There’s a simple reason why Reading Festival is considered to be a hallowed ground by the indie, rock, and alternative communities.
It’s simple, really. It’s because it’s one of the best festivals on the planet. After all, what’s not to love? Anyone who’s seen this year’s line-up will know that it’s ridiculously stacked – so much so, in fact, that we’d forgive any festive-goer for being slightly stumped when they’re asked to pick their highlights from the festival. Between the sheer volume of world-class artists on offer, the clash-beating sprints through the fields, and copious quantities of cider, it’s no wonder that some Reading Festival attendees’ memories of the event can end up being a little… Well, hazy.
Fortunately, your good friends at One on One have you covered. Not only did we spend a weekend running around the fields of Richfield Avenue, but we also kept a careful note of who our highlights of the weekend were, for the sole purpose of compiling them into a handy list for the reading pleasure of you, the glorious readers of One on One.
So, without further ado, here are a few of our picks from the weekend…
Arctic Monkeys
We don’t care if you ‘preferred their older stuff’ – if you didn’t enjoy Arctic Monkeys’ set at Reading 2022, there’s probably something wrong with you. They’re one of the biggest (and best) British bands of the last twenty years, and they spent close to two hours proving why on the Saturday night of Reading Festival 2022.
From a sucker-punching opening combo of Do I Wanna Know?, Brianstorm, and Snap Out Of It to a closing pairing of Arabella and R U Mine?, the Yorkshire stalwarts rattled through a setlist of indie disco staples and Actually Rather Good When You Hear It Live recent cuts, with the end result being one of the best festival headline sets we’ve seen in a long time.
They weren’t, however, the best act of the weekend. Instead, that honour goes to…
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The 1975
Yes, it’s your friends and ours, The 1975.
Not only did they return to headline Reading for a second – second! – time, but they did it on the shortest of notices after the legendary Rage Against The Machine pulled out. Oh, and they had to follow Arctic Monkeys’ set from the night before. Not, if we do say so ourselves, the easiest of tasks.
However, when we say that Matty Healy and co. more that rose to the occasion, we’re dramatically underselling it. Reader, they were fantastic. Over the course of their four-album discography, they’ve crafted a sound that’s at once both timeless and inherently contemporary; and, in the form of Healy, they’ve got a frontman as natural as any of the Grohls and Gallaghers that have graced this stage before him. Not only did they lay claim to the title of The Best Band In Britain, but they made a solid case for why they might – just might – be the best band on the planet right now.
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Dave
If anyone deserves to be headlining a UK festival in 2022, it’s Dave. Not only is the 24-year-old the youngest of this year’s six headliners, but he’s also done more for his genre than most. Watch the video below and tell us that you can’t see what it means to him.
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Bastille
And yet, there’s always a space at Reading for a festival mainstay. Bastille have been playing Main Stages for the last decade, and it shows – their set at Reading 2022 was a masterclass in how to deliver a hit-heavy, energetic, and bombastic festival set, and one that’s guaranteed to draw in even the most reluctant of passers-by. One on One fears that it might need to get the refrain to Pompeii surgically removed from its frontal lobe at this point – but by God, is it worth it.
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Charli XCX
If it was bangers galore you wanted from Ms. XCX, then you won’t have left this set disappointed. Over the course of her forty-five-minutes, Charli XCX casually dropped a flurry of world-class pop bops, danced around like a woman possessed, and ‘covered’ the Icona Pop classic that made her name, and even found the time to squeeze in a track that interpolates the chorus to Cry For You by September. What a woman, and what a pop star.
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Wolf Alice
And then, on the other end of the scale, you had Wolf Alice. That’s not to say that they brought any less energy to the Main Stage East on the Saturday evening – if anything, front-woman Ellie Rowsell seemed hell-bent on covering each and every inch of the stage by the end of their set. It’s just that you probably wouldn’t see Charli XCX snarling her way through a guitar solo before launching into a song about being slightly overwhelmed by the grandeur of a Los Angeles house party.
But let’s put the snide remarks aside, for once and once only – for this needs to be said. Wolf Alice’s set at Reading 2022 was was absolutely fantastic. And, if Wolf Alice aren’t headlining festivals like this within the next ten years, it’ll be a sorry shame.
There. That’s that done. Now, where were we?
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DMA’S
God bless DMA’S. They’ve spent the last few years growing a catalogue that’s half boisterous indie-rock, half sickly-sweet acoustic ballads, and we think that they’re pretty bloody good at both. Plus, we’ve always had a soft spot for a band whose lead singer gives off the vibe of someone who could lull you to sleep with a lullaby, but then knock you out with one punch if that lullaby didn’t work.
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Bring Me The Horizon
Well, we couldn’t not include Bring Me The Horizon in this, could we?
Their Reading Festival set simultaneously felt like both a homecoming and a statement of intent. When we say that they brought everything to the party, we really do mean everything. For the Reading purists, there were heavy rock riffs aplenty; for the pop kids, there were arena-ready cuts from their last two albums to bellow along to; and for the apathetic, there was even a cameo from Ed bloody Sheeran.
If Bring Me The Horizon’s aim was to solidify themselves as festival headliners for many years to come, then we don’t see what more they could’ve done. We’re sorry, haters, but they’ve done it.
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