Saturday at Reading Festival: Lana Del Rey and Fred again..
The festival pushed against the non-stop wind.
Photo: Luke Dyson
With a line up that had my name written all over it, Saturday at Reading Festival highlighted just what is exciting about modern music in the UK right now.
The rain definitely didn’t dampen spirits at Richfield Ave and by the time American indie pop six-piece Bleachers took to the stage the sun was already shining down. Lead singer Jack Antonoff was full of energy and constantly engaging with the crowd with his quick wit: “Let’s blow the fucking sky off the sky”, radiating his high vibe before dropping the massive Chinatown.
After a quick scout out of the new festival layout, including the immersive Chevron and the Aux stage; which shows how much Reading still cements itself as one of the best festivals in the UK. Band of the moment, Irish post-punk veterans Fontaines D.C. swiftly followed after Bleachers and waltzed onto stage with such confidence after just dropping one of the most hotly-tipped albums of the year, Romance. With the band also donning some serious fits, this only just added to the whole package and immense interest that this five-piece currently have. Opening with the atmospheric and slightly eerie title track, the crowd were in the palm of frontman Grian’s hand and with their album only out for a matter of hours, the songs already made up most of the set.
Then it was onto the Radio 1 stage where yet another band who are on the cusp of something rather special treated us to a 45-minute set full of raw energy. Jacob Slater, the frontman and brains behind Wunderhorse, delighted the packed-out tent with his infectious and impressive voice control paired with his ownership of the stage. It’s no wonder that this grunge influenced four piece are on a high, with their hotly anticipated album Midas dropping at the end of this month.
Just as the sun was dropping in the sky and fresh off the back of his career-defining Glastonbury set, Scottish electronic music producer and DJ Barry Can’t Swim bought his instantly uplifting tunes to the new Chevron stage. A welcome break from all the guitar-based bands to just dance and take a moment to soak in all the incredible overhead lighting that sets the Chevron apart from the other stages. Barry’s set also saw his pal and Irish poet somedeadbeat take to the stage, who featured on one of his opening tracks (Deadbeat Gospel on his Mercury nominated When Will We Land?).
Back onto the main stage for the remainder of Saturday to see sets from the ethereal Lana Del Rey followed by the most talked about act of the day, headliner producer Fred Again..
There’s no denying that Lana has cemented herself to icon status, especially after being one to shy away from the festival circuit; she’s been seen across several European ones this year and puts on an unforgettable performance at each one. Whilst captivating the crowd with her sweet harmonies, Sonny Fodera’s set over at Chevron was radiating over Lana’s set, to which Lana did make light of joking about the Techno.
Closing the set with the iconic ballad that is Video Games, Lana’s set was beautifully cemented with a load of fireworks that created a moment for everyone.
A sea of people were already set in their places eagerly awaiting the most talked about producer of our time, Fred Again..; a name that has blown over the last few years and is moments away from headlining his first festival. The anticipation was felt right across the site as Fred began playing from a raised platform in the middle of the crowd, opening with Turn On The Lights again.. to uproarious screams. Making his way back onto stage for radio heavy Adore U and the uplifting Places To Be, which saw the whole crowd bouncing back against the backdrop of impressive visuals and lighting.
Sabrina (i am a party) followed with the voiceover visuals and doing what Fred does best, touches on emotive subjects that bring the importance of these topics to the forefront of every set that he delivers. With an impressive year that saw Fred take over arenas, colosseums and even down to intimate last-minute appearances at Strummerville (IYKYK) to quaint little pubs in Somerset: this year really was Fred’s year.
After his pinnacle set at The Other Stage back at Glastonbury in 2023, which saw the set end on the crowd chanting back that unforgettable line “My baby, then you put your loving arms around me”, Fred repeated this same effect much to the crowd’s delight. Second to last song Delilah saw Fred teasing with the crowd by extending the song and bringing in his right-hand man, Tony, to impress everyone with his own skills on the drum pad.
The headline set was closed with a new song that Fred has collaborated on with long-time friend and fellow DJ Joy Anonymous that he had the crowd learning early on and cleverly bought it back for the last track to have everyone yet again chanting back, creating a once in a lifetime moment for Fred and for Tony. That one hook I’ll let you take a piece of me, I hope you get the peace you need; those words created such a beautiful ending to one of the most moving sets I’ve witnessed to date. Fireworks adorned the sky once more and all the emotions were rolling as when you are with Fred you really feel like you are part of something unforgettable and that for me is what makes a knock out headliner.
