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FRIDAY 23rd AUGUST at THE READING FESTIVAL
SATURDAY 24th AUGUST at THE LEEDS FESTIVAL
THE STROKES:
Where's the chat? Fine. Have it your way: play your songs and go - Raz
strokes/schmokes. Pah. SL
Hmm. Pretty dull, unless you got birthday cake I guess. Julian needs lessons from the hives frontman. - S.E-H
Headlining on a debut album and only really one single that people know? Bye byes. SA
PULP:
A perfect charisma-overloaded buffer zone after the crazy Jane's - Raz
Should have headlined Friday night. Jarvis is the new messiah - S.E-H
JANE'S ADDICTION:
I understand now - Raz
Perry's outfit's as good as the tunes. Have it! PW
The only true rock stars of the weekend. With Perry Farrell's flamboyant theatrics & Dave Navarro's effortless cool Janes are untouchable, leaving you breathless & gasping for more!-Mat
WEEZER:
You can't keep a wierd man down. Just ask our men in the mosh. PW
The dedicated a song to Slipknot, started chants of Weezer Weezer" and bitched about how people told them they'd never get anywhere. first song was 'The Sweater Song' The crowd went mad. - Ollie
Mad? Totally and utterly, screaming in peoples ears, starting pits, shouting for 'Surfwax!' and generally swaying around grinning! What a set! What a band! WOO! SA
Possibly my highlight of the weekend. They certainly made me the most happy. even if Rivers sounded like he'd been on the crazy dust.J.E.
A splendid set from a splendid band. -Mat
I love Rivers! I love Weezer. I love the world.SL
Make my day. All I’ve been waiting for, forever. And they don’t disappoint. They even play ‘The Good Life’!! Everything’s alright, I can even forgive the Beans tent, for those 40 odd minutes that pass by ever so quick-like. A touch of class to an otherwise seemingly unsingalongish day. - MI
Perfect sunshine, perfect set(only to be improved by the inclusion of ‘el scorcho’), perfect band - S.E-H
THE WHITE STRIPES:
That woman! Her facial expressions! His voice! Everything! Just... ARGHHHH!!! NO NEEEEEED! I thought they might be fun live. I was wrong. KP
Jack encompasses all that is showbizness and Meg...well she's the drummer - Raz
Superb set. 12 songs in 20 minutes and the band were at it from the off. No airing of 'Fell In Love With A Girl' but a cool version of 'Hotel Yorba'... and she is gorgeous when she pouts! - C.W
WHY??? The attraction escapes me. They're dull, flat, tinny, devoid of tune or wit or rhythm or anything that could make me tolerate them. - Gen
Borrrriiiing! - SA
Wait to be blown away. Waiting. Still waiting. -Mat
THE DANDY WARHOLS:
Chilled out, melodic and uplifting. Perfect for soothing those "I feel so rough... and I think I might need a poo" mid-afternoon second day blues at Leeds. KP
Sex, drugs, R'n'R and more drugs personified. Started slow, droney, then grooved, "YAH BETTER BEWARE!" until it got to the singles from the adverts. Sell outs? Who cares when it makes this many people lose it! - SA
They can never fail in my eyes. When will they self-destruct again? Raz
Hmm... they just seemed like some kind of house band, prehaps in a good way... whatever, Zia = yum. - Ollie.
Grr...they so sexy,even the guy with the hair. They never fail to be good. SL
I find myself listening to a pubrockband playing covers ‘off the tv’. Holdeth up! It’s the Dandy Warhols! And I can’t even see their pretty guitarist. This is pointless, and no fun. But at least my jacket potato is tasty. - MI
MERCURY REV:
I still don't get it - Raz
A band made for darkness, from snowfalls in desolate places, playing in the sunshine? SA
Mercury Rev continue a subtle vibe, all subdued browns and black, Jonathon Donahue looks like a very happy and camp nosferatu, all smiles and falsetto. All the songs develop into long spacey jams, and ‘Opus 40’ is incredibly good, Jonathon making pentagrams in the air in time with the bursts of keyboard. ChrisO
SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES:
Division of Laura Lee can't shower enough praise on this band. A shame BHS' breakfast was a more enticing option. -Mat
THE MOLDY PEACHES:
From mid afternoon in a tent last year to festival operners now. A lot of people will now buy their record. Many more will leave very confused. - Ollie
They were beautiful and cute and lovely and i love them and *squealysqueal*J.E.
