Saturday’s highlights
IT was a very busy second day at Reading Festival, including the first post-covid gig from Texas-based band Waterparks.
The group had flown over from Houston to take part in the threeday celebration of music, where they treated the crowds with a sneak peak of their new album, Greatest Hits.
It was the very first live performance of the tracks from it, and greatly appreciated by the fans.
And while most British nationals still can’t travel to the States due to covid, another US band was able to entertain at Reading: Los Angelesbased Badflower brought a little taste of what we’re missing.
Another visitor from overseas was Aussie Kid Laroi. The 18-year-old is from New South Wales and was making his first visit to Europe. He’s sure to be a festival favourite.
When Becky Hill gave her set, she told the audience that her previous performance, back in 2019, had “changed my life”.
When 24-year-old Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid walked on stage, she became quite emotional as she was overwhelmed by the reception she received.
Reading’s main stages were packed as festivalgoers for the return of The Wombats and Two Door Cinema Club.
And the crowds lapped up Disclosure, with an army of phones raised high in the air with almost military precision for their performance. They really got people rocking.
Other acts performing included Jazmin Bean from The Pit. They are a non-binary British singer-songwriter based in London who identify as a ‘genderless monster’.
Over on the BBC Introducing stage, there was a debut for 19-year-old singer-songwriter Bonnie Kemplay. She had travelled all the way from Edinburgh to perform.
She had been named the UK’s top emerging musical talent after winning a spot performing on Radio 1’s Live lounge from more than 10,000 other entrants.
Judges included Sam Fender, who played Reading festival on Friday.
This was not only her first time playing at a festival, but also her first time attending a festival.
And headlining main stage east today was Post Malone.
He nailed it with his description of the return of the festival postcovid and the crowd turnout: “This is mindblowing”. Wargasm on the Lockup Stage