Reading 2019...observation.

[jay-syncro]

On 24/08/2019 at 14:52, spongebob said:

 

Takes away the point of live music. Where's the rawness, spontaneity.....and the decent acts? 

Check out the Tiny Desk concerts on YouTube. 

 

The Jacob Collier one is quite remarkable, too. 

 

 

[cheddatom]

On 24/08/2019 at 14:20, Al Krow said:

But the Pale Waves were keeping up a tradition of quality bands hailing from Manchester, right? 

Need to stop being such a positive old git, I know... 😄 

Pale Waves are from Stoke, although they do say Manchester in all the press

[Al Krow]

8 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

Pale Waves are from Stoke, although they do say Manchester in all the press

Fair enough I've been told that Stoke is actually a collection of towns with no city centre who all hate each other...I can see why (the lying toads) would want to say they were from Manchester 😁

[cheddatom]

2 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Fair enough I've been told that Stoke is actually a collection of towns with no city centre who all hate each other...I can see why (the lying toads) would want to say they were from Manchester 😁

A small majority of Stokies just hate everyone outside their postcode, which would explain the results of a certain referendum

Thankfully everyone on the music scene is really friendly and supportive. I think Pale Waves have given a lot of control to management/PR or whatever, and I certainly don't blame them, it's going really well for them! I think they've got some good pop songs too, catchy hooks

[Al Krow]

11 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

A small majority of Stokies just hate everyone outside their postcode, which would explain the results of a certain referendum

Did you mean "majority"?

11 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

Thankfully everyone on the music scene is really friendly and supportive. 

That sounds great - take it you're a Stoke lad?

11 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

I think Pale Waves have given a lot of control to management/PR or whatever, and I certainly don't blame them, it's going really well for them! I think they've got some good pop songs too, catchy hooks

Agreed - they certainly got a thumbs up from me. 

Heather Baron-Gracie does like f'king swearing a lot on stage though doesn't she?! Probably trying to cover up the fact that she has a double-barrelled surname and is no longer up the Creek.

Edited August 27, 2019 by Al Krow

[cheddatom]

3 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Did you mean "majority"?

That sounds great - take it you're a Stoke lad?

Agreed - they certainly got a thumbs up from me. 

Heather Baron-Gracie does like f'king swearing a lot on stage though doesn't she?! Probably trying to cover up the fact that she has a double-barrelled surname and is no longer up the Creek.

It's probably a majority, but not a large majority, just over half, so "a small majority" seemed to make sense? I am indeed from Stoke and it's actually quite a nice place most of the time

[gt4ever]

These were the 2 years I went to Reading.  Either popular music has become softer or the nature of the Reading festival has changed cos the lineups I went there for were somewhat different 😝 

[Monkey Steve]

19 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

Why Festivals (Especially Reading) Are Perceived To Be A Wasteland Of Musical Ghastliness

* Festivals used to be about the music rather than 'the festival experience' because 'the festival experience' was usually very unpleasant

* Shrewd business tactics on the part of festival organisers led to an improvement of 'the festival experience' to the point where 'the festival experience' became the main draw rather than the music

* In consequence, most people who go to mainstream festivals do so for 'the festival experience' rather than the music

* People who prioritise 'the festival experience' are often people who like music made for people who don't like music 

* Festival promoters therefore book bands who make music for people who don't like music

* People who don't like music made for people who don't like music don't like the bands who make music for people who don't like music

* People who don't like bands who make music for people who don't like music won't go to festivals because the bands at festivals are mostly those who make music for people who don't like music but who prioritise going to festivals because of 'the festival experience'

* People who inhabit bass forums tend to be people who don't like bands who make music for people who don't like music

* Festival line-ups comprised of bands who make music for people who don't like music will attract criticism on bass forums

Ergo: Most festival threads on bass forums will be critical of festival line-ups. See also: festival selfies, banners, performative display, DJ sets.

