Reading 2013 - The Review

Hey there guys! I've been away recently, in a land of tents and music! Yes that's right, I've been to Reading Festival. And this year the line up was as epic as ever with Green Day, Eminem and Biffy Clyro the three headliners as well as a host of other great bands including Fall Out Boy, White Lies and Bastille.

Pre Festival Opinion

Regarding the line up, I was very excited to hear Eminem had been announced, mainly because I listened to him years ago and still loved tunes like "Not Afraid" "Lose Yourself" and "Love The Way You Lie", I also as many people will know, estatic to hear that Green Day were playing...although I did buy a ticket days before the announcement to see Green Day at Reading as they weren't rumoured to be there. So that was £60 down the pan really! Biffy Clyro I was reserved about, not because I don't like them, on the contrary I love the Biff, they're one of my favourite bands, definitely up there for my favourite British band with Muse, Arctic Monkeys and the Vaccines, but really because I was doubtful that they were big enough. Although they had 6 albums, only three were particularly heavily well known. That said, as the days before the festival came, the excitement grew. Rather than boring with you I shall now go onto actually reviewing the festival.

Friday

This was Green Day day for me, but there were other bands playing. One band that excited me on the line up were Bastille on the NME/Radio 1 Stage. They were not a disappointment either, playing songs from their debut album as the crowd went far outside the tent. An incredible crowd for such a new band. And a crowd where pretty much everyone left saying how good they were. Another artist witnessed was Frank Turner, he put on a show considering his current back injury, with his Mother getting him on stage, on a wheelchair before he launched himself off the chair into 40 minutes of rock 'n' roll. 

So then at around 7pm we found ourselves at the main stage, 2 hours before Green Day, System Of A Down were about to come on. Now here is where I shall get ripped by friends who read this, but I actually enjoyed System Of A Down, maybe because I found the lyrics for the song "Needles" particularly funny as well as the Walter White lookalike bassist man! 

System Of A Down - Needles (Lyrics Video)

System Of A Down - Needles (Live @ Reading)

I know right, a man in a chair reading a paper in the air at System Of A Down, it really was great to see actually there too. That 5 minutes must have been up there for the top 5 minutes of humor at Reading (although Saturday's trip to the alternative tent has to compete closely).

Anyway System Of A Down finished and there was then an hours wait, before Green Day graced the famous Reading Festival Main Stage, following up an epic secret set on the NME/Radio 1 Stage from a year before. As usual the pink rabbit ran around the stage to the Blitzkrieg Bop (of course after the crowd, like at the Emirates performed a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody). A performance starting with 99 Revolutions started with some Green Day hits including "Holiday" and "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" and songs from the new albums such as "Let Yourself Go", "Stay The Night" and "Stop Before The Red Lights Flash". Then up came the Dookie banner, now usually as a fan of the band I check out all the rumours, this time I hadn't. I wasn't expecting Dookie in full, this said, they had been doing it throughout their tour...although not in London. For a fan this was insane, I guess if you weren't a fan there must have been five or six songs that you'd never heard of before and you wanted Green Day to revert back to the hits. However like Origins Of Symmetry you could also argue this was musical history, a band playing their album in full isn't particularly common and an album with the sales and success of Dookie, it can be quite incredible. Anyway after finishing the album (much enjoyed by the Green Day fans, a bit less so by casual viewers I would guess) they went back to some more hits before really storming the Encore with American Idiot, Jesus Of Suburbia, Brutal Love and of course the acoustic Good Riddance. Unfortunately the BBC only showed an hour of the Green Day set, which doesn't include Dookie in it's entirety, so I've included one somebody filmed in Belgrade, apologies if the quality is rubbish!

Green Day Play Dookie In Full (Belgrade 2013)

BBC Three's coverage of Green Day's Reading 2013 Performance

Boulevard Of Broken Dreams Live at Reading 2013

Saturday

Well this was gonna be one unique Reading Festival day. In my years going to the festivals we'd had various different types of rock bands at the festival, but we had never had a rap artist headline. This was to change with the performance of Eminem, the biggest rapper in the world and to be fair, the only one I've commonly listened too. Also on on the Saturday were Imagine Dragons and Chase and Status were both acts playing. Unfortunately we felt that our experiences at Imagine Dragons and Chase and Status were partially ruined by crowd crushes, one that notably left loads of people on the floor in the middle of the NME tent, although from what I heard of Imagine Dragons they were good live. Chase and Status on the other hand I didn't enjoy. I know many people did, but having your foot trampled on enough that it's as flat as a sheet of paper, I'm also not a fan of that style of music and was only where I was for Eminem. But watch the videos and decide for yourself.

Imagine Dragons live at Reading 2013

Chase and Status - Count On Me (Reading 2013)

So yes, then came Eminem. Starting with Survival and then moving onto huge hits, especially towards the end with songs such as Not Afraid, Love The Way You Lie, My Name Is, The Real Slim Shady and even getting Dido for Stan. The encore was incredible with the mega hit Lose Yourself. I would say more and include a video but unfortunately the BBC now ask artists whether they can show them, despite having the rights to show the festival. You can thank the Rolling Stones for that! The Mail reported he may have mimed at Reading and Leeds, however without video evidence it's impossible to tell. I'd like to therefore think he didn't and not have a good show by Eminem ruined by this.

