12:30am Monday
Caught a bit of Trippie Redd whilst eating some great Thai food. There were a lot of sirens, glock sounds and use of the word ‘bitch.’
Far lovelier was Nieve Ella. She clearly enjoys performing and being with her band and they put on a good set. Indie rock, indie pop – lots to enjoy.
We were hoping to be at the front for The Dare but had to settle for a couple of rows back, as many other fans had also strategically placed themselves in the Nieve Ella crowd.
We haven’t witnessed this level of control freakery on the Festival Republic Stage since Sleep Token in 2023. Huge amounts of lighting and two massive stacks of Marshall Amps were wheeled in to form an immersive set. Due to the complexities, the set started a good ten minutes or so late. It was worth the wait. The Dare is an odd mix of music geek and cool kid but was by far the best thing we saw all day. Photos when the phone is charged or the press ones are released.
Oh, and some guy called Travis Scott came out and burnt through about 90% of the total pyrotechnics budget for the entire festival in an hour!
WHAT A WEEKEND. As the branding has said over the last couple of years, it was “The place to be.” Apparently two headline acts for next year are already booked. Looking forward to the December announcements!
7:30 pm
We caught the last couple of tracks by Indoor Foxes, which sounded great.
We were about to head off for Sea Girls until we saw the Secret Set on the BBC Introducing Stage was none other than Reading’s finest… The Amazons!!!!! We dived straight back and got a space front and centre. It was too short a set, but it was absolutely brilliant. Can’t wait for a full length one at the Readipop Fiesta in September.
We enjoyed the start of Suki Waterhouse on the Main Stage but cut it short to catch the end of Antony Szmierek’s set (It only seemed fair after he gave us a hug for recognising who he was earlier in the day!)
Antony Szmierek was in a peace and love mood. Stopping to dissect the state of the world before jumping over the barrier and encouraging everyone to come and dance with him.
Amyl And The Sniffers finally won us over. Whilst they have a limited range, what they do, they do incredibly well.
We were looking forward to Matilda Mann but the performance wasn’t quite what we were expecting. Most definitely bringing everything and going from about 20 people to 300 by the time he finished was EV (said Ev). An unlikely rapper, but wow, his DJ gave us a greatest hits sounds of rave, rap and UK garage whilst EV gave us some brilliant bars over the top.
4:55pm Sunday
A nice start to the day with Radio Free Europe.
It was then over to the BBC Introducing Stage for a stunning set from new Irish band Cliffords. Serious, serious talents.
We caught the second half of Songer’s set, which was superb. Crazy mosh-pit action during ‘Alive.’
Wench! were everything we wanted them to be. Huge potential.
Waterparks are not so well known in the UK, but it was a great set.
Nell Mescall drew a big crowd in the Festival Republic tent.
3:15pm Sunday
Mad start to the day, no chance to catch my breath. We have Secret Set news!
9:20am Sunday
Still thinking about how brilliant that BMTH show was… but we must move on. All the talk around the festival last night was about Travis Scott leaving the Leeds stage after his contractual hour was up. Will Reading be luckier? Here are our previews to help with decision making:
11:25pm Saturday
Oh wow. You can hear about the Post Human: Next Gen show. You can read all about the incredibly boundary pushing manner in which it was assembled. None of that will prepare you for watching it live. And that was the final one. I don’t know how Bring Me The Horizon will ever top that. Oli Sykes was almost reduced to tears by the experience. That was a real glimpse into the future of headline stadium shows and what is possible. Live rendering special effects powered by AI, insane pyrotechnics, a great show that spoke directly to generations raised on computer games. Underneath it all was a band with some cracking tunes. No guest spots (except for a random audience member who nearly broke down from the experience of singing to Reading Festival from the headline slot), they didn’t need any. Mind blown.
9:45pm Saturday
Sooooooo exciting!!!!!! Start now please.
9:10pm Saturday
We need to discuss Conan Gray for a minute. As predicted, a number of sailor hatted teens appeared down the front to enjoy his pop set. However, he stood out like a sore thumb on the Main Stage bill (being mainly rock and metal today – maybe he was the thumb and everyone else were the sore thumbs?). Voila and Royel Otis did fine because they have some rock in them. Conan Gray today was like putting Justin Beiber on the line-up at Download. Yesterday, he would have fitted in fine.
