Reading...
... is a good thing. People should do more of it.
In short:
* There was a strange sense of timelessness to Reading today, with the bars decorated with line-up listings from 1995, 1992, 1989 and (okay, so I didn't actually remember seeing the adverts for this one -- though I did know all the bands) 1972, and Dizzee Rascal sampling 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', and the PA then playing stuff like 'Creep' and 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' between his set and The Libertines'.
* But the atmosphere, even up at the front, wasn't a patch on what I'd enjoyed at The Forum, even upstairs there. Festival kids, who'd have 'em? And the sound quality was worse still. Oh well. The performance was good, at least. Damn, I love this band! Best ever.
* Also got to see about half of Atari Teenage Riot's set, which was jolly, in a half-full tent.
* Also saw just a few moments of The Arcade Fire, en route to the toilet. Couldn't help but notice that they only had about a third of the audience that The Libertines had gathered before them.
* It's been some fourteen years since Kenickie made this observation in song: but I can now confirm that, yes, Tim from Ash is foxy!
And then three hours home, marquee to door. Can't complain, I suppose. Now watching back the BBC3 coverage. The sound quality still sounds rotten, alas.
In short:
* There was a strange sense of timelessness to Reading today, with the bars decorated with line-up listings from 1995, 1992, 1989 and (okay, so I didn't actually remember seeing the adverts for this one -- though I did know all the bands) 1972, and Dizzee Rascal sampling 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', and the PA then playing stuff like 'Creep' and 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' between his set and The Libertines'.
* But the atmosphere, even up at the front, wasn't a patch on what I'd enjoyed at The Forum, even upstairs there. Festival kids, who'd have 'em? And the sound quality was worse still. Oh well. The performance was good, at least. Damn, I love this band! Best ever.
* Also got to see about half of Atari Teenage Riot's set, which was jolly, in a half-full tent.
* Also saw just a few moments of The Arcade Fire, en route to the toilet. Couldn't help but notice that they only had about a third of the audience that The Libertines had gathered before them.
* It's been some fourteen years since Kenickie made this observation in song: but I can now confirm that, yes, Tim from Ash is foxy!
And then three hours home, marquee to door. Can't complain, I suppose. Now watching back the BBC3 coverage. The sound quality still sounds rotten, alas.