The Moldy Peaches fancy dress anti-folk at 12:00 is a bit much to handle, and they're much better on a smaller stage like last year. They're still charming and frightened, it's just this year the crowd seems smaller and includes members of The Strokes at the side of the stage, being pretty visible. Everyone dances to "Who's got the Crack?" and people are eased into the festival. ChrisO
SATURDAY 24th AUGUST at THE READING FESTIVAL
SUNDAY 25th AUGUST at THE LEEDS FESTIVAL
FOO FIGHTERS:
The Foo Fighters: Bringing people together for one last pre-riot sing-a-long session. Mmmm. KP
He loves us. We love him. Who gives a shit about the rest of the band. Really - Raz
They rocked, he cried, we made a young girl deaf, the new songs sounded more like QOTSA than QOTSA but Dave Grohl is still king. PW
The reason why i and those around me lost our voices for the rest of the evening. Licked camera's, same-old reciprocal love/buy our records jibes and us, hanging and bouncing upon every word. "Now we've headlined, it means we can't come back again, that makes me sad". Me too! They'll be back! SA
Grohl blowing kisses to the camera, smiling, then smearing a well-plucked bogey on the lense: the exact moment everyone realises why they love him to bits. -Mat
There are no words to describe how good this band were. My friends jump on my feet, they scream in my ears, they dance (somewhat badly),we seem to be the only ones having fun but i doubt it. SL
This is what I’ve been waiting for since December 2001. It’s been so, so long. Now they’re back, with added confidence, a sober drummer, and some new choons. Guess what? They play the hits. All of them. And I don’t stop grinning for the whole set. The newbies aren’t half bad either. At the end of it all I’ve devolved a few years and am 12 all over again! This is excellent!! MI
I apologise in advance, I was looking forward to them but dull - S.E-H
MUSE:
The hardest it could possibly of rained at Reading. The most moving show of the weekend. From the new bands tent to the main stage in 3years and because of quality, intregrity and pushing boundaries. Nice one fella's *tingle* - SA
Pure rock and surprisingly heavy at that - Raz
Surprisingly less annoying off-record. KP
The sort of band where you spend half the set staring at Bellamy's hands muttering "is he really doing that??". And yet there was nothing noodly or self-indulgent about it. Genius. - Gen
Eye-opening, jaw-dropping, spine-tingling... never underestimate the Muse live experience! -Mat
I think this was my favourite of the weekend. Matt Belamy is like an angel stung by a bee. So amazing to watch, i have tunnel vision and don't want to see/hear anything else. They have balloons too! SL
ASH:
They ain't never gonna fail ya, especially with our Charlotte up there on the left - Raz
The managed to play, despite the crash and Reading Rumour (tm) that they'd cancelled at the last minute. the last song was played sans-neck brace. - Ollie
Many people have said to avoid as they are shite live... I disagree! A best-of set which was the perfect backdrop to the most extreme bottle fight ever known to man! - C.W
SUM 41:
Prematurely laughing at their Kerrang! Award nomination for Best Band by officially being the worst band at the festival and struggling to keep it together at all. Nice one. KP
Someone should bring these smarmy brats down a peg or two. -Mat
THE HIVES:
2 songs? 2 songs? Just 2 songs? SA
Just what WAS he blabbering on about inbetween the songs?? *shakes head at how a band this basic can play the main stage* -Mat
Clearly the best band of the weekend. Or they would have been if they hadn’t played and just let Pele do a spoken word set, ‘This song is about me. Give me a round of applause’ – Genius - S.E-H
LESS THAN JAKE:
They had 50ish% of the Leeds festival crowd being all circle-pit-like around the sound boards. 'Nuff said. KP
Stop being so darn bouncy and poppy and fast all the time - I'm wearing a dress. In the pit. And I'm drunk. -Mat
A:
Like last year, jump, jump, jumping as far as my drunken eyes could see. British rock is back on top (ignore the fact the Foo's headlined and that about 20% of the line-up was british). Ace! SA
As expected only got any real response when they played 'Starbucks' & 'Nothing' but did produce a blistering version of 'Foghorn' for those of us old enough to rememeber it. How ace WERE 'A'? - C.W
ANDREW WK:
He loved every minuite of teh show, his teachers must have hated him, hyperactive little kid that he is - Ollie
He said I'm his friend! *Feels all warm and squishy inside* KP
Never has a man so happy, rocked it so Motley Crue. The smile, the kicks, the party anthems. Andrew WK was Reading. PW
Rawk with a capital 'roar!' Every song of his set sounded the same but I didn't care. It was warm, he was having fun and produced the silliest 'milking a cow while giving a blow job' dance I have ever seen. Party hard Andrew! - C.W
The dumbest, greatest hooks this side of Van Halen. A big sweaty bloke flinging his hair around. Lots and lots of songs about partying. Brilliant! - Gen
It does sound the same the whole way through doesn't it? His hair was longer than i expected.J.E.