Limp Bizkit were doing their thing. We decided to make the great choice to go and catch Nxdia (pronounced Nadia) on the BBC Introducing Stage. They released a great debut album back in June. This was high-quality pop punk. It was very cute that they were totally blown away by the intense response from the crowd that turned up. We just got to Limp Bizkit for their final track, which was our favourite one!!! Take A Look Around, the theme from Mission Impossible 2. Result.
Would have loved to see Becky Hill but couldn’t face going back into the Chevron as it was sooo hot in there earlier. Got a decent spot for Bring Me The Horizon instead.
7:50pm Saturday
We caught the last couple of songs from Pale Waves and instantly regretted not getting down earlier. Bakar had a big crowd on the Chevron Stage, a young crowd who lapped up every track. He is going to be playing ‘Hell N Back’ until he is 75!
What a difference 12 months makes. The Chevron was utterly rammed for Wunderhorse, and the crowd belted out the words to every song. They loved it. It was good… but 12 months ago, we saw them on the Radio One Stage, and it was utter magic. It was one of the greatest gigs we have ever attended. They have probably been on the road a little too long. They are, without doubt, one of the greatest bands around. Now they need to go away, write another album, and come back and claim the crown.
Caught a bit of Bilmuri, didn’t quite connect with us. Next stop Limp Bizkit.
4:50 Saturday
Finn Forster is an absolute star in the making. Though with a different sound, he has a similar North Eastern honesty combined to a stunning voice and guitar playing ability that has rocketed Sam Fender to greatness in recent years.
We had planned to watch Example, but as we were at the BBC Introducing Stage for Finn Forster it seemed rude not to stay and get a front and centre view for the South Arcade secret set (that they let out of the bag themselves earlier on the Main Stage). It almost turned farcical, after being late for the Main Stage, they still hadn’t started 15 minutes in. An acapella start gave way to 3 rapidly fit in tracks. The setup issues meant they started with bass so fierce you could feel it in your entire body! Despite the problems, a massive crowd turned up, and they are going to be back waaaay higher up the Main Stage bill.
The delayed set meant we missed a load of Royel Otis. However, we were there when Sophie Ellis Bextor came out to do Murder On The Dancefloor with them! Secret Set later?
2:30 Saturday
South Arcade were on a quarter of an hour late but made up for it with a blistering set. Secret Set news! And no it is not Caity Baiser, she was yesterday.
1:20pm Saturday
Mudi Sama was a great start to the day on the BBC Introducing Stage. Check out his really good recent EP. One for fans of Master Peace and Bloc Party, though some nice slower numbers as well.
We caught a bit of Sunday (1994) with members from California, Peru… and Slough!
The Chat’s crowd last night totally ignored this sign:
Apparently, The Mary Wallopers were thrown off stage at Victorious Festival yesterday after one song for talking about Palestine. That would have shut down at least five sets at Reading yesterday and would have totally done for Lambrini Girls just now. They went big with their usual set, giving the rock/metal crew their first chance to cut loose. If you are planning on a mosh later, bring something to cover your face as much as possible. The tiny one for Lambrini Girls threw up clouds of dust!
The Limp Bizkit crew are representing, red caps, drawn on beards and white t-shirts everywhere today!
9:50am Saturday
The weather forecast says 22 degrees and cloudy, though not sure I trust it after yesterday where it was hotter and sunnier than suggested before!
9:30am Saturday
After the genteel start yesterday rock and metal take over the festival today (don’t worry pop fans, Conan Gray and others have you covered). Expect another Secret Set on the BBC Introducing stage around 3:40 today after Caity Baiser filled the gap yesterday.
Bring Me The Horizon’s set tonight promises to be one for the ages. If you are still making up your mind about today here are our Saturday previews:
11:30pm Friday
Having spent hours in the pen to secure a good spot for Chappell we can’t bring ourselves to do another Main Stage stint with Hozier (well, except for conveniently walking past as he did ‘Too Sweet,’ which sounded decent). It is two late night indie-rock sets in High Vis and The Chats. Whilst High Vis were very impassioned with their take on modern Britain, the points go to Aussie band The Chats. Utterly unreconstructed big dumb garage rock with their foot firmly stuck on the pedal in fifth gear. It bought back a night of antipodean rock from the Oxford Zodiac in 2004 where The Datsuns and The D4 (and another good band who have gone clean out of my head) provided a masterclass.
