Reading Festival 2012

After my move to Barcelona, my TEFL course finishing, going to England to finish my thesis and moving out for good from my flat there, I was joined by my boyfriend and we spent a very interesting weekend at the Reading Festival (in Reading, UK). This was my experience: 



Thursday night, day zero:

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT camp in the green area unless you are 17 or under. We got ZERO sleep that night. I can understand people were excited that they were there, but screaming non-stop until 3 am is unnecessary. I also can't understand why you should bother other people, pass by their camp sites and scream, or sing, or just be rude. Also, it got crazy cold and we didn't have the proper camping equipment. A very bad experience in general. 

Friday, day 1:


Needless to say, that day we were knackered, and we had to wait for a friend of ours to arrive, which took him ages. I would like to invite you to take a look at the webpage of our other companion of the weekend: EdVill (in spanish, sorry), who came all the way from Venezuela and shared our good (and bad) times. 

Hadouken!: The first band of the day, it was really great, but the bad part was the sound, I really couldn't hear the voices at all, the guitar was also missing, sadly. Regardless, the put on a good show and it was loads of fun.

Coheed and Cambria: and amazing band, brilliant sound, these guys can play! I was waiting for  "a favor house atlantic", and they did play it, it was good fun. 

Angels and airwaves: I saw a little bit of them, not enough though. We were having lunch in the back at the time, I did feel it was a little like Blink 182, but without the funny bits. 

The Hives: One of the best acts of the weekend, seriously. I always liked them, but after this show, I adore them, if you have the chance to see them live, please do, its worth your time and money. In the mean time, check out part of their presentation at the festival here:

The Hives @ Reading Festival 2012

A Wilhelm scream: I just saw a couple of songs. I most say the lock up stage had rubbish sound. I've seen them live before in Birmingham, and that was amazing, these guys are really good. 

You and me at six: A band I've seen before at Leeds Festival 2010, I think they are ok, I love "Stay with me" and a couple of more songs, but that's about it. 

Bombay Bicycle club: this band has more fans than what I expected. I honestly thought it wasn't a band for a festival, but maybe to chill with some friends at your house... I was bored.

Paramore: Amazing as usual. It was pretty emotional for me, I love them so much. "The only exception" almost made me cry. It was a powerful gig. 

The Cure: As always, flawless, I love this people. Sadly, I was unable to stay the whole 3 hours, after 2 my body gave out and we had to go and try to sleep. 

The night was better this time. I guess people were tired and had to sleep a little, or it might have been the rain. 

Saturday, day 2:

It started better, we were well rested (or better rested), there was only one set of showers though for a BIG camping area, and it took a while to be able to take one, we almost missed the first presentation, which was unannounced and a surprise:

GREEN DAY!: Amazing as always, I had the privilege to be able to get into the tent (many people had to stay out), and it was great! they actually had to take them down, they didn't want to stop playing. It was a great surprise and one of the best moments of the weekend.

After the show (that was at 11am) we chilled for a while, went to town and had proper food, rested a little in the tent, and prepared ourselves for what was about to come:

Enter Shikari: the gig, was good? I don't know really, because we got smashed and had to get out. We were more focused on breathing and getting out of the mess we were in. Judge for yourselves:

Enter Shikari @ Reading 2012


Florence and the machine: Pouring down we managed to see this amazing band. It was great really, her vocals are flawless and the whole thing was amazing. 

At the Drive in: A band I used to listen to in the beginning of 2000, it was a real treat, this people can play! highly recommended. 

Sunday, day 3:

Another night of better sleep, a nice day out, sunny and warm, we were ready.

The cast of Cheers: a band just starting out, we saw it at the Festival Republic stage, very good, it reminded me of Bloc party, a great and fun sound. 

Eagles of Death metal: a great rock and roll band, a great sound and super fun. I was looking forward to seeing them and I wasn't disappointed. 

All time low: I really like this band, they were great fun, they cover of "Dammit" by Blink 182 was really good.

Good Riddance: I was looking forward to seeing this band, I used to love them in the beginning of 2000, but the sound was terrible, you couldn't understand anything that was going on so we went to see:

Bullet for my Valentine: I'm not particularly fond of their style, but they can play. My boyfriend really wanted to see them, so I humoured him. 

Kaiser Chiefs: We saw a little bit of their show, it was great.

The Black keys: A little boring for me, not my style, they had a lot of fans though. I was also very excited about:

FOO FIGHTERS!: a very emotional show, I cried many times in separate occasions, it was the end of their tour and they had their kids there. Dave Grohl dedicated a song to both his daughters, "Walk" to Violet and "Monkey Wrench" to the younger one (I don't remember her name), and also "These Days" to "those who couldn't be there, Kurt and Chris", I'm not a Nirvana fan, but I had my emotions on my sleeve, so that made me cry again, plus, I love that song. I found the whole show on youtube, enjoy:

Foo Fighters @ Reading Festival FULL!


We left when the encore started though, because we wanted to see:

Less than Jake: again, the sound! we couldn't hear the trombones, or anything for that matter, lock up stage: you need to work on the sound there!

That night was the worst, kids throwing thing at our camp (and everybody's camp for that matter), screaming, falling (on purpose) on our tent, it was really disrespectful. I understand that it is a festival, but, some people would like to rest, because they have been up all day, walking, standing, and some even drinking. 

My advice: If you are over 21 and want to be able to rest, don't camp in the green area! a friend of mine camped at the white one and told me it was ok, so, if I camp again there, which I will try not to do, I will go there. 

I was sad that I missed many bands, like the subways, two door cinema club, billy talent, the horrors, me first and the gimme gimmes, etc, but the reality is that in a festival you have to pick and chose the bands you want to see, you can't see them all. Next time, I guess.