I wandered aimlessly for a while around the stands and stalls between the smaller stages with the main Reading stage off in the distance. After eating the bad food at the V-Festival I was first appalled by, then resigned myself to the fact that the same companies supplied the grub at Reading as well. There are usually one or more acts each year that make Reading the UK Festival to be at, and 2001 was no different. The act of that year was most likely the Strokes, who were to be making their first UK Festival appearance. You may have seen the cover of NME the week before with the photo of the Strokes and the caption “The One Band You Must See this Weekend.” I would have been green with envy to have received a copy of the music magazine in my mailbox in Minneapolis, but it was somewhat smugly that I picked up my copy of NME that week at a London newsstand with a ticket to the sold-out festival in my pocket. In 2001 there was some controversy regarding the Strokes appearance which only added to the media hype even though the band was already unquestionably the biggest buzz band in the world at the time. The Strokes were scheduled to play the Radio 1 Evening Sessions Stage, which is in a tent that holds only about 8,000 people. Festival organizers refused until the last minute to move the Strokes to the main stage. Wisely they ultimately gave in. The Strokes were a definite festival highlight when they played Friday afternoon few bands away from Iggy Pop. Other Friday Highlights were New York’s the Moldy Peaches (friends and tour mates of the Strokes) in the Evening Sessions tent whose song “Please Pass the Crack” was one of the catchiest fun songs of the summer. The final day of the festival (Sunday) may have been the most full of music for me. I took a liking to a band called Lowgold who sounded awesome live but upon my return to the States I found their import-only studio material lacking in some important areas, one of which being that the lyrics were just plain boring and cliché. The Cult played an intense, energizing set and as if on queue it actually rained during “Here Comes the Rain.” Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri played the entire QOTSA set stark f’ing naked with nothing covering his privies but his uh, instrument.
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Reading UK
I wandered aimlessly for a while around the stands and stalls between the smaller stages with the main Reading stage off in the distance. After eating the bad food at the V-Festival I was first appalled by, then resigned myself to the fact that the same companies supplied the grub at Reading as well. There are usually one or more acts each year that make Reading the UK Festival to be at, and 2001 was no different. The act of that year was most likely the Strokes, who were to be making their first UK Festival appearance. You may have seen the cover of NME the week before with the photo of the Strokes and the caption “The One Band You Must See this Weekend.” I would have been green with envy to have received a copy of the music magazine in my mailbox in Minneapolis, but it was somewhat smugly that I picked up my copy of NME that week at a London newsstand with a ticket to the sold-out festival in my pocket. In 2001 there was some controversy regarding the Strokes appearance which only added to the media hype even though the band was already unquestionably the biggest buzz band in the world at the time. The Strokes were scheduled to play the Radio 1 Evening Sessions Stage, which is in a tent that holds only about 8,000 people. Festival organizers refused until the last minute to move the Strokes to the main stage. Wisely they ultimately gave in. The Strokes were a definite festival highlight when they played Friday afternoon few bands away from Iggy Pop. Other Friday Highlights were New York’s the Moldy Peaches (friends and tour mates of the Strokes) in the Evening Sessions tent whose song “Please Pass the Crack” was one of the catchiest fun songs of the summer. The final day of the festival (Sunday) may have been the most full of music for me. I took a liking to a band called Lowgold who sounded awesome live but upon my return to the States I found their import-only studio material lacking in some important areas, one of which being that the lyrics were just plain boring and cliché. The Cult played an intense, energizing set and as if on queue it actually rained during “Here Comes the Rain.” Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri played the entire QOTSA set stark f’ing naked with nothing covering his privies but his uh, instrument.
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