If we tried to write a definitive list of every highlight from Reading 2023, we’d be here all day.
And, as much as we’d love to, we don’t have time for that. Journalism doesn’t pay what it used to and we’ve got things to do. Still, that hasn’t stopped us from putting together this – a nearly definitive list of all of our favourite acts from across the (rather stellar) weekend. Because we’re just nice like that.
Sam Fender
Reader, we’re just going to come out and say it: the defacto King Of The North’s Reading headline set was one for the ages. Over the course of a little over an hour, Fender blasted out a flurry of future indie disco classics at a rate few could match, delivered with gusto by a man many are hailing as the voice of a generation.
He might only be 29 years old, but this North Shields native performs with the same quiet self-assurance a man twice his age would do well to wear; if he doesn’t headline Glastonbury within the next five years, there’s something wrong with this world.
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The 1975
You may love them, or you may hate them – but you can’t deny that The 1975 are good. They’re good at penning the kind of instantaneous pop song that’s guaranteed to make any listener in the near vicinity tap their foot and attempt to mumble along by the time the second chorus hits. They’re good at performing these songs live, too; frontman Matty Healy prowls the stage like a man possessed, while the iron-clad rhythm section of Ross MacDonald and George Daniel lay a rock-solid foundation for guitarist Adam Hann’s slinky indie-pop riffs.
And, it turns out that they’re also quite good at inspiring a cultish devotion amongst a Reading crowd who had barely hit secondary school age when The 1975 released the eponymous album that they perform in full at Reading 2023. A last-minute addition to the bill after Lewis Capaldi was forced to pull out for health reasons – get well soon, Lewis x – The 1975 might just have solidified their position as the best band on the planet by the time they scooted out of Berkshire on that fateful night.
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Imagine Dragons
Presenting a different kind of bombast – and a genuinely heartfelt message of inclusivity and self-love – on the Sunday night, Imagine Dragons were the textbook example of the ‘Wait, this song was them?!’ band. Demons, Bones, It’s Time, and I’m So Sorry warmed the crowd up, before a closing one-two of Radioactive and Walking The Wire left them floored with an ambush of pyrotechnics and stadium-sized showmanship. Majestic.
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Nothing But Thieves
We think that Nothing But Thieves frontman Conor Mason’s voice could be the key to world peace. After all, we defy anybody – left, right, or centre – to listen to thirty seconds of his Jeff Buckley-esque-but-still-slightly-gutteral vocals and not admit that he might just be the best rock singer of his generation.
The Essex natives powered through a short but sweet set, and it was Impossible that was the highlight: a soaring, anthemic, and all-encompassing stadium rock song that was built to cater to crowds exactly like these.
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Wet Leg
We really, really wanted to love Wet Leg. We really did. So let’s leave it at that.
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Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish is remarkable, really, isn’t she? In another world, 21-year-old singer, songwriter, and producer should be joining the slew of recent graduates who are gazing up at her from the fields of Reading; but instead, she’s headlining the main stage with the kind of command and self-assurance that only comes from having written a career’s worth of top-tier pop bangers by the time you reach your twenties.
If you asked us for our highlights, we’d probably say Bad Guy – after all, it is an absolute belter of a pop song. However, the real highlight is probably seeing a young, female artist command a stage that size with confidence, and doing it with a look on her face that suggests she might – just might – be having the time of her life while doing so. Now, do excuse us while we turn One on One into a Billie Eilish fan page.
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Foals
Ah, Foals. What’s not to love about Foals? A band who’ve been going for ages, stepping up to the mark to finally headline – not co-headline – Reading after spending about ten years being more than ready for it. And deliver, they did – armed with the best light show of the weekend and enough bangers to rival your local butcher’s window, Yannis Philippakis and co. delivered the kind of headline set that would’ve made at least a few kids in the crowd pick up that dusty, discarded guitar as soon as they got home from the festival. And if that isn’t a legacy for a band, then we’re not sure what is.
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Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls might just be the best live act in the country. Sure, they might’ve been tucked away at the bottom of the consolidated Main Stages’ billing – and yet, they somehow managed to unite a festival crowd to the extent whereby they formed a bloody circle pit at a time when most revellers were still trying to shake off the previous night’s hangover. Bravo, Mr. Turner – bravo indeed.