Kings Of Leon performing Kings Of Leon for NBC’s Today Show (Photo: Paul Bachmann for Live4ever)
The third day of a festival is always an endurance test. Some punters will have been on-site for five days, probably their minds and certainly their bodies having been put through the wringer with copious amounts of alcohol, questionable food choices and minimal sleep.
Therefore, the acts tasked with performing on Sundays have to work that little bit harder for attention and acclaim. Adding to all this, on the Sunday at Reading Festival 2018 there was also the grottiest possible weather; the rain and wind washing away any last semblance of humanity from the 80,000 punters.
This year, Twisted Wheel had the enviable task of opening the Radio 1 tent for its final furlong. The last few years haven’t been kind to these indie kids; just shy of a decade ago they were being lauded as the next great hope with Oasis support slots to boot. Several misfortunes have befallen them since, but if they are brow-beaten by their experiences they don’t show it. The crowd can’t have been a three-figured amount, but the boys played like they were back at Wembley, with oldie She’s A Weapon being the highlight.
On the Main Stage, Shame brought things right back up to date. Themselves also Great White Hopes, but for 2018 rather than 2008, the south Londoners are an alternative to the more aggressively political overtures of Slaves and Idles, being more conventionally indie. In truth, they aren’t Main Stage players just yet, falling slightly flat (although not through lack of effort on their part) because of the conditions and Sunday cobwebs. This shouldn’t be the last Reading Festival sees of them.
Peace filled in the surprise slot of the day over on the BBC Introducing Stage. The Brummies are nearly veterans of the festival circuit now and have several tricks in their armory. The latest one is to open with a cover of pop midget Avril Lavigne’s early 00s hit Complicated, which got the sizeable crowd bopping in their wellies. Lovesick and Higher Than The Sun sustained the mood, interspersing with the 11-minute 1998 and offerings from their most recent album Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll. Finally, the cobwebs were starting to be blown away.
Back in the Radio 1 tent, DMAs picked up the baton readily – after a summer of extensive touring, they know how to play the crowd. Their Australian sundances worked; upon leaving the tent, the rain had stopped, the ponchos were off and it was time to get serious.
The Festival Republic tent had Spector reminding everyone that they weren’t dead. Another band who have yet to fulfill their early promise as Pulp covering The Killers, unsurprisingly all of what one assumes is the new material fell flat, but Chevy Thunder and Celestine are still capable of getting a crowd moving.
Meanwhile, back on the Main Stage, The Vaccines were the first of the final indie big-hitters. Although he’s their songwriter, Justin Young’s limitations vocally have always been the band’s Achilles’ heel, but whatever steps have been taken to remedy this are paying off. More musically muscular, the quintet thoroughly rocked the stage and Young was the consummate frontman. The newer material sits well alongside Wreckin’ Bar, a guaranteed mosh-starter, and 20/20’s frantic oeuvre. However, they’ve yet to come close to All In White, wisely included here.
The Vaccines live in Manchester (Gary Mather for Live4ever)
And so the sun sets and the big boys come out to play. The Courteeners are perhaps the most curious act in rock today; ignored by scenesters and largely by the press, they can sell out Heaton Park in their home-town and must have played Reading countless times. Their ascent up the bill has been glacial – now only one step away from the top, they auditioned for the headline slot in relentless fashion. A career-spanning set, the highlight The 17th, one of their most recent singles, is a subtle banger driven by synth keyboards, a world away from the cranium crushing Cavorting, which was also given an airing.
Sure as eggs is eggs, the set closed with Not Nineteen Forever and What Took You So Long?, complete with the usual sprinkling of James’ Tomorrow. It would be interesting to see what would happen if these songs were somewhere (anywhere) else in the set. Still, an impressive showing nonetheless.
Reading Festival has taken a lot of criticism this year, mainly for its diversity, but one suspects if they had had anyone else in as their headliner, they may not have had such bad press – no-one likes Kings Of Leon anymore do they?
After the mega success of Only By The Night a decade ago, it has been a slow, drawn-out slide into irrelevance. Still capable of selling out arenas, purely on the basis of Sex On Fire and Use Somebody, their last three albums have largely passed by unnoticed. Wisely, the boys focused on the mid-section of their now long career for this headline set and, freed from pressure, looked at their most assured and confident for years. You know when you are so impressed with a set, but afterwards reflect on what else they could have played? This was one of those. The set had the perfect balance of crowd-pleasers and deep cuts; for every Fans there was a Knocked Up, for every Radioactive a Taper Jean Girl.
Whisper it, but it might be time to start paying attention to them again.
