Reading 2002 Review

The 2002 Official Programme	The Offical 2002 Line up - Click to enlarge

Well Reading 2002 is over and what a festival it was. My best year so far. Lots of decent music, plenty of 'beer' and a wicked crowd to camp with. I also managed a personal record of bands i saw. 36 in all, oh and 1 comedian. Here are the bands i saw and what i thought of them:

To review the bands i saw i will mark them on the Birchy! scale. (No, its nothing like the Kerrang! thingy).
It reads like this:

B! = Abosulte Shite!
BB! = Not really very good. A bit pants really!
BBB! = I good performace which was enjoyable at times!
BBBB! = A superb set which will stand as a definate highlight!
BBBBB! - Abosulte ROCKING! Some might say it were well good!

Friday!

Feeder: BBB! - were Feeder. 1st gig since Jon Lee killed himself. It was a good laugh though. We were a bit pissed which helped. "but, we can do it anyway..."

Janes Addiction: BBB! - were amusing They were after weezer so we were quite hyped really. Then it started pissing down so we sat down and saw them with out wicked rain macs. "They were much better in the 80's"

Weezer: BBBBB! - were my fav of the weekend. To tell the truth i only knew about 4 songs and was kinda forced into seeing them by Phiney & Danni, but they rocked!! They sounded amazing and put on a really cool set.

New Found Glory: BBB! - I had high expectations which were let down. They were ok i suppose but not half as good as i thought they would be. The Evening Session stage is partly to blame as i think must bands sounded shite in there.

Fenix TX: BBB! - see New Found Glory!!

Guided by Voices: B!? - think i saw them? Phiney? A bunch of old men who could put a baby to sleep.

The Kennedy Soundtrack: BBB! - I heard the last 2/3 songs and they sounded really good. Much better than what ive heard on the radio.

Soulwax: - Im not going to give a mark as i only saw a few songs at the beginning of their set. I bet it got better and if i was in the mood fo it.

Longwave: B! - Toured with the Dirty Strokes. Nuff said!

The Kills: B! - Not very good as far as i remember!

Soundtrack of our Lives: BB! - hmmmmm!? I only saw them because i wanted to see as many bands as i could. i knew one song which stayed in my head for the next couple of hours...luckily enough, ive forgot it, ha. It was 21st Century rip off.

Finch: BBBB! - 1st band of the weekend and a very good one at that. I thought Finch were really cool. The ES Stage didnt help them but it was a good opening act that many struggled to top.

Foo Fighters: BBBBB! - superb act by Mr Grohl! They were better in 2000, but they filled the headline spot perfect. They got the crowd involved and played old favorites and some really cool new tunes!

Muse: BBBB3/4! - The stage show and performance was probably the best of the weekend. They played far to much of the new whining stuff. Some more of the 'Showbiz' era would have been much appreciated and secured a 5K!

Rival Schools: BBBBB! - were amazing as always. Didnt let me down and put on another great set. I still failed to get a fookin Frisbee though!!

A: BBBB! - Not the best A performance ever but still a great sing along. They had a lot to live up to and struggle a bit i feel.

Less than Jake: BBB! - i only heard 2 and half songs but they sounded cool. Doesn't matter really, i met them at Glasto so a 3 is well in order!

Goldfinger: BBBB! - i had to miss most of Less than Jake to watch these but they didnt disappoint. A really cool performance and a definite hit!

Get up Kids: BB1/2! - were not as good as what i was led to believe. You should have seen how ugly this girl stood by me was!! URRGGHH!

Midtown: BBB! - were quite cool. I didnt know them but they were good to watch. Bill and Ted cover was cool too.

Span: BBBB! - the nice surprise of the weekend, the singer really got involved and put on a really cool show. And i got a free badge!

Vex Red: BBBB! - Impressed me at Glastonbury so i saw them again and they impressed further. Really good band, oh and the lead singer is a very fanciable bloke! oh and they played Hell is for Heroes over the tanoy just before they came on. Lovely!

Sahara Hotnights: BBB1/2! - are cool. They had me tapping my foot and nodding my head. Very enjoyable first band on. Oh and the drummer is fit as fock!!

The Prodigy: BB! - Apparently they were going to blow me away, hmmmm. What a load of pants. I suppose Firestarter and Smack my Bitch up were sing a longable but the rest nearly put me to sleep.

Andy C: BBB1/2: In the dance tent for a bit of Drum n Bass, not my scene but got dragged along by Danni & Phiney who knew 1 song. I had a good skank and looking back we shouldn't have left to watch the Prodigy.

The Offspring: BBBB! - what a better way to finish the weekend then a great sing along with the Offspring. Although i missed ...trail of dead which was very annoying, the Offspring provided a cool set which for many was the weekend finale.

Slipknot: BBBB! - and then we get to Slipknot. Rotating drums, some cools sing alongs and a circle Pitt started by my mates. Great fun. and im not really the biggest Slipknot fan.

Incubus: B! - oh dear! I dont know much Incubus but apparently there older stuff is really good. I think they were the biggest let down of the weekend!! Nuff said!

NOFX: BBBB! - were funny. They put on a great show and played some really cool tunes. They took the piss out of the George Bush with the song 'Idiot son of an asshole!'. and the cracked some great jokes. "Two condoms are walking down the road when they get to a gay bar. The 1st condom turns to other and says, fancy getting 'shitfaced'!!" Brilliant!

Hell is for Heroes: BBBBB! - sooner or later they will let me down, but so far....ROCKING!! The tent was packed and the front was mad. Great set though. I think it showed that ICCM had brought alot of new fans. And i got crushed at the front became Helen cant crowdsurf properly, oh well, thats a different story!

Jetplane Landing: BBBBB! - on of the best of the weekend! Sounded cool and got the entire tent going. oh and they were on before Hell is for Heroes which helped!! Well worth seeing though!!

Hundred Reasons: BBB1/2! - not the greatest HR set but still of highlight of the weekend. 10 minute power failure allowed some of the crowd to build some human pyramids which were quite cool. It was a good sing along.

Amen: BBB! - again, were better than I thought they would be. I reasonable set. Chasey Chaos played most of the set with blood gushing from his head after falling into a speaker.

Capdown: BB! - Provided a ray of ska to the day, but never really got me go. If i wasnt having such a bad day at work then they may have got a 3K!

Raging Speedhorn: BBB! - were surprisingly good. For one of the first acts of the day they wernt too bad. Oh and with Mr PotatoeHead on drums it was well worth watching

thisGIRL: BBBB! - were rocking as they were when i last saw them. I wicked heavy start to the day.

Go HOME