 

Sir - take a bow

I used to love going to the Reading Festival but haven't been for about ten years because over the last few years it went from being a festival about music to a festival as a right of passage experience for teenagers who have just sat their GCSEs and have been allowed off the parental leash.  Deciding which bands to see seemed to be far less about listening to the music and watching the performance as being present while a band played so that they could say they were there

That said, there was always plenty of good and varied music if you went looking for it - I remember a Sunday in 2000 where I saw most of Slipknot (not having heard any of their music previously) before popping across to catch some of Lauren Laverne's acoustic set and then wandering in to a tent to see some bloke by the name of Elliott Smith who I'd never heard of before playing an excellent set.  Hopefully some of the kids will have been doing something similar this weekend

[uk_lefty]

Just watched Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes on iplayer. Saw a bit of them at Download 2016 but not quite enough before we had to go to see whoever else on the main stagw, that's more my kind of thing for a live band. Heart and soul in the performance, huge guitar sound. 

[Unknown_User]

I remember going to this one:

Wowser!  So many of my absolute favourite bands on there all in one weekend.  I'd count Wannadies, Queen Adreena and Foo Fighters as being at the top table of my absolute favourite bands.  I also remember enjoying the sets by Slipknot, RATM, My Vitriol, Amen, Deftones, QotSA and particularly At the Drive In were outstanding.

What I wouldn't give to go back in time and do that all over again.  Nineteen years ago....  Good grief!

[Stylon Pilson]

I remember going to this one:

It always tickles me to see "COLDPLAY" down there in tiny letters at the bottom of the bill on the second stage next to Toploader.

S.P.

[Monkey Steve]

I was at both of those

what surprises me is that while I remember some bands very clearly, there was a lot of bands on that I like and have little or no memory of seeing. Not sure if I didn't care about seeing them at the time, fancied something else on a different stage, or was just drinking elsewhere in Reading at the time

[NancyJohnson]

1 hour ago, Stylon Pilson said:

I remember going to this one:

It always tickles me to see "COLDPLAY" down there in tiny letters at the bottom of the bill on the second stage next to Toploader.

S.P.

When I worked for the company that did the wristbands, we (as a company) were offered a limited number of access passes for the weekend; there was generally a draw to see who got the passes and in the main it was a case that old Gladys in the post room had her name pulled first and she would give the passes to her grandchildren (grrr).  In ten years, I bagged the passes just once...it was 1999.  The irony being the misfortune that followed me that weekend.

Friday, oh, I remember it well, around the time Reef were on, I was having a surgery on my left eyelid to remove a big infected lump of goop, so I didn't go.  (Ironically, twenty years on, I still get the odd eye-infection and it always seems to emanate from the same part of the lid.)   On the Saturday, I broke my glasses in the morning and my eye was too sore and weepy to get a contact lens in, so I didn't go.  By the time Sunday came around, I was determined to go.  We stood on the side of the stage and watched Lit (who replaced Orgy), Offspring and about half of the RHCP set.  I spent a very happy hour in the Big Top watching Fountains Of Wayne.  No memory whatsoever of Pitchshifter, or Sick Of It All (I suspect we may have been drinking in the guest area).  In hindsight, I can't believe I didn't make the effort to catch Blink182 or Less Than Jake.  Ho hum.

 

 

[Monkey Steve]

7 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

When I worked for the company that did the wristbands, we (as a company) were offered a limited number of access passes for the weekend; there was generally a draw to see who got the passes and in the main it was a case that old Gladys in the post room had her name pulled first and she would give the passes to her grandchildren (grrr).  In ten years, I bagged the passes just once...it was 1999.  The irony being the misfortune that followed me that weekend.

 

I had a chat with a couple of lads at Download this year in a similar position - one of them worked at East Midlands Airport and there are always spare tickets knocking around so if you fancy going you ask and see if you get lucky.  Although they reckoned that nobody ever asks so if you want to go you can guarantee that you'll get the tickets (and they didn't like heavy metal and had only gone to see Die Antwoord, and only then because it was free)

 

4 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

No memory whatsoever of Pitchshifter, or Sick Of It All (I suspect we may have been drinking in the guest area).  In hindsight, I can't believe I didn't make the effort to catch Blink182 or Less Than Jake.  Ho hum.