Sunday

There were a lot of doubts about Sunday's acts, generally I heard various friends say "Biffy aren't as big for the headline act as Green Day and Eminem". I kind of agreed with this, but I was looking forward to a band I very much enjoyed seeing twice in 2010. Also playing that day were Fall Out Boy, in what seems to have been of recent a return with a new album being released as well as some new shows. The Lumineers, The Editors, Nine Inch Nails and Dog is Dead also all performed. The latter two we didn't see much of. Fall Out Boy through we did, although sitting down. They played a variation of their new stuff and some of their old classics such as "This ain't a scene" and "Thanks For The Memories". It was generally nice just to see them back, although not knowing much of their new music I generally preferred it when they played their older stuff. They certainly drew a huge crowd considering the time of their performance. Generally afterwards we explored the arena, we did see a snippet of Dog Is Dead (and +Ryan Steppel asked the ice cream van staff about the ketchup on their van) and Nine Inch Nails whilst we got a drink. 

Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark

Then it was time for the finale of the acts. Biffy Clyro. I can tell you this. After seeing them this time I would now write MON THE BIFF rather than Mon The Biff. The performance was like a statement, a "We've made it" and they had, after various performances at Reading they were headlining the main stage on finale night of Reading Festival! And despite fears boy did they not let us down! Playing for 90 minutes they did a set including new and old songs. The crowd went mental for them as they continued. The special effects were amazing, the fireballs on the top of the arena stage and the fireworks at the end. Reading Festival was their moment, they made sure of that. One thing is for certain, of all the acts I have seen live headlining the main stage, they were not a pushover for any of them. They were up there. It's hard to pick a number one with the differing bands, songs and genres I mean Blink-182 in the first year were great, Green Day this year also were, then there are the Foo's who were simply amazing and Muse and their album Origins Of Symmetry played in full. One thing is for certain, these bands have all proved on that stage at Reading that rock is very much still alive and kicking. But Biffy Clyro made that statement bold!

Biffy Clyro Full Reading 2013 Headlining Performance

Biffy Clyro - Mountains

So overall yes, it was incredible and way worth it! 

If you saw it on TV or like myself attended and have an opinion please comment!

Thanks guys! Until next time!

A review of Green Day at the Emirates.

This blog is about two weeks late, but I feel as I still feel it is fresh in my mind and the fact that there are thousands of people who have bought their Reading and Leeds 2013 festival tickets where Green Day are one of the headline acts.

I think firstly it is important to remember the two support acts, these bands were All Time Low, a band that originally was a Blink-182 tribute band and the Kaiser Chiefs, a band from Leeds who in the mid noughties had some huge hits like "I Predict A Riot" and "Oh My God" as well as my friend Josh's favourite "Ruby". The first band of these two to perform were All Time Low who played a mixture of their hits such as "Weightless" and "Lost In The Stereo". In all honesty having seen All Time Low twice at Reading prior to this it was my opinion that they were better during their first Reading, despite this when they were playing their songs, the crowd clearly knew and like their music and therefore went along. Between songs however, where some bands are so good, they were very average, merely shouting swear words randomly and talking about how it would be a success if twenty percent of the crowd were to receive a handjob to go along with their Green Day experience, all this with no instruments playing a riff or anything between the songs. I realise that makes me sound like I'm a pensioner, but really it just seemed pointless. Needless to say their biggest cheer was when they mentioned Green Day.

The Kaiser Chiefs in my opinion were much better. With their collection of hits placed well in their set list, managing to actually take up a large portion they really managed to get the crowd warmed up and ready. There was a point where they played a new, presumably unreleased (the way their last album was digitally released I can't be completely sure) track exclaiming that Green Day has told them to play "some new shit", although I agree with the girl nearby who said "I guaranty you they didn't say that". Funnily enough this was their only unknown song and thank goodness it was as it failed to live up to the standards of any of their other songs. They finished with the song "Oh My God" which managed to last about three time the length as the studio edition of the same song, that said it was an excellent performance as all the crowd got hyped up. The stage presence of the Kaiser Chiefs was also fairly good for a support act in a stadium and they come quite close in my opinion to the level of Biffy Clyro when I saw them support Muse at Wembley stadium. With their performance at The Emirates I can safely say anybody who goes to see them is in for a treat.

Now for the main act, the act I had been waiting for months to see. I can't pretend that with all the none musical happenings of Green Day in the last 12 months that I wasn't a little worried or apprehensive about their gig, I was very much hoping that they would be on the same level as they were when I saw them in 2009 and the secret Reading 2012 set. They were even better. The traditional pink bunny came on before the Blitzwing Bop played and on came the band. Starting with the tune "99 Revolutions" from Tre they performed through a set that saw tracks from back in the early days such as "Sassafras Roots" and "Welcome To Paradise" all the way to singles from the Uno, Dos, Tre trilogy such as "X-Kid", "Stay The Night" and "Stray Heart". For well over two hours they played their hits before ending with a superb encore made up of "American Idiot" "Jesus Of Suburbia" and the slow "Brutal Love" where the crowd got out their lighters (and phone torches), which believe me, in a stadium such as the emirates, that is a real site to behold!

A part which many particularly like about Green Day is their crowd participation and once again this bought some of the highlights from the gig, with a green Union Jack given to Billie Joe near the beginning from the crowd as well as a man in his morphsuit for "Know Your Enemy" giving a letter for Billie Joe to show to the camera's declaring his love for someone and a girl who could play the guitar (my friend was worrying that she could be lying to get on stage and embarrass herself in front of what has been confirmed to be a record attendance for a gig in the stadium). There was even a moment when a little boy came on stage with his "Green Day Rocks" sign and held it aloft, it was a slight shame that the nerves got to him and he didn't smile, but being on stage with one of the greatest rock bands of their generation will surely be an experience he will never forget and more importantly brag about in years to come!

Therefore I would conclude, if you have plans to go to a gig, then really, I would definitely say make it Green Day. They are in a league that only a couple of bands such as the Foo Fighters and Muse are in. So if you get the chance, don't say no!