27 August 2023 (gig)
30 August 2023
Gone are the days of yesteryear when the stages of Reading were full to the brim with artists of the guitar-based persuasion. A quick glance at this year’s line up (as well as any from the previous decade) and it’s evident that the festival’s organisers have moved with the times; choosing to employ a multitude of genres across the festival site to reflect the evolving tastes of the 16-28 demographic it targets.
Yard Act, The Murder Capital, and The Last Dinner Party were some of the early highlights of Friday. The latter impressed despite only having two single releases to call upon and are currently riding a huge wave of industry buzz with their melancholic, haunting grooves which fall somewhere between Florence & The Machine and Abba, with the frontwoman’s vocals reminiscent of a younger Kate Bush. The Murder Capital, meanwhile, took their place on the un-aptly named Radio 1 Dance Stage and continue to give their tracks a new lease of life in a gig setting, with recent single ‘Ethel’ highlighting their sonic progression since the last record. Meanwhile, Yard act frontman’s James Smith has an astonishing stage presence, a trait that assists new bands when performing live in front of big festival crowds before bacon sarnies have been swapped out for pints.
The post-GCSE audience were then treated to festival stalwarts Sea Girls with one of their high-octane, energic live sets that has drawn them a cult following. The four-piece are perfectly suited to festivals and now appear truly comfortable on main stages with their distinctive riffs, cathartic choruses, and propulsive rhythms. But as grey clouds began to appear in the typically British summer scene, Bicep took to the stage for a mesmerising early evening set despite what was noticeable the wrong setting for a DJ duo use to late night festival sets either in a tent or past midnight. The Northern Irish electronic pair are a mainstay of the festival circuit these days and have truly ascended to the top of the table, with their dynamical visuals perfect for the Gen Z audience ‘s bitesize social media clippings.
Foals, meanwhile, are one of the UK’s best live bands around with their collection of awards evidence of this. What sets the Oxford group apart though is their ability to innovate an already incredible show with every album release. This time around there is more of a dance element accompanied with enthralling visuals. The result is a colossal, vibrant dance floor next to the M4 with the likes of ‘2001’ and ‘In Degrees’ matching up perfectly with established live favourites such as ‘What Went Down’, ‘Inhaler’ and the ever-incredible set finale ‘Two Steps Twice.’
Sam Fender, meanwhile, headlined what was evidently a career-defining evening for the Geordie songwriter has he drew one of the largest crowds of the three days. Choosing to open with unknown B-side ‘The Kitchen’ was a risk that paid off as the heavy brass section and crashing guitars intersected perfectly to reverberate across Richfield Avenue.
It set the tone for the evening as the singer-songwriter drew from throughout his discography including a rare appearance of earlier single ‘The Sound’. His lyrical themes of personal struggle, imposter syndrome, and depression are formidable in a large festival setting, with Fender possessing the innate ability to make the most unassuming of lines such as ‘’I was far too scared to hit him, but I would hit him in a heartbeat now” sound grandiose. A Glastonbury headline set can’t be too far away.
The Killers were another of the weekend’s highlights and now possess a duality of being a nostalgia act from the early noughties alongside a 80s new wave group. Armed with at least 15 sure fire bangers within their arsenal, Brandon Flowers’ group are a polished operation these days with call-and-response sections, confetti, and pyrotechnics a-plenty. You get the feeling the Vegas band will be around for another few decades.
