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The festival has gone for another year but some people live there all the time...
Reading is a funny place, it has a young population, 'city' status, it's very own annual festival, huge shopping centres and loads of bars - but is it too close to London to have its own identity?
Next year Reading gets its second radio station, only one of the proposed stations (Juice) has plans to heavily feature local talent and underground music.
I thought I'd speak the one of the people behind this bid Stephen Stark, as I begin on my journey of the Reading music scene.
Why do you think Juice is the right Radio station for Reading?
Reading is a youthful dynamic town - it is undergoing a lot of change and development. It feels like a young place. There is very little listening choice in the area, and young people are actually choosing not to listen rather than have to put up with what there is. Almost as many people are listening to London stations - which we can hardly hear as are tuning into the "local" 210 FM. Juice aims to change that by providing a credible alternative. Juice will play credible chart and dance, breaking new music and will showcase local talent. Evenings and overnights will be handed over to Reading's underground.
Who are your target audience?
The core target are 15 to 35 year olds but really anyone who is in to music and lives in Reading.
How many listeners would you hope to attract?
In three years I would hope to reaching around 20% of the population so say around 80 to 100,000 a week, rising to around 175,000 over a month.
How do you rate your chances of winning the licence?
Well, put it this way, there is no reason we shouldn't get it. Beyond that I can't say. The Juice bid is very strong and it is completely different from all the other applications which are all targeting an older audience. In the end it will depend on whether the Radio Authority thinks a youth station is more appropriate than a cuddly local one. I know what I think and I know what pretty much everyone I have spoken to thinks - and I've spoken to a lot of people. However I am not a mind reader and I can only say we should win it and it'll be a crying shame if we don't. Anyone reading this can help us by writing in support of the bid; visit The Juice Website and register your support there. Every letter counts.
Whether Juice will win the licence remains to be seen, the group of people they are targeting are probably the most keen to listen, but it's all in the hands of the Radio Authority, so anything could happen.
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Fluid
Drive at Gigmania
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For a place that has produced a lot of bands - Metro, Saloon, The Cooper Temple Clause, The Sunset Sound and many more there are surprisingly few places to play or indeed watch live music in Reading.
Readings 'band on tour' venue The Alleycat closed some years ago and is now the 'Fez Club'. The only regular live music is Gigmania at Bar Oz every Sunday, this has 3 good local bands and is free but it doesn't offer local talent the chance to play with name acts like the Alleycat did.
Brannigans takes care of covers acts and has bizarre famous people appearances like 'Jason Donovan' 'T'pau' and 'Sam Fox' but you can't really say they're developing new music.
The Rising Sun Arts centre and 21 South Street periodically host live music, but, for a place of it size Reading heavily under represents new music and talent.
The dance music seen is better with Readings main club 'The Matrix' attracting big name DJ's and the 'Purple Turtle' and the 'After Dark' playing host local DJ's and a variety of musical genres.
If Juice successfully win the bid to become Reading's second radio station they have a big job on their hands - to make local people and local talent focus on Reading instead of using their proximity to London as an escape route to entertainment choice.
So is Reading just a once a year place for live music? No it also covers when you can't afford the train fare to London, but it could be so much more.
