Reading Festival 2017 - Saturday

Kicking off our Saturday we headed out to the NME stage for Inheaven, an exciting new band with a genuine talent - their self-titled debut album is due out on 1st September.

We were treated to a genre-defying mix of indie, grungy-rock, and melody with a bite to it. The rebellious 'Baby's Alright' was written before Trump’s election – but it seems particularly potent now; “Bombs will drop and the world will shake / Don't believe a word they say / Pull the trigger now or face your fate / In a messed up place where hate breeds hate.” 

'Regeneration''s fuzzy noise rock with shouted anthemic vocals were nostalgic and cinematic while their newest track ‘Stupid Things’ out this week takes you to a more Americana alt rock place. The band explain: “‘Stupid Things’ is a song for daydreamers. It’s about a love that exists outside of reality, it’s a romanticism you’ve created in your own head - but in the real world you have never even spoken to this person you think you know so well. It’s a school crush that feels like it will last forever. And it’s our very own coming of age soundtrack.”

Next on the NME stage were Marmozets - a set we had been looking forward to as had not yet experienced them live and we in no way were we let down in the slightest.

As the opening track 'Move, Shake, Hide' roared out singer Becca's stage presence oozed charisma and attitude in boundless amounts.

As a band made of two sets of siblings they gel well together and there was absolutely no let-up throughout the set by the whole band, their brilliant angsty brand of punk-laden hardcore, went down really well with the crowd.  

With alt-math leanings and raucous guitars underpinned by driving drums, not to mention Becca's incredible talent for switching from vicious gravel to melodic sugar in a split second this was a great show topped off by the ending full of furious energy that is 'Why Do You Hate Me?'.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes gave their usual high energy show with great crowd interaction. Frank did his usual bit encouraging the ladies to crowd surf saying they should feel comfortable and if they had any men giving them trouble he'd "bite their f**king head off and give it to my dog as a chew toy". It is a great sentiment including all the audience and he was clearly humbly proud to be in the influential position he has earned.

Frank dedicated "Lullaby" to his daughter who was watching from side of stage, blowing her kisses and waving throughout the set. With the set ending on the angry and to the point “I hate you” it was an all round highly entertaining and uplifting show.

Next up we headed over to the Festival Republic stage for Canada's Japandroids, check out the pics here!

Saturday's headliner Eminem is consistently seen as one of the greatest rappers of all time, not only a titan in hip-hop but in modern culture itself. One of the biggest selling artists of the 21st century, his razor-sharp wit and impeccable larger than life anthems continue to defy boundaries, with the likes of ‘Lose Yourself’ and ‘My Name Is’ no matter what your core music tastes this was a sight to be seen.

There was plenty of banter, Eminem paused to tell the audience that he was "not going to name names, but I f**king hate Donald Trump" and instigated a massive chant of 'F**k / Trump'. The set also had plenty to look at, visually staged like a massive boom box and with intense burning city projections through 'Lose Yourself'. He ended the set saying "thanks for making us feel at home ... lets end it like this" with both middle fingers held proudly aloft.

Headlining the Festival Republic stage were The Black Lips. From garage punk to fuzzy rock and roll riffs the set was bluesy, psychy with a retro vibe and the highlight for us 'Can't Hold On'. Despite some technical difficulties early on they gave a great performance and left us pepped ready for the final day of the festival.