 

 

Funnily enough, the only one I clearly remember from the Sunday was Pitchshifter - loved them

[Stub Mandrel]

On 27/08/2019 at 11:29, Al Krow said:

That sounds great - take it you're a Stoke lad?

Oh luke a cuke buke... 🙂

[Stub Mandrel]

4 hours ago, Unknown_User said:

I remember going to this one: 

Ill see you and raise you 16 years. This was one of the best festivals of the '80s and the BBC recorded it all:

[NancyJohnson]

4 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Ill see you and raise you 16 years. This was one of the best festivals of the '80s and the BBC recorded it all:

Cough.  £15.95.  Cough.

[Lozz196]

The Stranglers AND Hanoi Rocks AND Big Country, all on ONE DAY! Man I curse my younger self for not going to more gigs.

[Stub Mandrel]

33 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

The Stranglers AND Hanoi Rocks AND Big Country, all on ONE DAY! Man I curse my younger self for not going to more gigs.

That was the weak day... I will confess, it was Black Sabbath with Ian Gillan - I was probably one of the few people who enjoyed that.

Steve Ray Vaughan on his first UK tour (the rumour was that he was an excellent Hendrix mimic).

Thin Lizzy's last UK gig (I saw the previous one in Gloucester too)

Man! Little Stephen! Mama's Boy's! Suzi Quattro! Steel Pulse! Magnum! Marrillion! Ten Years After!!!

And most of the rest were good to!

And I got to see the Enid play the Dambuster's March with 15,000 people making googles with their thumbs and forefingers.

And Anvil!!!!!

[Unknown_User]

19 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Ill see you and raise you 16 years. This was one of the best festivals of the '80s and the BBC recorded it all:

Some really good acts on there too!

[Paul S]

On 24/08/2019 at 19:10, uk_lefty said:

Firstly, the dhansak is the daddy of all curries, I salute your choice there. 

 

Indeed - my 'litmus test' dish whenever I try a new Indian restaurant as hot sweet and sour is a tricky balance of flavours to get right.  If they do I'll go back, if not I don't.

[uk_lefty]

51 minutes ago, Paul S said:

Indeed - my 'litmus test' dish whenever I try a new Indian restaurant as hot sweet and sour is a tricky balance of flavours to get right.  If they do I'll go back, if not I don't.

My Mrs laughs at me for always having a dhansak but as hot as a madras. That with a peshwari naan is heaven

[NancyJohnson]

2 hours ago, Paul S said:

Indeed - my 'litmus test' dish whenever I try a new Indian restaurant as hot sweet and sour is a tricky balance of flavours to get right.  If they do I'll go back, if not I don't.

Our local Indian (Kabirs, Crowthorne) is without doubt the best Indian restaurant I've eaten at, bar none.  If it was nasty, we'd go elsewhere.

It's funny, years ago after we moved the village, they were newish and open to suggestion; we'd go in and ask whether certain things would work, they'd cook us non-menu stuff, then they had the menus re-done and these odd mash ups would be on it*.  They do a chickpea/paneer combo that is to die for and they'll also produce naan breads with any manner of content combination therein; garlic/chilli, spinach/paneer. 

*Incidentally, as an aside, we also have an Italian restaurant in the village and alongside all the Italianesque pizza names like Romana and Quattro Stagioni there's a pizza called Ken; a fantastic combination of mozzarella, Gorgonzola, salami and optional chilli and anchovies.  I asked once why they had a pizza called Ken and they said they used to have a customer decades ago who would come in and always ask for this combo on a pizza.  When he passed away, they thought it was a decent tribute to add this to the menu and name it after him.  Nice touch!  https://www.don-beni-restaurant.co.uk/menus/main-menu/

[Rich]

23 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Ill see you and raise you 16 years. This was one of the best festivals of the '80s and the BBC recorded it all:

I remember breaking into the Sea Scouts camp with my mates -- it was directly opposite the festival site, on the Caversham bank of the Thames -- and sitting on the riverbank listening to Lizzy.

[taunton-hobbit]

An invoice for the damage is already on its way to you...............

😎