What a way to kick off the Reading Festival weekend on August 27th!!!
Reading Indie Life had wanted to have a quick wander around The Reading Festival arena prior to a good night’s sleep. But no. The Amazons had other plans, celebrating the release of 21st Century Fiction: Epilogues by playing a Secret Set at legendary Reading venue The Purple Turtle.
We got to The Turtle at 6:00pm, at which point the queue was very short. By the time they let us in, just before 8:00pm, it was winding a long way down Gun Street and towards the back was probably touch and go on actually getting in, unless you wanted to watch on a screen in the courtyard.
The sound check was more of a full rehearsal, Matt still scrambling off the stage when we were finally let in. By the time he came back on to perform, the atmosphere was electric, The Purple Turtle absolutely rammed with local fans.
The band ripped through eight tracks as though their entire existence depended on it. They just keep getting better as a live act. Whilst they aren’t quite the greatest band in the world, for an hour live set they can absolutely convince you that they are.
Matt took the time to properly introduce Ella and George, the first non-football Reading gig since they were given full member-of-the-band status. George Le Page was ferocious behind the drums all night. There are not many around who can do it better. So ferocious, he actually holed his snare drum halfway through the set. Luckily, the Turtle’s own in-house kit was around to fill in!
We were here because the band made a last minute decision to hold a show to celebrate the release of 21st Century Fiction: Epilogues, for which The Turtle indulged them with only two days notice. ‘One Hot July’ was a very apt inclusion from the new tracks on the playlist.
By the time we reached the conclusion of ‘Black Magic’ Matt was out into the crowd, which had gotten a very lively mosh going for the last few tracks. It was a stunning conclusion to a brilliant event. Both band and audience were elated, one of the greatest moments in the grand history of live music at The Purple Turtle. The band are off on George’s stag do this weekend so are not at Reading Festival. With this set though, they laid down a marker that not many bands on this year’s bill are going to be likely to match.
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