Ok, so they make Bon Jovi look like Slayer but you just can't help but rock out in an 80s fashion to his party anthems. -Mat
Andrew WK did look a bit like a bushwhacker (old school WWF anyone?) and continued to grin and give the thumbs up no matter what people threw at him. The music is lowest common denominator Prozac metal, and that's why it was sooo good to see all these big mosh-pit men hugging each other and dancing happily. It was really inspiring and I have no idea why. ChrisO
VEX RED:
Oooh, naked drummer, an audience full of young girls lapping up their evey pout and ounce of smeared eyeliner "I thought you'd have all forgotten about us" ha. - Ollie
Each time I see Vex Red, Terry becomes about a million times more rock starrish. Just a pity he comes across as a greasy mingy try-hard. Ah well - at least the flowers were pretty. KP
It's like grunge got a second chance and decided to blow all of the record label's advance on a stylist. Engaging for ten minutes, outdated and cliché-ridden thereafter. - Gen
Think they won over a few new fans (mostly fans of silverchair and early deftones mind you i.e. most of the crowd!). Hardly life-changing, but they'll do. SA
SAHARA HOTNIGHTS:
This is the kind of stuff that gives all girl rock bands a bad name. KP
This is the kind of stuff that gives all girl rock bands a good name. - Ollie
This is the kind of stuff dreams should be made of. Nice melodies and probably the best garage punk band of the weekend. What a sight to wake up to. SA
This is the kind of stuff dreams are made of. -Mat
This lot are mucho fabulous. My boyfriend liked them too, apparently for their musical skills. Hmm. SL
SUNDAY 25th AUGUST at THE READING FESTIVAL
FRIDAY 23rd AUGUST at THE LEEDS FESTIVAL
GUNS N ROSES:
Need a day off? Lightweight - Raz
I might be the only one in the world, but I thought they were a TOTAL anti-climax and overall, a huge dissapointment. KP
First indication of trouble this weekend comes from these guys. On stage late, off stage late and play a 'best-of' set. Stand out points were 'November Rain' and Buckethead. - C.W
I saw guns and roses. GUNS AND ROSES! HAH! mmm, KFC...J.E.
PRODIGY:
The sad night I realised Keith Flint was actually Maxim's bitch - Raz
A few new songs, mostly 'Fat Of The Land' stuff tho, no really old school stuff. No Leeroy. - Ollie
I danced until I dropped... literally. It would have been rude not to! KP
Best band of the weekend. Killer live set, a mosh-fest of the highest degree and the bands cover of Madness classic 'Nightboat To Cairo' was fantastic! - C.W
Indeed. They tore up the stage they only know how: Keith Flint jumping about like a Thunderbirds puppet and Maxim pretending he's Morpheus. Blazing set though.-Mat
THE OFFSPRING:
I saw them play their 1st good song and I was humming it for the rest of the weekend. Probably shoulda seen more Raz
SLIPKNOT:
Where's the controversy exactly? Raz
There was a necromancer in the crowd. At the end Clown threw a bin bag into the crowd. rock. - Ollie
You have to smile... KP
On WAY too early in the day but they do their best. Songs such as 'Wait & Bleed' and 'Heretic Anthem' stand out a mile and you know with some pyrotechnics this coulda be fun... instead it was just a bit of a giggle. - C.W
ok, so maybe they aren't quite as bad as i thought J.E.
INCUBUS:
So damn predictable - Raz
I fell asleep against a swastika covered ice cream van. - Ollie
Incubus just aren't the same without a group of girls' shrill squeals in your left ear and the murmer of some bloke complaining about Brandon being a poser in your right. Simply not a festival band. KP
You have to wonder if Brandon Boyd ever gets sick of being upstaged by his own chest. Spose he could always put a shirt on. - Gen
Why on earth they weren't higher up the bill or even headlining after so many great, scene-standard-rising-records totally and utterly baffles me. As always, moving like a sunset on a pebble beach with a silky sea lapping into the sky. SA
NOFX:
Fat Mike= cunt. NOFX = punk rock geniuses with far too many good songs not to wanna get naked and dance. PW
Unexpectedly fucking BRILLIANT! See: Peter's comment. KP
Yeah, so they played the last song with an accordian. best bit? when the power was cut off and they were kicked off stage. - Ollie
They couldn't play a bad set if they tried! Unlike their shows at the Vans Warped Tour earlier, their set was varied and hey - Timmy & Jay actually sang on 'Theme on a NOFX Song' this time! -Mat
PUDDLE OF MUDD:
How has this band sold millions? A travesty - Raz
Muddle of Pudd godammit. PW
With only about 3 words (that weren't "Reading") spoken to the crowd, all we got was the drone of his voice. Go. - Ollie
Ouch. SA
HUNDRED REASONS:
They looked too comfortable on that main stage. The arenas beckon - Raz
A loss of power at one point, but we were sang to anyway. Natural main-stagers. - Ollie
Sound hollow from where I’m sitting. But seem strangely comfortable just where they are - MI
AMEN:
Blazing hot sun... a blue sky over a field filled with happy people... and Amen. Hmm. It worked though. - Gen
It has just dawned on me that they don't really know what, specifically, they're shouting about do they?-Mat
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN:
I was SO glad I wasn't in that moshpit - Raz
Bags of poo are all well and good untill someone gets one in the face... oh.. he did.. - Ollie
Does that drummer ever stop??- Mat
On leaving the tent I was greeted with huge TV screens showing a man in the process of shitting on stage, making me feel glad I hadn't missed all of The Dillinger Escape Plan. They displayed technically brilliant mixtures of dark atmospherics, jazz musicianship and horrific anger. Dillinger seemingly work on the basis that when playing to crowds who don't know you, any reaction is a good reaction. ChrisO
Colour Photos by Ollie
