This was my 6th Reading Festival and my 8th Reading or Leeds in ten years, and it was one of the better ones. Wasn't tons of brilliant stuff (I'm getting jaded in my old age) but lots of good stuff. Friday morning started with two highlights for me, Gaggle and the Eddie Argos Experience (which was basically Art Brut under a different name and stripped down a bit). The Futureheads, The Joy Formidable and New Young Pony Club were as great as ever and I got to meet - among other people - JOHNNY MARR (!) and We Are Scientists who were really nice guys and just made you feel like you could hang out with them all day (although of course, I made my excuses and left after a reasonable time).
Keeping in with the spirit of the early 2000s I did look forward to seeing Limp Bizkit, who were surprisingly good - to my utter embarrassment I found myself mouthing all the words to Break Stuff, which made me feel rather childish. I did also look forward to seeing the Libertines, who turned out to be considerably less interesting than I had found them all those years ago. No surprise at all that the security in the guest area described Pete Doherty as the biggest arsehole they had to deal with all weekend, although perhaps surprisingly they singled out Fred Durst as the Official Nice Guy of the Festival - charming, polite and not demanding anything from anyone.
Ritzy - Joy Formidable
The Like
Gaggle
The Eddie Argos Experience
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