The only thing better than seeing all the amazing acts at Reading Festival on Sunday would have been seeing the festival in its entirety.
Sadly time was not on my side and due to scheduling commitments, I was only able to go on the last day of the Reading festival – the Sunday. As one of the last music festivals in the UK calendar, Reading festival always brings the energy and attitude and with a line up of Liam Gallagher, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Nia Archives, beabadoobee and more, there was still enough of a pull to go just for the day.
Nia Archives over on the Chevron stage declared that, “Jungle music is gonna change the world”, and self belief coupled with a ferocious set which included some spectacular remixes of club classics like ‘You Got The Love’ had the Reading festival crowd dancing the afternoon away.
Indie-pop duo Good Neighbours put on a rousing and upbeat performance with a fun in the sun secret set on the BBC Introducing stage. It was filled with anthemic tracks such as ‘Blue’ which is one of the tracks included on their forthcoming titular EP.
In a swift change of pace, electronic rave rockers Pendulum served up a dynamic set that effortlessly fused techno, gritty guitar riffs with intoxicating drum and bass beats. All of which was a dazzling showcase of the band’s expansive back catalogue.
It was a blistering set which delighted the Reading crowd which included the band performing their hit song ‘Tarantula’ for the last time alongside ‘Propane Nightmares’, ‘Come Alive’, ‘Nothing For Free’.
“This is the last time we’re ever going to play this song,” frontman Rob Swire told the audience before launching into the hit. “We’ve played it for 16 years… it’s time to put it to bed.”
Catfish and the Bottlemen were the penultimate act on the Reading Main Stage and kicked off their set off with a stellar performance of ‘Longshot’. After only a matter of minutes, it was evident that there was something not quite right with the sound and the band briefly left the stage until the technical issues were resolved.
The band didn’t let the issues impact their performance and after returning to the Reading main stage, they delivered track after track and were on top form throughout. Their explosive set list also included ‘Pacifier’,‘Homesick, ‘Fluctuate’ and ‘Cocoon’.
One of the most popular sets of the third day was beabadoobee who was the headline act on the BBC Radio 1 stage. With an expansive crowd gathering, she performed a heartfelt and captivating set that the crowd will remember for a very long time indeed. From ‘California’ and ‘Sunny Day’ to ‘Beaches’ and the brilliant ‘She Plays Bass’, it’s easy to see why Bea has amassed such a huge following.
And so on to the main event – the legendary Liam Gallagher took to the stage to close the entire Reading festival. The charismatic Mancunian kicked things off in typical Liam Gallagher style with ‘Rock ‘N Roll Star’. The set was packed full of the very best tracks from ‘Definitely Maybe’ which celebrates its 30th anniversary this week.
Having toured the ‘Definitely Maybe’ album in recent weeks, it was my second time seeing Liam perform the seminal debut from Oasis and both times were intoxicating, thrilling and high-octane.
Dedicating tracks to everyone from space cadets ‘D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?’ to vegetarians ‘ Digsy’s Dinner’ with its indie sleaze guitars, the (now not) former Oasis frontman had the crowd in the palm of his hands.
He even dedicated the anthemic ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ to the people who ‘hate the greatest band of all time’. ‘Digsy’s Dinner’ saw Liam shouting a refrain of ‘Lasagne!’ with a backdrop of brightly-coloured graphics dancing around behind him on screen.
Liam and his band were the highlight of the whole last day of the Reading festival and it reaffirmed what a truly fantastic album ‘Definitely Maybe’ is – as if we EVER needed a reminder of this!
‘Up in the Sky’, ‘Shakermaker’, ‘(It’s Good) To Be Free’, an electrifying rendition of ‘Half The World Away’ of which he dedicated to his big brother Noel declaring that “I wanna dedicate this next song to Noel fucking Gallagher”. He had the starstruck crowd singing along to the iconic anthem in unison as they did with the rambunctious ‘Bring It On Down’ both of which were absolute standouts, but you would be hard pressed to pick just one favourite out of his 17 track set list.
‘Live Forever’ was as emotive as ever and the final treat of the evening and the entire Reading festival concluded with Liam Gallagher performing an epic rendition of ‘I Am The Walrus’.
The iconic Oasis logo incorporating the cryptic date -’28.08.2024’ appeared at the end of the powerhouse set which was emblazoned across the screens of Reading’s Main Stage. It further cemented the feverish anticipation that an exciting announcement was forthcoming about a potential reunion between Liam and Noel which we know now is HAPPENING!
What a fantastic day and night of live music and despite some sound issues marring a few of the artists, overall the last day of the Reading festival could only be described as BIBLICAL!
Liam Gallagher photo credits – Joe Flanagan
