Festival Reviews
Reading Festival
Date: Saturday 24th August 2002
by Alex Whichelo
Having got to Reading an hour later than planned because I missed the train myself, Danny and Tom went to punk band Midtown on the recommendation of Danny and the fact I had heard one of their songs before. They did not disappoint, delivering a good firm set of pop-punk with songs like the brilliant 'Get It Together' and 'Become What You Hate' from their debut LP 'Living Well Is The Best Revenge'. Although Midtown aren't up there with New Found Glory and Fenix-TX just yet they are certainly going that way.
Having then somewhat stupidly decided to Less Than Jake (no disrespect to them but having seen Goldfinger later in the year I realised what we had missed) over Goldfinger we headed to the main stage and stayed there for the rest of the day. LTJ again produced a good solid set with circle pits going on all over the place and after lots of talking and saying why LTJ's fans are the best they trundled off to an excellent and well deserved reception. Next up Brit rockers 'A' and having around 35 festivals already this summer they lacked the usual bounce that you would associate with the quintet. Songs such as 'I Love Lake Tahoe' and 'Something's Going On' are poor despite Jason Perry's effort to dance around the stage like a wounded monkey. Only 'No1' and set closer 'Nothing' live up to expectations as 'A' exit stage right (sorry!) and leave to surely mule over a missed opportunity.
Swedish band The Hives are on next and I took this opportunity to grab a bite to eat and sit down after being soaked from the 'A' mosh. The Hives liven things up as the sun started to creep through the clouds with brilliant versions of 'Hate to Say I Told You So', 'Die, All Right,' and 'Main Offender' while all along Screamin' Pete takes the piss, and once again informs us on how cool The Hives are. After a steady 45 minutes of rock 'n' roll they depart to cheers and applause.
They are followed by Canadian Pop-Punk band Sum41 who make their Reading debut. They play also play a good set of 45 minutes of tracks from both LP's 'All Killer No Filler' and 'Half Hour of Power'. Despite this being their festival debut they are not overawed by the occasion and go about their songs and onstage banter in the same way as they did when I saw them nearly a year earlier at the London Astoria.
Next up is one of the most anticipated bands of the whole weekend Ash, who walk on stage all battered and bruised, their bassist (whose name escapes me while I write) is wearing a neck brace after their bus crashed earlier in the year. In fact Tim Wheeler informs of this and the fact they really shouldn't be playing for more than 10 minutes maximum, just showing what rock 'n' roll stars are made of! Ash are certainly a firm favourite with this crowd and they are treated to exceptional versions of 'Jack Names The Planets', 'Kung Fu', 'Envy', 'Girl From Mars' and 'Burn Baby Burn'. The crowd explodes with cheers of appreciation as 55 minutes of Ash draws to a close and Ash once again prove to be firm festival favourites.
After 25 minutes of waiting Muse appear to a deafening roar from the now soaking wet mosh after the heavens opened 10 minutes before Muse come on stage. Although I can admit to not being a big fan of Muse they are defiantly the best band of they day and the rain only adds to this spectacle. Songs like 'Bliss' and 'Feeling Good' cement Muse's place of the best British rock band of this generation. Matt Bellamy and Co rock through 1 hour's worth of pure brilliance with no come down until they walk off leaving us waiting with great anticipation for the legendary Foo Fighters.
It was to be the Foo Fighters' triumphant return to Reading and you could tell this was something to be remember before the Foo's even walked on stage the noise of the crowd grew as we neared 10pm, this was only comparable to the growl of Nate Mendel's bass that travelled through the floor as the first few bars of 'All My Life', the first track of the new album, kicked off what was to be a mind-blowing set.
The band stamped their mark on the festival from the start, disproving any critics who considered them unworthy of a headlining slot. Dave Grohl's voice, sounding better than ever, was, at times, almost drowned out by the crowd, passionately singing along to oldies such as 'My Hero' and 'For All The Cows'. Equally, tracks from forthcoming album 'One By One' went down a treat as jaws dropped to the floor and mobile phones were held aloft for those less fortunate people who weren't able to be there.
Dave appeared more than a little excited to be back at his "favourite festival" and the feeling was most definitely mutual, evidenced by chants of "WE WANT MORE" echoing into the night. 'Everlong' proved to be the perfect climax to an amazing set and the crowd became manic. As the band departed the stage, 70,000 fans fell silent, looked down upon by a full moon. The realisation hit when "By the Way" began to seep through the speakers. It was over. Instead of the usual excited chatter as I left, all I could hear was mumbled singing from bodies moving like zombies, enchanted by what they had just witnessed. It was eerie.
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