Beth Natasha Gregory: Reading Festival 2012: The best weekend of my life!!

Hello readers!!
Yesterday I got back from Reading Festival. I went last year, and after going this year I've decided to go every year. It was by far the best weekend of my life, despite the fact that I have lost my voice from shouting and screaming so much!!
I decided to take disposable cameras, because I keep losing my digital cameras at festivals, so I need to get the photos developed, and then I'll put the best ones on here, but in the mean time I thought I'd write a bit about the bands at Reading and the camping!
Me and my friends decided to go early bird, so on the wednesday instead of the thursday, which was such a good shout because we got a really good camping spot and could just chill on the thursday. Reading is a massive festival so you can't ever really get bored as there is so much on offer for campers. Reading has plenty of stalls to buy pretty much anything, a fair, two silent discos and loads of food. Plus when you camp with lots of people, and/or meet new people, you have a lot of fun!!
I think the line up for this years Reading was one of the best I've seen. On the Friday, The Cure headlined, but to be completely honest, their set was very boring. As one of my friends said, it was the sort of music to slit your wrists to!! The first band I saw on the friday was Cancer Bats, a heavy canadian thrash/punk band. They were absolutely amazing. Even if you don't really enjoy 'heavy' music, you can still apreciate the atmosphere of seeing them live on the main stage.

Cancer Bats

After Cancer Bats I watched spector, who I saw live back in March supporting Florence + The Machine in Cardiff, and they didn't dissapoint. Fred Mcpherson (the lead singer) has an absolutely amazing voice. After Spector we headed back to the mainstage to catch Crystal Castles. I saw Crystal Castles last year in the NME tent and worried the sound wouldn't be as good on the main stage, but they were amazing. The crowd went mental! I was close to the front and felt like I was going to die! I went to the side a bit so I was slightly more out the crowd for Not In Love, which has stuck in my head as one of the best songs I heard them perform. Alice Glass is just so crazy you can't help but adore her. I then went and watched Touche Amore in the Lock Up Tent. Touche Amore are heavy, yet melodic. They're songs are short, and they remind me a lot of La Dispute. They were really fun to watch, evn though I did fall over in a mosh pit!! A bit embarrasing!

Crystal Castles

After La Dispute we watched Bombay Bicycle Club, who I saw last year and found a bit boring, but this year on the mainstage they really impressed me. Lucy Rose was there and did some of the vocals which definitely improved the set.
A band I hadn't planned on seeing but who were amazing was Sleigh Bells. As The Cure was boring us a bit, we watched Sleigh Bells in the Festival Republic tent. There was an amazing atmosphere and a lot of people there to support them for what was apparently their first UK show.

Sleigh Bells

The saturday however, was the best day of the festival. I was already amazingly impressed with the line up and didn't think it could get much better, until Green Day turned up and performed a secret set at about half 11ish in the NME tent. There is something so amazing about seeing such a huge band perform in a relatively small space. Billie Joe Armstrong really warmed the crowds up. Green Day were one of the first bands I got in to when I started liking alternative music, when I was about 11 or 12 and trying to find my own feet, so seeing them live was absolutely incredible. A highlight has to be when they played Minority, even though I wish they had enough time to play Jesus of Surburbia.
Another highlight of the saturday was seeing OFWGKTA (Odd Future). I liked Odd Future but they turned out to be better than I expected. They are a group like no one else, from their music, the atmosphere, their cult following, to the way they make their money through clothing rather than music. The fact that they are like no one else really translated in to their live performance. The crowd went crazy for Tyler, The Creator. A highlight was when they closed their set with Radical, and were joined by punks Trash Talk, before being kicked off the stage for going over time.

Odd Future

Green Day

Another highlight from the saturday was Florence + The Machine. She was incredible, and the whole festival atmosphere just added to her performance. She got everyone in the crowd to hug eachother, and as she continued with her performance the rain fell. When she performed Shake It Out, the rain became so heavy, yet this just made the performance more amazing. Florence's voice is so powerful, and her whole set felt incredibly magical.

Florence and The Machine

Kasabian headlined the saturday, and if i'm honest, they were slightly dissapointing. I expected more from them, but they just didn't do it for me. They were ok, and Fire was great live, but it wasn't amazing, and kind of makes me wish I went to watch At The Drive In headline the NME stage instead.
On The Sunday I went to watch Howler perform on the NME stage. Jordan Gatesmith, the lead singer, was so good. The crowd wasn't as big as I expected, but they did perform fairly early in the day. The crowd did go mental for Back Of Your Neck however, which they closed with. One of the best acts from the sunday however was SBTRKT. They were more lively than I expected, and they were amazing. Pharoahs and Wildfire were so good live and the crowd were really lively.

Jordan Gatesmith from Howler

Of course, the main highlight for me from the Sunday, was the Foo Fighters closing the festival. They were mind blowing to see live. These Days and Hero were amazing, but when they closed on Everlong was the highlight for me. Watching the fireworks and the confetti fall from the sky as they played was very emotional. Dave Grohl is such a good frontman and proved that throughout the performance, as he constantly talked to the crowd, and got all of the 10,000 people there to sing happy birthday to his mum, which was so cute!!