Reading festival - the inthenews.co.uk preview
Thursday, 21 Aug 2008 15:18
Reading festival - the inthenews.co.uk preview
inthenews.co.uk's Lewis Bazley runs through the lineup before heading off to Berkshire.
Another summer weekend - though you wouldn't know it by the weather - and with it comes yet another festival.
After the clean commercialism of V comes Reading (and Leeds), a festival renowned for rock, rioting and urine-filled bottles raining down on the stage. It's sold out, but for a look at what you're missing, read on.
Friday August 22nd
There's a chance to skank to your heart's content on the Lockup stage on day one, with
Goldfinger,
Pennywise and
Less Than Jake ending a punk-flavoured session while on the Festival Republic stage,
Ida Maria tells you she likes you so much better when you're naked,
Late of the Pier aim to make good on the hype and
Dan Le Sac VS Scroobius Pip remind you that thou shalt always kill.
There's spiky punk from
Blood Red Shoes on the NME/Radio 1 stage, youthful exuberance from
One Night Only and <>Jack Penate and an ingenious double-header of headband-clad psych-rock and Upper West Side Soweto from
MGMT and
Vampire Weekend.
But if you wanted to plant yourself in front of the Main stage for the entire day, you'd not go far wrong, with Pittsburgh punk pioneers
Anti-Flag kicking things off,
Taking Back Sunday previewing some new material and new member Matt Fazzi, and
Biffy Clyro making a valid claim to be crowned the most ferocious live band of the festival, only to be followed by the immense, eagerly-awaited return of
Rage Against the Machine to English climes.
Check out the video for Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, directed by The IT Crowd's Richard Ayoade, below:
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Saturday August 23rd
The Lockup stage continues to serve as a home away from home for punks with the Celtic swagger of
Flogging Molly,
Alkaline Trio's emotive crooning and NME Cool List winner Frank Carter taking to the stage with
Gallows.
There's some staggering talent on show on the Festival Republic stage, including
Fight Like Apes and their troll-like keyboardist, Surrey emo kids
You Me At Six and the amazing west London trio
White Lies - catch them here while you can, they'll be
much higher up the bill next year.
You could find yourself rushing between the NME/Radio 1 stages on day two, with Welsh rockers
Kids in Glass Houses, an umpteenth performance from the resurgent
Subways and the genre-spanning pop of
Santogold on offer.
After his show-stealing turn at Glastonbury,
Seasick Steve is a can't-miss proposition at Reading while the energetic art-rock of
Foals, followed by uber-cool French dance from
Justice, is sure to get your pulse racing.
But it's back to the Main stage we go for the climax, as
Bloc Party show off their new album Intimacy before Brandon Flowers and the
Killers finish the day with some classic cuts and sneak peeks at album three, thought to be titled Day and Age.
As they've not released any new videos yet, here's the Killers with When you Were Young:
Sunday August 24th
The end of the festival looms but there's still time to get on your dancing shoes with electro brilliance from the
Whip and
Crystal Castles in the Dance tent, before things verge into the arena of 'so-cool-you'll-feel-insignificant' with
Simian Mobile Disco and
CSS.
The quirky folk of
Emmy the Great on the Festival Republic stage, or the 21st century prog of
Yeasayer (NME/Radio 1 stage) could be perfect ways to start the final day, or you can head in a livelier direction with the Boston fury of
Dropkick Murphys, chart-bothering grime from
Wiley or headspinning dance-rock from the
Music.
Last Shadow Puppet Miles Kane returns to his alma mater
Rascals and there's also alt-country magnificence from
Lightspeed Champion and one of his biggest influences, Conor Oberst
If you've not managed to squeeze into the Comedy tent during the weekend, rock gods Tenacious D will be just the ticket on the Main stage while Johnny Marr continues his bid to be in every band in the world by taking the stage with the Cribs.
And with the release of their stunning debut album mere weeks away, this could have been the time for Glasvegas to announce themselves as Britain's best new band.
But day three - maybe even the entire festival - belongs to one band and one band only - Metallica. Choice cuts from upcoming album Death Magnetic are sure to feature in their Sunday night set alongside the classics but even if you're not a fan, the chance to see James Hetfield roar, Lars Ulrich smash the hell out of the drums and Kirk Hammett melt your face with solos galore is one that should never be ignored.
You'll need a rest after all that.
Watch Metallica frontman James Hetfield revelling in the band's new material below:
Lewis Bazley