Friday at Reading was a triumph with excellent sets all over the place.
Weeks of sunshine turned the festival arena into a giant dustbowl with a cloud kicking up every time you put your foot down on the main paths. It was the only downer on an otherwise fantastic day.
British Indie showed that guitar bands at Reading were far from dead on Friday. The latest group from the grand Liverpudlian production line, Red Rum Club, got things underway in style. The band sounded fantastic and crisp, not always something that can be said for performers on the Main Stage. They got out all their best tracks to dance to and threw in a cover of Misirlou for good measure. The new album is out in a couple of weeks.
Not to be outdone, Wrexham’s other finest, next to Ryan and Rob, showed how all the touring and hard work is paying off in spades. The Royston Club’s set predominantly came from the recent new album, Songs For The Spine. Everything was superbly well drilled, and they gave off a real sense of purpose. There were mass singalongs down the front showing just how loved they have become.
On the year of the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Silent Alarm, Bloc Party played 6 tracks from it. This was part of a greatest hits set to celebrate them as this year’s Reading and Leeds ‘Icons.’ There was a lot of love out in the crowd for the band and they put in a robust performance. Lead singer and guitarist, Kele Okereke, is very fond of Reading Festival and shared how he had come to it after getting his own GCSE results. He dedicated the penultimate track of the set ‘This Modern Love,’ to anyone who had got their results this year.
The Kooks are another well-loved British Indie band. They also understood this was not the occasion to go too heavily into their most recent new album. The young crowd, many of who would not have been born, or been very young when their debut album Inside In/Inside Out was released in 2006, greeted all the old classics like returning friends, singing along word perfectly.
They nearly won the whole weekend by bringing out Rebel Wilson to sing Gangsta’s Paradise with them. Large parts of the crowd were losing their mind over it.
Last year’s new Chevron Stage was reborn this year under one of the biggest tents on the festival circuit. For the most part it worked well, allowing better use of the overhead lights than was possible last year. There were a couple of performances across the weekend that the tent capped the amount able to view it inside with Rudimental proving too popular on the Friday. AJ Tracey commanded a large crowd without it being uncomfortable. The West London rapper stands out from the crowd at the moment with his mix of high-quality tunes, collaborations – but he also has a higher moral compass than most of his contemporaries. Raised by a single mother, he has a greater level of respect for women than the average rapper, and on his most recent album found ways to be more open and honest. With a solid back catalogue he was able to drop track after track that had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Frequent chants from the football and Dave fans in the crowd for ‘Thiago Silva’ were eventually rewarded by the immensely popular tune. If there was any criticism it was that there was less star power than hoped for from his supporting crew. Tracey’s cousin Big Zuu was on the decks, and he did bring out Are You Listening? Festival star Master Peace for their track ‘Red Wine.’ Finessekid also came out for them to perform a new, unreleased track. However, the likes of Aitch and Jorja Smith were supplied on the backing track only. ‘Ladbroke Grove’ only seems to have grown bigger and bigger in the six years since it was released. The other week there was a stretch on Radio One where it felt like it was a brand-new release the amount it was getting played.
Reading Indie Life also enjoyed sets by Enna, jasmine4.t, Sofia Isella, High Vis and The Chats. However, the defining set of the day was supplied by superstar Chappell Roan. Whilst both herself and Hozier were listed as headliners, so both got 90 minutes, in terms of numbers the Pink Pony Club massively outnumbered fans of Hozier all day long. How do top bringing out Rebel Wilson? You live out your own fantasy production featuring a castle, Maleficent style cos-play, goblins and a kick-ass all female band. Twelve months ago, another artist brought a castle to the penultimate set of a day at Reading Festival. Lana Del Ray’s princess palace set was so elaborate the construction overran, eventually leading to her set being curtailed. Her levelling was awful, extremely quiet, and the whole thing felt like a star trying to go through the phases of what a star ought to do. No such worries here, Chappell has a clear understanding of her identity, what she wants to achieve and how she is going to achieve it.
Chappell might only have one album proper under her belt but wow it has some fantastic tracks on it. Everything gets given a workout tonight except for ‘California’ and ‘Kaleidoscope. ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’ gets given an extended intro to rile the crowd up into a state of frenzy before Chappell finally appears. The whole site explodes for ‘Femininomenon,’ as great now as the day you first heard it.
Among the 17 song set there is room for a fun cover of Heart’s ‘Barracuda’ that has been a staple of this ‘Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things’ Tour. It gives the band the chance to show the full-blown rock end of their capabilities and it is utterly electric. We greatly look forward to Chappell’s rock album one day!
The back end of the set is loaded with monster track after monster track. ‘The Giver,’ ‘Red Wine Supernova,’ ‘Good Luck Babe!’ and ‘My Kink is Karma’ are only slowed down a little by the beautiful desolation of ‘Coffee.’ There is, of course, only one way to end the set and ‘Pink Pony Club’ is absolutely one of the defining moments of Reading Festival 2025. Chappell Roan is only just getting started, a juggernaut star in ascent, every bit as individual and creative as Madonna or Lady Gaga.
Reading Indie Life 
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