Backstage@Reading OHMIGOSH!! (Reading Festival)

Member Name: CIDDJO

Product:	Reading Festival
Date:	01/10/01 (157 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: loads of great music, really good atmosphere, lots to drink

Disadvantages: watch out for those noodles, stinky toilets and showers, sound poor on main stage

The Reading Carling festival - August 2001 - A backstage view

The Reading and Leeds Carling festivals are undoubtedly the ultimate alternative music extravaganzas. The music press start to whip up a festival frenzy at the beginning of the summer with frequent reminders and updates of who's playing where and sudden new 'on the bill' announcements. Previous to this year I was a Reading and Leeds festival virgin so I couldn't believe my luck when I found myself lumbered (such a hard life) with a backstage pass for both. The only draw back was that I would have to follow a newish ska/punk band called 'Capdown' around like a bad smell, which involved missing two days of festival acts and, witnessing the same acts play twice at opposite ends of the country. Luckily most of the bands that I wanted to see were playing on the same day as Capdown so I didn't think that I would miss out on too much, although the footage shown on TV afterwards begged to differ.

We arrived at Reading about five hours later than planned (anyone who travels around with a group of lazy punks will know the score!) and when we eventually arrived, security sent us round and round in circles looking for somewhere secure to park the tour van. We had the same problem when looking for the artists camping area where the toilets and showers were just as bad as everywhere else - I suppose we all do pretty much the same thing out of our backsides so I don't know why my expectations were anything different!

The first act that I managed to see on the main stage was rock chick PJ Harvey looking pretty seductive in very little. Her deep, rich vocal tones sounded quite lost and wasted in the open air amongst the thousands of people who seemed more interested in the take-a-way noodle stands. There was a small hoard of scantily clad girls clustered around the barriers right in front of the stage who let out a feeble appreciative whimper at the end o
f each song. Up close the sound emitting from those almighty speakers would probably have been awesome, I could tell from my distanced position that her backing band were almost faultless, as was Miss Harvey herself. She certainly held up the female front being one of the only females to appear at the festivals this year.

Greenday, a long-time personal favourite, were next to grace us with their legendary pop punk persona. Everyone seemed much more interested in the main stage all of a sudden, especially in the build up to Greenday's much anticipated arrival on stage.....perhaps I imagined everyone else's enthusiasm as an amplification of my own personal excitement...who knows. However I can tell you that they were every bit as good as they promised to be, playing old classics like 'Welcome To Paradise', and 'Basket Case' and getting some of the crowd up on stage to takeover the instruments and play an Operation Ivy song as a band. It certainly made three young scrimpets weekends anyway. There was a definite lack of new material in their live set which could be due to the fact that they aren't selling quite as well now as in the days of 'Dookie'. At the end of the set when Mr Cool set fire to his drum kit I was really surprised to hear Billy Joe pick up an acoustic guitar and not play 'Time Of Your Life', in my opinion it would have fitted in just right and made a perfect finish to an almighty set.

Travis headlined Friday night and seemed really low key and quiet after the raucous noise of Greenday. They were a good choice for the end of the night though because everyone started to chill out and settle down, whereas if Greenday would have finished the day the young punks would have been hyped up and going crazy all night. Travis played the usual 'Driftwood', a song which is probably my ultimate happily drunk and laid back song of the festival - it still brings back the memories of f
oam cups burning on campfires and the feeling of my damp, noodle covered backside now (you have to watch what you sit on in the dark at these events).

After very little sleep due to the noisy little brats in the tents surrounding mine, I awoke to a gloriously sunny day and donned my smallest clothing to salute the sun (and reflect it on to everyone else off my starkly white arms and legs!). There was no time for messing around, we had to be at the stage doors pretty early to start the laborious unload and set-up process. Now here the toilets and showers were fantastic - the toilets flushed and had wooden toilet seats, there was an abundance of toilet paper and soap and .....drumroll.....warm water to wash in. I was now able to watch the bands on the Concrete Jungle Stage from the stage and get a brilliant view of everything that was going on. Save Ferris and Shelter both played before Capdown and the crowd were giving it stacks for both of the bands. The Save Ferris singer had such a powerful voice that really set off their lively ska. Shelter were more hardcore and more energetic although it was difficult for all of the bands playing on this day to find energy because of the intense heat outside. In the tents (Concrete Jungle, Radio One, and Carling) this heat was concentrated because of all the people breathing and sweating inside.

I was actually nervous for Capdown before they went out there infront of a full to bursting point tent. As soon as Boob the bassist walked out it was obvious that it was going to be a corker, as the whole crowd went into a chorus of '"Boob, Boob", he seemed shocked that so many people knew his name! They played an absolutely blinding set combining a bit of old (Ska Wars, Positivity) with a touch of new (Pound For The Sound) and it was amazing to here the crowd singing the lyrics to nearly all of their tunes. They seemed to take it all in their stride and the extra pressure of playing to more p
eople than usual seemed to provide that extra rocket blast of energy. I can confess to being extremely proud of them at that point in time.

Rancid (my absolute favourite band in the whole wide world) were up on the main stage later that day. I trekked along with the Capdown boys in tow to get as close to the front as possible. When they came out they looked so much older than I had remembered. I still had images of them in the old 'Time Bomb' video fresh in my mind. Lars stood out with a brilliant pink mohawk against the black of Tim Armstrong looking his usual punk rock self in black everything and a studded leather jacket. They, like Greenday also played a lot of older songs mostly from the 'Life Won't Wait' album although a few from the newer album did sneak in not quite discreetly - there's nothing discreet about Rancid. That's the beauty of their music, it's so raw and untidy and they are all for supporting the working class and independent record labels. Their music has a meaning and it's bold and clear to see if you just open your eyes and ears to look for it.

The award for the most amusing piece of TV footage that day had to go to......... the film of the bagpiper from the Dropkick Murphy's who was decked out in a kilt for the occasion. When Rancid dedicated a song to the Murphy's, the camera scanned this brave man from his feet all the way up to his face, where he was nonchalantly smoking a cigarette completely unaware that he was just on show to the thousands who had turned out to watch the great Rancid perform.

After Rancid it was time to load up and set off for Leeds to do the whole thing again. It was an amazing experience to see a festival from the other side of the fence - it makes you realise just how much work these bands put in to get where they are, and also what a hard slog it is being a working band nearly always on the road. It looks glamorous from the out side
but once you peek in, the reality is all too evident.

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