Reading Festival - Day One

Paramore's Hayley Williams..pic by Marc Sethi

IT'S not often you get joint headliners so different from one another as we did on Friday night.

Paramore were up first - upbeat, young, fresh, vibrant. Then it was Queens of the Stone Age - slower, older, cooler and more laid back.

But it worked.

Delayed by motorway traffic and the nonsense of having to park a half hour's march (at best) away from the festival site, RealSoundsOK arrives too late to see Mallory Knox on the NME stage- the first 'must see' band of the weekend.

The wonders of modern technology have now allowed me to watch a cracking set. But it would've been great to be there. And so our first band of the day are Twin Atlantic, who do just the job of getting me back in the mood with poppy-rock offerings.

We also took in a bit of Jimmy Eat World on the Main stage, but not enough to write home (or to you) about. 

We're back there soon enough though for Enter Shikari who are an early highlight. Although the setlist was missing a few of my personal favourites, the likes of Sorry, You're Not A Winner had the crowd bouncing.

There were a few confused faces as frontman Rou Reynolds later paid tribute to the NHS - mainly among those who miss the band's political messages in song - but the band were very well received.

Enter Shikari's Rou takes a jump...pic by Joshua Halling

But after a highlight came something of a lowlight. Aside from A-punk and Holiday, I don't know many Vampire Weekend tracks but was open to hearing a much-praised band. However, as much as I wanted to like them, the music was just too laid back and - to be honest - I got bored.

And so I was looking forward to being geed up by pop-rockers Paramore at the business end of the day. Having seen them play at Wembley Arena a few months before, I knew what to expect - and they delivered, despite the sounds troubles thrown at them.

Kicking off with the incredibly girly Still Into You, they followed with classics like That's What You Get, Ignorance and Decode before the troubles set in. About to slow things down, Hayley Williams' mic went midway through one of her passionate speeches to fans. 

She looked miffed as the boos rang out - against the silence, not her - before she was informed of the cut.

Long story short, she was handed the only working mic and began to sing The Only Exception to all intents and purposes a cappella. She was accompanied by acoustic guitar and bass, which the crowd only started to hear halfway through the track. The drums and other guitars coming in late on actually made for a perfectly framed performance and the whole experience showed what a class frontwoman Williams is.

With the sound back up, albeit substandard, they continued with the likes of Brick By Boring Brick, Misery Business (with fan help as per) before finishing with Proof and Aint It Fun.

There were no such problems for Queens Of The Stone Age - even if the start was a little underwhelming.

Queens Of The Stone Age close the day...pic by Marc Sethi

They kicked off with You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire, a track screamed brilliantly on their Songs For The Deaf album by former bassist Nick Oliveri. But the track sounded gound, the vocals didn't transfer well to Josh Homme's mumbled style.

But that feeling of disappointed was soon smashed away as Homme came up trumps with No One Knows, My God Is The Sun and Burn The Witch.

While Homme's fan interaction wasn't a patch on the talky Hayley Williams before him, the bands superb catalogue made up for it. Little Sister, Feel Good Hit Of The Summer, The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret, I Sat By The Ocean and Make It Wit Chu all followed before they finished with Go With The Flow and Songs For The Dead. What a finish to the day.

QOTSA and Paramore to co-headline at Reading and Leeds

Queens Of The Stone Age

READING and Leeds Festival bods have announced their final headliner - and there's two of them.

Queens Of The Stone Age and Paramore will co-headline the main stages - with the latter making their only UK performance of 2014.

The announcement comes with a great big bundle of other names added to the bill - and here are some of the highlights.

Trotting out on the Main Stage over the August bank holiday weekend will be Vampire Weekend, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Imagine Dragons, Foster The People, Deaf Havana, Enter Shikari, Jimmy Eat World, The Hives, A Day To Remember and Sleeping With Sirens.

Paramore

Making their R&L debut, Sirens frontman Kellin Quinn said: "We feel very honored to be a part of such a legendary festival - we're playing nothing but the bangers, so come out and yell every word with us! Can't wait to blow the roof off!"

Did no one tell him it's outdoors?

Anyway, over on the NME/Radio 1 Stage, Bombay Bicycle Club return alongside the likes of Chvrches, Clean Bandit, Temples, Drenge, Don Broco and Cage The Elephant.

And across the festival there will be performances from Klaxons, David Rodigan MBE, Lower Than Atlantis, Boys Noize, Danny Brown, Eagulls, The Fat White Family and many more. 

For a full line-up and ticketing details, visit readingfestival.com or leedsfestival.com

Paramore storm it at Wembley

I GOT lucky the other week and won tickets from Kerrang Radio to see Paramore at Wembley Arena, so thought I'd take the opportunity to give you guys a little review of the gig.

I took my 12-year-old son along for his first proper concert and we got there in time to see both supporting acts. First up was the oddly-named Eliza And The Bear, a London-based band who feature five guys none of which are called Eliza.

It's a jaunty warm up to get the crowd going and they play a handful of tracks that come across as a mixture of Mumford & Sons and Two Door Cinema Club, but with added youthful exuberance. Sort of like The Coral in their early pomp but less surreal. Their songs, though rather forgettable, do the job at the time and get the crowd bouncing.

Next up is Charli XCX, who regrettably fails to really connect with the audience. Her voice is obviously decent, but she shouts too much and isn't helped but what seems like a sub-standard sound system. Charli also seems to put too much effort into coming across as "hardcore" when she's an out-and-out pop act.
Her biggest reception comes from the hit I Love It, which she wrote and featured on when it became a world-wide smash for Swedish synthpop duo Icona Pop. Other than that, it was just polite cheers for her songs and screams when she mentioned Paramore.

But if Charli brought the enjoyment down a little, it was soon up again. Paramore have a hardcore following of fans and could've just stood on the stage picking their noses and got an amazing reaction. Fortunately, they opt for singing and we all have a good time.

They kick off with Grow Up, followed by Fast In My Car and That's What You Get before really cranking up the scream factor with Decode and then Ignorance. The original trio that remain - Hayley Williams, Jeremy Davis and Taylor York - are full of energy, leaping around, running from stage left to right and making sure the crowd get plenty of face-time. Williams is superb at working the crowd, making sure the "connection" is there and it is clear they are all putting in a shift. Behind them are two more guitarists and the drummer, however, who sit in situ throughout. I would guess they wouldn't mind a run around too.

The songs continue as Now is followed by a few slower tracks and interludes before Hayley and the boys build it back up with Brick By Boring Brick and Crushcrushcrush. But it's with Misery Business - their 18th track of the night so far - that the band seal this as a night to remember.

Mid-way through after a bit of crowd sing-along, Williams stops the song and pulls a fan up from the audience to sing along with her. An excitable Sue - complete with backpack and homemade sign - is the lucky fan and everyone sings along wishing they were up there in her place hugging the sweaty little lead singer.

They go off stage after that but there's little surprise to see them back after some calls for some Paramore-more-more. They re-emerge with Part II, follow that with a little interlude before bringing the house to a climax with Still Into You.

I've been a fan of Paramore's music for some time although as a man in my mid-30s it's not something I think I'm meant to admit. I mean, it's for teenage girls isn't it? Still, in the words of Charli XCX, I don't care. It was a really fun show that didn't take itself too seriously with a band that had a connection with its audience and seemed to enjoy and appreciate them being there. Other so-called big bands I've seen live have barely said "hello" to the audience.

Williams - despite her small frame - is a real powerhouse, who controls and conducts the whole evening, really seals the deal. A top front-person. And a great show.