. There’s noodling and jamming aplenty – most of it unnecessary – but they are by no means shit live, as was almost expected. They're just particularly wonderful either. ‘Today’ and ‘Stand Inside Your Love’ are rolled out early on, but it’s not enough to keep us from rushing off to the station for the last train home.
JP said on September 5th 2007 [report abuse]

Wow, all about Lostprophets?! It's like we were at different festivals! Oh well, the beauty of differing opinions I spose. IMHO Pumpkins were fantastic, enough to spur an allnighter and screw the night train!

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