Reading Festival?
- Thread starter Threshers_Flail
- Start date
The_Reverend_M
More bass, vicar?
RATM were magnificent 
Just about to leave for Reading only to find that Slipknot have pulled out.
is that bad thing? Is it really?
stupid kid
...
They still do it, but I heard far fewer explosions this year compared to the last few. Might be something to do with the festival organisers putting up nasty pictures of shrapnel damage (wonder if they're real) on after every band on the main stage.
ETA: This was my seventh straight year, and without doubt my last. I was in a queue for tickets (for a mate, I had mine) FOR ELEVEN FUCKING HOURS and at 8pm I was near the front of the queue with people who'd been there for less than four hours, I don't blame them for pushing but the organisers fucked up big time. At about 5pm and after I'd seen at least three people faint, the organisers handed out about 30 bottles of water to a queue with at least 1,000 people in it.
Aside from the queueing bullshit, the random parties of doing stupid things until stupid o' clock (limbo, free hugs, random singing crusades all over the campsite) just don't capture my interest any more and I don't even bother looking for a kiss/fuck/tickle fight at the festival because probably three quarters of the people there are under 18.
There was one stupid game that I stayed around to watch, because it was so simultaneously funny yet disgusting. At Reaper Bridge about 40 or 50 people would make a human tunnel that appeared to lead across the bridge (which was packed with people watching). Anyway, long story short, it actually lead the poor participants head first into a stream of piss. I watched at least 15 people run into it.
As for Slipknot, wtf, they wear masks ffs, get a session musician in, who'd know the difference? I'm sure Lars or someone from one of the other bands would have loved a crack at it.
Bob_the_lost
Elsewhere
My other half was at Reading and was complaining about the explosions, fires and twats attacking fire engines on the last night (there were fires every night but more yesterday apparently).
stupid kid
...
It's always much worse on the sunday. People throw leftover batteries and used gas canisters onto fires. The security were really cracking down on big fires this year, I saw some wandering around with 5 litre bottles of water.
ETA: Oh and as for my other impressions of the festival, I've never known so many people to go round just openly asking for drugs. And not just weed, but also E, Ket, Coke and LSD.
TrippyLondoner
Well-Known Member
^ Wow! I never liked the reading festival, hate it even more after hearing all that.
Balbi
Hey, Dean Yager!
I recall Monday morning being quite bad and all.
One year we were packing up and some bastards had scarpered after piling all their tents, rubbish and deoderant cans on the fire.
We were sat waiting for our mates when a security lady with an extinguisher came to put it out.
"How many are on there do you reckon?" she asked us.
We all said five, just as there was a huge bang of another going. And all of us chorused, "four!".
She wasn't impressed. But we were proper pissed
One year we were packing up and some bastards had scarpered after piling all their tents, rubbish and deoderant cans on the fire.
We were sat waiting for our mates when a security lady with an extinguisher came to put it out.
"How many are on there do you reckon?" she asked us.
We all said five, just as there was a huge bang of another going. And all of us chorused, "four!".
She wasn't impressed. But we were proper pissed
Threshers_Flail
Well-Known Member
I didn't bother in the end, doubt i missed much. Seeing Jeffrey Lewis this September so that's further justification why not to go. Even though I'm of the usual age of the usual Reading audience, I just can't stand drunken twats. Attacking fire engines ffs. 
Dead Cat Bounce
A member of the Waffle elite.
I found this one to be cleanest, safest one that I've been too.
Granted, we were camping right at the back in Orange but still I saw no major problems when stumbling back to my tent at two in the morning.
The ten pence refund for every empty paper beer container / free beer for every sack of recycled cans cut down on the litter around the site.
Highlight of the weekend? Seasick Steve and Dizzee Rascal.
Granted, we were camping right at the back in Orange but still I saw no major problems when stumbling back to my tent at two in the morning.
The ten pence refund for every empty paper beer container / free beer for every sack of recycled cans cut down on the litter around the site.
Highlight of the weekend? Seasick Steve and Dizzee Rascal.
stupid kid
...
Dizzie and Lethal were definately the highlights of the weekend for me, along with Flogging Molly who are just always great.
grogwilton
Well-Known Member
RATM were good. as were dizzee and seasick steve.
As for the sunday night carnage if you camp in orange or avoid the roadsides in the rest of the camp your stuff is not going to get burnt, in my experience tents only get burnt around fires which have been built up massively already.
As for how commercial the event is, I think this was slightly better this year with Carling having pissed off and workers beer running the bars.
Will still probably be my last Reading though as I had to queue for 13 hours on wednesday for tickets with my girlfriend witn no opportunity to get food, water, take a piss or even sit down. Also I cant really be arsed to afford the £180 when there are increasingly less bands I want to go see, only really went this year to see Rage.
As for the sunday night carnage if you camp in orange or avoid the roadsides in the rest of the camp your stuff is not going to get burnt, in my experience tents only get burnt around fires which have been built up massively already.
As for how commercial the event is, I think this was slightly better this year with Carling having pissed off and workers beer running the bars.
Will still probably be my last Reading though as I had to queue for 13 hours on wednesday for tickets with my girlfriend witn no opportunity to get food, water, take a piss or even sit down. Also I cant really be arsed to afford the £180 when there are increasingly less bands I want to go see, only really went this year to see Rage.
Went past the site on a train back from Wales this afternoon, the site looked fairly litterfilled to the point of disgusting actually??
Is there not an afterpick?
Presumably it wasn't an absolute mudbath? The site looked quite dry
...stupid kid
...
Went past the site on a train back from Wales this afternoon, the site looked fairly litterfilled to the point of disgusting actually??
Is there not an afterpick?
There is, I've got a few mates who were down there doing it. IMO for anyone to describe the site as clean is crazy. I know there have been efforts to get people to recycle over the past few years, but I thought Download and V were much cleaner when I went to those fests.
Dead Cat Bounce
A member of the Waffle elite.
Went past the site on a train back from Wales this afternoon, the site looked fairly litterfilled to the point of disgusting actually??
Is there not an afterpick?
Presumably it wasn't an absolute mudbath? The site looked quite dry
Any festival that attracts 70,000 or however many it was is never going to be spotless but compared to when I've been before it was much, much better.
Memories of Reading always included piles of discarded beer cups on fire of an evening, this year with the ten pence refund per cup I can't recall seeing a single fire in the arena.
As for the mud I was expecting the worst, it got a bit muddy with the rain in the early hours of Sunday morning but nothing that a pair of ten year old Doctor Martins couldn't handle.
I went to D/load for the full weekend, and will defo go next year. Much better atmosphere, and this from a dedicated metal festival, where after the troubles at Reading, you would expect d/load to be utter carnage.
After reading tales of "angry mobs" and seeing stuff on youtube from Reading this year, just re-affirms my choice to never go for the full weekend, or ever camp in general, again. I personally camped overnight in Guest, but on Sunday you just know it's going to go off in the general camps, which it did.
