The grand return of Reading and Leeds Festival was always going to be a big moment. For many flooding through the gates, it’s not just their first event back post-lockdown, it’s their first event EVER. Fittingly, there’s a dizzy vitality that settles over the hallowed Richfield Avenue grounds of the festival – helped along by the two massive main stages that bookend the arena. Bigger festival means bigger highlights, and across the weekend Reading and Leeds provided us with plenty of those, and the quality didn’t falter across the board either. We’ve rounded up the best of the weekend: our highlights and hidden gems.
HIDDEN GEM: Calva Louise
The BBC Introducing stage saw some incredible sets over the weekend, but one of the most explosive came from Calva Louise. Fresh off the release of magnum opus LP EUPHORIC, Calva Louise stunned their crowd with a veritable onslaught of anthems, peaking with the raucous, classic Belicoso, which saw not a single pair of feet left on the ground.
HIGHLIGHT: Declan Mckenna
Declan Mckenna has been waiting for a year now to take Zeros on the road. The theatrical glamour of his ambitious metamorphosis has been waiting to be shared live, and Mckenna takes to the stage at Reading triumphantly. New cuts go down as fierce fan favourites – The Key To Life On Earth was made for a sunny festival crowd, and Be An Astronaut is built even bigger with Mckenna’s funky piano eruption during the bridge. This is the star Declan has been building himself into since the start, and he shines.
HIDDEN GEM: Blondes
Blondes open up the Festival Republic on Sunday – the only day that the stage is there, replacing the previous day’s Pit. And they do so with style, absolutely setting the tone for the day’s dreamy tunes, and at the same time, proving that they’re far more than that band with the TikTok song. That said, Coming of Age is a gorgeous moment – but the rest of the set more than lives up to it, and sees listeners swarming to sway around and swing t-shirts round their heads.
HIGHLIGHT: Ashnikko
Ashnikko IS the moment. Her star power resounds around the Pit on Saturday night, which is filled well over bursting point – this is its biggest crowd of the weekend. She may be a pit veteran, and by no means a breakthrough, but this is her triumphant crowning as alt queen of the scene, as thousands scream back the lyrics to Slumber Party, Stupid, Daisy… well, every song. Ashnikko is a performer, a rockstar, and a brilliant entertainer, flanked by two genital-ish teddy bears, and could easily take over the main stage in years to come – bring it on.
HIDDEN GEM: Maisie Peters
Maisie Peters’s early Friday set was quite literally, a hidden gem – the first of Reading’s famous surprise sets, and she delighted the audience with her sparkling tunes. She’s just released debut album You Signed Up For This, and her understated sonic shimmer was the perfect fit to kick off our weekend. As bubbly as her crowd was this year around, there’s no doubt she’s going to soar on from here. But what an inaugural set it was.
HIGHLIGHT: Wolf Alice
Everyone gathered to watch Wolf Alice on Sunday knows they’re about to watch one of the best acts of the weekend. The stunning Blue Weekend came out earlier this year, and has proved its power in today’s setlist – Play The Greatest Hits rivals fan fave mosh-pit bait, The Last Man On Earth might be the most gorgeous song we hear all weekend, How Can I Make It Okay? has everyone swaying along hazily. Ellie Rowsell’s enchanting stage presence remains unmatched, and Wolf Alice assert themselves as future headliners with grace.
HIDDEN GEM: Lauran Hibberd
Another BBC Introducing highlight, Lauran Hibberd’s grunge-pop goodness is immediately addictive, as loud as her lime-green tutu and utterly delightful. Jaunty guitar lines dance around with Lauran’s subtly cool vocal lines, and the smile barely leaves her face for the whole set – her cheer is infectious, and everyone in the crowd is as enthusiastic as can be.
HIGHLIGHT: Baby Queen
After a year of sharing dizzily cool singles in the leadup to new mixtape The Yearbook, Baby Queen has made a serious play for voice of a generation, without even trying, and her set at Reading’s Festival Republic stage on Sunday confirms that it’s a strong one. It feels like a party with your best friends all the way through, the most glittery and lighthearted kind of catharsis we’ve ever felt, and a formidable nod to Baby Queen’s future star power, which shines brightest in delightful highlight Want Me.
HIDDEN GEM: Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes
Hidden gem? Frank Carter, punk rock icon, crowds heaving to the Pit stage in anticipation of catching him, hidden? No, everyone knows how good Frank Carter is – which is why his surprise set on Friday is so electric. He’s done secret sets at Reading before, always to riotous responses, and today is no different – he tears through new cuts and old alike, mesmerises the crowd, whips them up into a fierce frenzy, careens around the stage belting like a one-man-megaphone. He’s one of the best performers on Reading’s line-up, and he nails it.
HIGHLIGHT: Liam Gallagher
Legend. Icon. Extraordinaire Liam Gallagher closes off Reading Festival in the best possible way – a giant, surreal singalong. Oasis tunes sit right alongside Liam faves like Wall of Glass, with lesser-hyped tunes pausing a much needed moment to breathe and revel in the last three days. He’s the definition of an incredible headliner, his nonchalance equally endearing and entertaining – and with a sea of people on shoulders, pints launched through the air, and thousands of voices belting out a classic in unison, Reading Fest is truly back.
Grab tickets for next year here.
