After two days of great music, the last day had a lot to live up to. I started the day at the BBC Introducing Stage to mix things up. Daydreamers took to the stage with their youthful pop to a surprisingly large crowd. The light-hearted songs were very reminiscent of The 1975, with the charismatic frontman, powerful drums and bass lines, and the 80s-style guitar accompaniment. There was a good mixture of songs some of the crowd knew, and their new single which despite having a slower beat, was very well received. It is clear that this band are headed for good things as they were naturals on the stage and the crowd loved every second.
Daydreamers @ Reading Festival 2024
It seemed that the entire Daydreamers crowd wandered over to the Festival Republic tent to watch Bradley Simpson, previously part of The Vamps, take to the stage. The tent was full and excited to see this soloist perform. While the crowd was very different to what had been at this stage on previous days, they were still ready to sing their hearts out, and that opportunity came when Bradley Simpson opened with Cry At The Moon. As his band moved through songs with a confident familiarity with the stage, the crowd jumped and cheered. There was a light-heartedness to this set with the cover of Whitney Houston classic I Wanna Dance With Somebody drawing many in. Each song was received excitedly and perfectly highlighted those catchy pop earworms that we have come to love.
Paris Paloma again followed this pop/indie theme of the Festival Republic Stage, meaning the crowd were staying put. This set was well put together and there is no denying that Paloma’s voice is beautiful, however in the grand scheme of the weekend, it seems an odd choice for this stage, that is usually known to host more punk, rock, and alternative musicians. Nevertheless, Paloma delivered a strong set, finishing with the hit song Labour that had all women in the crowd singing their hearts out to this feminist anthem.
I, like many others, waited at the main stage to see the sensation that is Renee Rapp. Many people in this crowd had missed the chance to see her on tour and had come to Reading Festival this year solely to see this performance, so you can imagine the excitement spreading through the crowd as her band started playing. However, it very quickly became apparent that something was wrong, as Renee was seen singing her heart out on the screens, but all the crowd heard was the drums. It took an unnecessary amount of time for the sound team and the band to realise this error and Rapp was taken off stage. After several minutes hope returned as Rapp and her band walked on stage and restarted Talk Too Much. All seemed well as Poison Poison blasted out to the crowd and Renee Rapp bounced around the stage. It was only when water started pouring from the top right-hand side of the stage that the music once again stopped. The crowd was stunned as a drenched band was taken off stage and the tech team flew around with an abundance of towels. At this point you couldn’t help but think Renee Rapp couldn’t catch a break – and we were correct. Although the band returned and tried to perform Not My Fault, the water once again drowned the stage, frying even more of the team’s equipment, and it was at that point the band left the stage for good. It is a real shame as there was such excitement for this performance and it seems that this was not Renee Rapp’s day.
After the disastrous Renee Rapp set, I turned back to the Festival Republic Stage to watch Only The Poets perform a highly anticipated set. This band have come a long way since they performed on the BBC Introducing Stage at last year’s Reading Festival, and it shows. They drew in a big crowd, possibly because they announced that this was the last time they would be performing some of their better-known songs before they change to a newer sound. They started strong with JUMP!, a song guaranteed to get the crowd going. As the set went on, the band flying through their well-known tracks like One More Night and Miserable, more and more people were drawn to the tent to see what this band were all about. Frontman Tommy Longhurst is known by fans to be wild on stage, throwing himself around and giving a powerful performance and this time was no different. After a fun and fast set, the band finished up with Emotional, dedicated to the popular Reading bar The Purple Turtle, ending strong and leaving us looking forward to what’s next for this band.
Back at the BBC Introducing Stage we saw Venus Grrrls start with a bang. The audience were met with loud, ’80s glam performers who wanted to give us a show. The set was clean and strong with the lead singer Grace Kelly wowing the crowd with her vocals that flipped between whimsically light to powerful belts while the band showed just how good all girl rock bands can be.
Finally, it was time for the act that everyone had been waiting for. Looking out over the main stage crowd there was a wave of bucket hats and parkas as people eagerly awaited Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher. The opportunity to hear the Britpop era-defining Definitely Maybe LP played in its entirety had the crowd positively buzzing and Liam did not disappoint. At the opening notes of Rock ‘N’ Roll Star a roar ripped through the crowd, and it set the tone for the rest of the evening. Performing in his classic Mancunian drawl, Gallagher junior dedicated several songs to a variety of different causes, from Shakermaker being dedicated to Sheikh Mansour, to Digsy’s Dinner being dedicated to “all the vegetarians”. Every song hit home and made the crowd long for the reunion of old-school Oasis, with Liam even dedicating Half The World Away to “the greatest songwriter ever, Noel f**king Gallagher”. Little did we know that this wasn’t too far fetched as the set ended with the date ‘27.8.24. 8am’ mysteriously hovering on the screens, a date we now know announced the reformation of Oasis for a 2025 tour. The entire set felt like the perfect ending to a weekend of crazy, powerful, and fun music that reminded avid festival goers that even though Reading Festival may change over time, the echoes of the rock, punk, messy festival that it was many moons ago still remains.
Review of Sunday at Reading Festival 2024 by Louise Warby, photos by Nick Allan.
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