Monday 6 September 2010

Seen It>>Reading Festival 2010 - Friday

12:00-12:30 Young Guns//High Wycombe alternative rockers opened the Main Stage at this year's festival with tracks from their debut album, "All Our Kings Are Dead", including 'Winter Kiss' and 'Crystal Clear.' They even had time to pay homage to the festivals headliners, combining Arcade Fire's 'Wake Up', Blink 182's 'Stay Together For the Kids' and Guns 'N Roses's 'You Could Be Mine.'

12:45-13:20 Surfer Blood//The West Palm Beach Surf Rockers brought sunshine and warmth to a muddy first day at Reading. They included songs from their high-rated debut "Astro Coast" and debuted new song 'I'm Not Ready.'

13:20-13:50 Harlem//With the Festival Republic stage running half an hour later than scheduled, my hopes of seeing Funeral Party were dashed, if only to the pleasure of instead seeing Harlem. Not from New York, but Tuscon, Arizona, the garage rock band worked up a sweat for the lively crowd, including the switch of guitarist/singer and drummer half-way through their set.

14:05-14:50 Billy Talent//Having last year headlined the Lock Up Stage, the Canadians saw themselves promoted to Main Stage, it being deserved too. Opening with crowd favourite 'Red Flag' got the entire audience rocking all the way to 'Fallen Leaves' at the end. Their set and crowd interaction once again showcasing that they are one of the best live bands on the line up.

15:35-16:05 Summer Camp//The London duo got the young audience excited on the Festival Republic stage by launching Kit Kat Chunkys into the crowd. However they didn't need to take a break (sorry), as they delivered a perfect set, prooving why they were one of the bands of the weekend to watch.

16:20-16:55 Pulled Apart By Horses//The Leeds rockers once again tore up the Festival Republic stage, with frontman Tom Hudson diving into the crowd with guitar in tack, whilst James Brown also launched his into the air like a missile, only to collect it and continue playing. The electric atmosphere in the tent confessed the band to claim that Reading would "kick the shit" out of their hometown's audience. Without doubt, Friday belonged to them.

17:20-18:10 Lostprophets//Pontypridd's finest were also upgraded to Main Stage, after their storming headline set on the NME/Radio One on Sunday in 2009. Featuring both new material from "The Betrayed" and previous classics such as 'Last Train Home' and 'Wake Up', along with a cover of 'Sweet Child O' Mine' from the day's headliners, Guns 'N Roses. However the obvious missing song being live favourite 'Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja.' It's probably safer to say that they are clearly more suited to the darkness.

18:35-19:25 Biffy Clyro//Obvious attention being attatched to Simon Neil's new look of Blond beard and hair, the Scottish rockers delivered a crowd pleasing performance of newer singles such as 'Mountains' and 'The Captain', whilst playing classics such as 'Living Is A Problem...' and 'Who's Got A Match?'

19:45-20:50 Queens Of The Stone Age//The Coolest Man in Rock, Josh Homme, doesn't need to make much effort to control the Main Stage for the Californian Hard Rockers's apperance. Opener 'Feel Good Hit Of The Summer' shows off their customary swagger, whilst the crowd chant back the riff to 'No One Knows,' once again showing that they indeed are the Kings (or Queens) of the festival.

20:55-21:40 Blood Red Shoes//The Brighton boy/girl duo liven up the Festival Republic stage under the headlights combining classics such as 'It's Getting Boring By The Sea' and new potential classics including 'Heartsink.' The Teenage audience, dripping with sweat and alcopops, are kept bouncing in the air throughout the atmospheric set.

21:30-23:30 Guns 'N Roses//Over an hour late (what a suprise!), Axl Rose 'N Chums are met with a chorus of boos. With their new-line up in tow, it's hard to take it seriously as G'NR. Taking into account, that Rose's voice has firmly been left in 1987, perhaps it's time to put this to bed and move on. Of course, Axl Rose is a man (and ego) who doesn't like being second-best, therefore they manage to out-perform Kings Of Leon from 2009, as one of the worst headliners in recent years.

No comments:

Post a Comment