Arriving on Saturday at Reading Festival and setting up my tent for the next few days we headed straight to the press tent to see the line-up and times for the day. Deciding to catch Dimension and Kove’s set on the BBC Radio 1 Dance Stage first was a brilliant decision and really hyped us up for the rest of the day. They started the set with some heavy drum & bass tracks then leading into some lighter house tracks also playing their collaborative track ‘Feel Love Again’.
Next up was the 1Xtra tent to catch the hypest Grime MC Tempa T who performed a intense set to a packed tent, we could barely squeeze in so unfortunately had to watch from the outside. We hurried back to the dance tent to catch Secondcity who played their hit single ‘I Wanna Feel’ and got the crowd moving and ready for the evening.
I’d heard a lot about Royal Blood, but hadn’t really listened to a lot of their music, so now was the time as they were up next on the Main Stage. I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I enjoyed their music. They were definitely one of the stand out performances for me over the 2 days I was at Reading. Their performance was simply stunning and I felt the bass shudder through me. Mike & Ben have won a new fan.
Ms Dynamite is someone I’ve watched perform many times live, but never fails to disappoint, so over to the 1Xtra stage it was. The atmosphere in the crowd was electric and was dancing from start to finish while she performed tracks such as ‘Dibby Dibby Sound’, and ‘Wile Out’.
Veteran hip hop DJ Semtex took over from Ms Dynamite on the decks spinning old and new hip hop tracks for an hour before the illustrious Lethal Bizzle took to the stage. The 1Xtra tent slowly got more and more busy before Bizzle’s set and was overflowing to the outside. The more brave took to the centre where the mosh pits were going to start especially crazy when he performed hit single ‘Pow’. The Grime MC also performed recent hits ‘Fester Skank’ and ‘Rari Workout’.
Headlining the main stage were Metallica the famous rock bank who burned bright and kept festival goers entertained and happy even watching them under the rain. They kept their status strong at Reading as one of the most powerful live bands and I was stunned as I watched them. Towards the end of their set they let out giant inflatable balloons in the crowd showing their playful side. This is a performance I won’t ever forget.
Last but not least I headed to the NME/ BBC Radio 1 Stage to catch Rebel Sound who are made up of three generations of DJ’s; Sir David Rodigan, Digital Soundboy’s Shy FX and Chase & Status who played to a full tent dubplates, reggae and jungle tunes which left Reading on a high on Saturday night.
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