It brings to an end a fantastic Friday at Reading Festival! There was a really good atmosphere round the place today thanks to the Pink Pony Club and Hozier fans.
10:00pm Friday
How do you top Rebel Wilson? You turn up with a castle, roadies dressed as druids and enact your own Labyrinth-esque fantasy involving goblins. Wow, Chappell Roan. That was really special.
The Chevron was not too busy for AJ Tracey. It was comfortable enough to get in and watch, though the tent traps the heat, which hits you on the way in. Not the guest slots we had hoped for, but he did bring Master Peace out towards the end. Nigel Farage might have approved of using the Chevron roof to project a giant Union Flag. Tracey has a knack of uniting a range of different tastes.
6:15pm Friday
That’s it. End the Festival. We are done. The Kooks just brought out Rebel Wilson to sing Gangsta’s Paradise. How is anybody going to top that??!! We were in the Guest Area this morning when The Kooks were doing an interview 5 metres away and they said they had a big surprise for later. They weren’t kidding!
5:00pm Friday
It has turned out hotter and sunnier than the midweek forecast suggested. It has been so dry, the arena is already turning into a dustbowl.
Bloc Party filled out an hour as ‘The Icons’ for this year’s festival. It was a good set and found Kele reminiscing about coming to Reading after he got his GCSEs.
Sofia Isella was one of the most intriguing artists named on the line-up. What we got was a one woman show mostly to a backing track. Showing up like she had just crawled out of a grave, she sang her heart out whilst the crowd went nuts every time she picked up her guitar or violin. A power cut slowed the set down, but things were sorted quickly enough for her to get back out for two songs.
3:40pm Friday
Caity Baser is the first secret set of the day on the BBC Introducing Stage right now!
3:20pm Friday
The Pink Pony Club were definitely enjoying the end of Alessi Rose’s set when I got there and are out in force today. Safe to say fans flying the colours for Chappell are outnumbering those of Hozier at least ten to one.
The Royston Club delivered a superb set confirming them as one of the finest indie bands in the country, relying heavily on their brilliant new album.
An alliance of the LGBTQ+ community, bolstered by the Pink Pony Club and a good turn out of 6 Music Dads, filled the Festival Republic Stage to bursting for a triumphant set for Jasmine.4.t All three band members (no Phoenix today?) were visibly moved by the applause and appreciation at the end.
1:20pm Friday
Liverpool’s Red Rum Club started things off in style at midday with a well judged set that sounded perfect, not something you can always say at a festival. They stacked the set with tunes to dance to and even threw in a cover of Misirlou.
Like an all you can eat buffet we snacked on Good Health Good Wealth and then missed most of Alessi Rose as we got sucked in by Enna on the BBC Introducing Stage. Her voice live was even better than she sounds on her releases. One to watch
BBC Introducing Stage lists a Secret Set at 3:40!
11:42am Friday
Chappell Roan fans have been trying to stake out space on the barrier from the moment the arena opened! Good luck trying to hold those spots until 7:10pm!
8:42am Friday – Happy Chappell Roan Day!
House of Protection dropped out so late they are still on this year’s t-shirts! Sometimes a secret addition gets announced at the start of the weekend as they were put on the merchandise, nothing on there this year. If there are secret sets from people not on the bill they are being kept very quiet right now! Perfect festival weather today. Not too hot and sunny, no rain in sight!
Friday is all about Chappell Roan!
Still time to plan your day with help from our previews:
11:47pm Thursday – Look after each other
Some chat and Tik Toks going around about people having their silent disco headphones taken off them by aggressive blokes without them. Being with a decent sized group of friends definitely ups your safety. Look out for your friends, report anything bad straight away to security/the police.
11:32pm Thursday – LIVE BLOG IS GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
We have been to the Arena. HOW BIG IS THAT TENT?????
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