We had a brilliant time at the festival. It was the first time that we have had to wear wellies but the ground dried up reasonably for the end of the festival
We saw around 25 bands over the three days. The sets we enjoyed the most were from 3Oh!3, HADOUKEN!, Delphic, LCD Soundsystem and Foals. But we didn't find any new discoveries, unlike most festivals. We also only made it to the main stage once (what terrible sound quality. We will need to risk going closer to the front next time. But the beer & piss being thrown are serious deterrents for oldies like us). Thinking of oldies, there were plenty of them at the festival, more than we can remember. Perhaps it's the oldies with the money these days?
We had a surprisingly sociable festival too. Not only did we hang out, as usual, with Barrie & Suzie (seasoned rockers) but also met up with Steve the Office (so called to distinguish him from Steve the Rocket Scientist and Steve the Tax Exile) and also George, who texted us from out of the blue.
Real ale was for sale this time, an excellent innovation.
Bands seen this year, with the pithy Collins End summary:
Surfer Blood (a little clean cut and preppy)
New Young Pony Club (good fun but nothing special)
Summer Camp (don't bother. Sorry!)
Two Door Cinema Club (good fun, better live than expected)
The Big Pink (not really developed from last year. Great music apart from an ill judged slow number)
Delphic (absolutely cracking set, wonderful live)
Mumford & Sons (Americana fronted by a young Stephen Fry. But a few really good songs)
Alain Johnson (avoid. Sorry!)
Blood Red Shoes (a little ordinary)
Phoenix (good fun, they develop their songs well for a live performance)
LCD Soundsystem (absolutely fab.Shame the low turn out meant there wasn't much of an atmosphere. Aren't people fickle? It was only 2 years ago that they completely packed out the tent)
Band of Skulls (better than their name would suggest)
3Oh!3 (an excellent recommendation from Steve the Office. Catch them if you can)
HADOUKEN! (cracking set)
Kids in Glass Houses (well, we did manage a coupe of songs before we wandered off)
The Maccabees (set spoilt by dismal sound quality, and the knobheads around us)
The Cribs (good enough for us to pootle off in the middle of their set to seek out an Indian take away)
HEALTH (just about my favourite band. What a set! (but not in a good way...))
Holy Fuck (OK but rather dull & same-y. At least we managed to keep out of the rain)
The Drums (we loved the eccentric front man)
Metronomy (another rather good rocking set from Geoffrey's cousin. Curious lights.)
Kele (Reading wouldn't be Reading without an appearance from him)
Foals (a great set on which to finish out festival)
This only adds up to 23, but that's close enough.
Here's a piccie of B&S, early in the day. You would not want to see the photo of them taken later on.
Here's a photo of us, courtesy of B&S:
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