Reading Festival Review: Sunday
The last day of the weekend and the saddest day too. Still in recovery from my 1am-9am shift that morning this meant that I missed The Story So Far's main stage set and I ran in late only to catch the last song of Tonight Alive's set..
TONIGHT ALIVE
I had been looking forward to this set for the entire weekend, especially after bumping into Jenna whilst watching Don Broco on the Saturday. So you can imagine how upset I was to run into the arena to hear them playing their last song "Lonely Girl". I could have cried. They sounded so good, they had a good crowd and Jenna looked amazing. I have to see them live soon!
YOUNG GUNS
After that little morning disappointment, I stayed at the main stage to watch Young Guns. They opened up with their latest single "I Want Out" which sounded really good live. To be honest, this was my second time seeing them live and they did sound better. Their new stuff sounded quite 30STM but I'm very excited for their new record.
JUNGLE
I still haven't listened to their new album in full but after listening to the singles, I knew that they'd be great live - I was right. They smashed the set and "Time" sounded huge. Great vibes throughout.
PAPA ROACH
Managed to catch some of their set before heading off to Clean Bandit and this may just be my 12 year old self speaking but they actually sounded awesome. Crowd was heavy, and a lot larger than I'd anticipated.
CLEAN BANDIT
After seeing Clean Bandit at Glastonbury I wasn't too excited to see them again in such a short space of time and I actually regret seeing them a little bit because they weren't even close to as good as they were at Glastonbury and it was basically the exact same setlist. However, they drew a crowd, had people cheering and they looked like they had a good time too so that's what counts really.
HAWK HOUSE
YES! I was super excited to see their name on the setlist after writing about them not too long ago here as a new discovery. Thankfully they didn't clash with anyone else that I was particularly buzzing to see so I went and checked them out. They were brilliant. Also, their pre-show DJ was magnificent.
A DAY TO REMEMBER
So I forgot to mention, Sunday was pop punk paradise. Had I been able to catch TSSF and Tonight Alive, the day would've been completely perfect. On the other hand, ADTR were fantastic - as well as their older tracks, the songs from Common Courtesy sounded huge! And to add to my surprise and happiness they played "Heartless".
YOU ME AT SIX
Before coming I wouldn't have minded missing this set if I'm honest - I'm not massively keen on their new stuff and I've already seen them live BUT I'm glad I went in the end. They have improved heaps! Josh's voice sounded great and it was really nice to hear them play some old favourites that I'd actually forgotten about.
MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS
After watching some live videos of them a few weeks ago I was super excited to see them. They 100% knew how to entertain a crowd. I was a little surprised that they ran through all their singles so early on but they played "Can't Hold Us" again at the end and it banged out just as hard the second time and both Macklemore and & Ryan Lewis were really charming which made the set that much more enjoyable.
BLINK 182
LITERALLY THE SET TO END ALL SETS. Last set of the weekend and the set that actually cemented my choice to come to Reading this year in the first place. I have waited a long time to see Blink live and it was everything I'd dreamed and more. The crowd where I was standing was a little less enthusiastic than I'd have liked but this didn't dampen my experience much, I was fully immersed. The show had everything, lights, jokes, classics, and Travis Barker. When my mouth wasn't open singing, it was wide open in awe. Perfect set and perfect end to the weekend.
TONIGHT ALIVE
I had been looking forward to this set for the entire weekend, especially after bumping into Jenna whilst watching Don Broco on the Saturday. So you can imagine how upset I was to run into the arena to hear them playing their last song "Lonely Girl". I could have cried. They sounded so good, they had a good crowd and Jenna looked amazing. I have to see them live soon!
YOUNG GUNS
After that little morning disappointment, I stayed at the main stage to watch Young Guns. They opened up with their latest single "I Want Out" which sounded really good live. To be honest, this was my second time seeing them live and they did sound better. Their new stuff sounded quite 30STM but I'm very excited for their new record.
JUNGLE
I still haven't listened to their new album in full but after listening to the singles, I knew that they'd be great live - I was right. They smashed the set and "Time" sounded huge. Great vibes throughout.
PAPA ROACH
Managed to catch some of their set before heading off to Clean Bandit and this may just be my 12 year old self speaking but they actually sounded awesome. Crowd was heavy, and a lot larger than I'd anticipated.
CLEAN BANDIT
After seeing Clean Bandit at Glastonbury I wasn't too excited to see them again in such a short space of time and I actually regret seeing them a little bit because they weren't even close to as good as they were at Glastonbury and it was basically the exact same setlist. However, they drew a crowd, had people cheering and they looked like they had a good time too so that's what counts really.
HAWK HOUSE
YES! I was super excited to see their name on the setlist after writing about them not too long ago here as a new discovery. Thankfully they didn't clash with anyone else that I was particularly buzzing to see so I went and checked them out. They were brilliant. Also, their pre-show DJ was magnificent.
A DAY TO REMEMBER
So I forgot to mention, Sunday was pop punk paradise. Had I been able to catch TSSF and Tonight Alive, the day would've been completely perfect. On the other hand, ADTR were fantastic - as well as their older tracks, the songs from Common Courtesy sounded huge! And to add to my surprise and happiness they played "Heartless".
YOU ME AT SIX
Before coming I wouldn't have minded missing this set if I'm honest - I'm not massively keen on their new stuff and I've already seen them live BUT I'm glad I went in the end. They have improved heaps! Josh's voice sounded great and it was really nice to hear them play some old favourites that I'd actually forgotten about.
MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS
After watching some live videos of them a few weeks ago I was super excited to see them. They 100% knew how to entertain a crowd. I was a little surprised that they ran through all their singles so early on but they played "Can't Hold Us" again at the end and it banged out just as hard the second time and both Macklemore and & Ryan Lewis were really charming which made the set that much more enjoyable.
BLINK 182
LITERALLY THE SET TO END ALL SETS. Last set of the weekend and the set that actually cemented my choice to come to Reading this year in the first place. I have waited a long time to see Blink live and it was everything I'd dreamed and more. The crowd where I was standing was a little less enthusiastic than I'd have liked but this didn't dampen my experience much, I was fully immersed. The show had everything, lights, jokes, classics, and Travis Barker. When my mouth wasn't open singing, it was wide open in awe. Perfect set and perfect end to the weekend.
This was easily one of the best weekends of my summer and definitely the best festival line up of the four I've been to in my opinion. I say this every year but every year a new festival comes along and reinforces it - EVERYBODY should go to a festival (at least once)! Lastly, quick plug: if you happen to have twitter, follow me here for updates about when I next post and just about music in general.
