Reading Festival 2009: Sunday
And then it's done. Bar the soothing thrum of 'Everything In Its Right Place' that ends Radiohead's set, Reading Festival is over.
It's all going very quickly this weekend, not that we're not enjoying every second. Kids In Glass Houses (3) do a good job waking up the main stage crowd, getting participation easily despite the hangovers. Then it's off to the NME Stage for In Case Of Fire (3), whose huge rock songs fill the space left empty by the three snappily attired Irishmen. We drive forwards, wanting to get our fanboy shoes on for Frank Turner, which means gritting our teeth and bearing Lethal Bizzle (3) who turns out to actually be fantastic live, despite sounding out of place. The crowd get jumping and Bizzle whips them into a frenzy with a skill and attitude some of the weekend's punk bands could have done with.
Then we get to see Frank Turner (4)'s career soar even higher as bodies pile in to hear and sing along with his everyman anthems. At times you can see a look of wonder and accomplishment on his face as he comes to terms with how far he's come since last year, then it's gone as he belts out excellent new material from his upcoming album, 'Poetry Of The Deed', as well as older gems such as 'Father's Day' and 'The Real Damage'. With his full band behind him he packs a punch that means he's just audible above the hollering crowd, who sing every single word as if it were their own. It seems like only a short time ago he was playing in a pub corner on his own, now he's getting recommended on CNN and being introduced by Steve Lamacq. He's a man whose music leaves you feeling very good, so imagine our glee when we head to the BBC Stage for a secret set, only to discover the surprise artist slot is... Frank Turner (3), who is getting so much attention from media outlets he only has time to run through solo versions of 'The Road' and 'Long Live The Queen', but a baying crowd demands one more from him, and we're rewarded by the lung-capacity defying hollering of his cover of 'Dancing Queen'. He then departs to cause a huge queue at the NME signing tent. Big things, folks. Big things.
Back to the NME Tent and we bear through a set from Passion Pit (2) that sees the crowd moshing and circle pitting to the kind of indie-disco music that makes us want to rip off our ears, but the following set from vapid electro act Crystal Castles (4) is a huge surprise. While on record they're the soulless, hedonistic soundtrack of the Skins generation raising our underage pregnancy rate, live they are a ludicrously impressive, claustrophobic soundtrack of a wild party at the end of the world. The vocals are (perhaps thankfully) inaudible for much of the set, but with frontshrieker Alice Glass climbing over everything she can – including the crowd, from which security has to rescue her – it's a wild, exciting and extreme affair.
The intensity cools but the passionate response remains for The Gaslight Anthem (3), whose gorgeous songs overcome the fact Brian Fallon makes absolutely no sense when he rambles between them, of which album title-track 'The '59 Sound' is a particular highlight, but it's fellow single 'Great Expectations' that steals the show. Following something so intrinsically feel-good is something intrinsically feel-bad in the form of Gallows (4), who feature the first of a closing trio of the festival's finest frontmen in Frank Carter. He's clearly exhausted from their recent Warped Tour slog, but that doesn't stop him screaming like he's rupturing from the inside or whipping the crowd into an utter frenzy. Bodies cascade over the barrier, circle pits froth amongst the packed crowd, and during 'Orchestra Of Wolves' he climbs a support strut and hurls himself into the masses. New material from 'Grey Britain' is devastating, but it's non-album track 'Gold Dust' that steals the show, lasting barely one minute the band conjure up a devastating pit that has Carter lost for words, we applaud them with a similar awestruck devotion, and even get to applaud the band's parents as they're brought onstage – leaving us bruised and battered and feeling like family.
Then comes AFI (5), who are phenomenal. On record, their material is never bad but rarely inspiring, but tonight the band play like they're headlining Madison Square Garden. Frontman Davey Havok is a whirling dervish; as energised as the youthful crowd, he climbs all over the stage and the front row, engaging the crowd and putting his body through a routine that makes it amazing his voice holds throughout numbers like 'Love Like Winter' and promising new track 'Medicate'. The crowd response is deafening and as commendable as the showmanship onstage, meaning the predictability of 'Miss Murder' brings things to a euphoric close.
Few bands could follow such a performance, but thankfully one of those few is Lostprophets (4), who are consummate showmen with the crowd-pleasing tunes perfect for bringing the festival to a close. They're missing Mike Lewis, who's busy becoming a father, but the delivery is so strong that their performance loses nothing. New material from upcoming album 'The Betrayed' is aired, though that includes 'It's Not The End OF The World But I Can See It From Here' which has been around for bloody ages. It's earlier singles that really hit the mark, though, with spirited runs through the likes of 'Can't Catch Tomorrow' and 'Last Summer' causing huge sing-alongs, and a crunching drive through 'Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja' will always be welcome. The excellent 'Last Train Home' threatens to steal the show, but it's a riotous 'Burn Burn' that caps things off perfectly, with assistance from members of Gallows and The Blackout, as well as every set of lungs both inside and outside the tent.
And then it's done. Bar the soothing thrum of 'Everything In Its Right Place' that ends Radiohead's set, Reading Festival is over, so we amble back to our tent to make sure the many drunken twats don't set fire to it – or us – and contemplate two wonderous joys: Next year's festival, and just how welcome our next shower will feel.
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