THE FIRST day of Reading Festival kicked off in a distinctly Western style, with a long hot summer leaving the grass dry and many attendees donning cowboy hats and boots in honour of one of the Friday headliners, Chappell Roan.
First among those to take to the stage was Good Health Good Wealth, who appeared typically louche style over on the Chevron Stage.
The London duo marked an immaculate start to proceedings with an understated but infectious energy.
Good Health Good Wealth mix down-and-dirty drum and bass with funk-infused danceable fayre, starting their set with one of their breakout hits, Guinness, before immediately dropping into the charmingly laconic Moonlight.
From there, the pair gave a quick-fire round-up of some of their most celebrated hits with Snatch, Eating Good, and You Don’t Know Me, followed by one of their latest singles, You Don’t Know Me.
They closed their set with last year’s Full Circle, having successfully set the tone for a day which would see wall-to-wall highlights.
Meanwhile over on the Main Stage Alessi Rose brought excited, affable energy as she began a set full of assured and earnest songs.
As the day’s heat started to take hold, Rose mixed country and rock influences with a modern millennial sensibility and an effervescent yet approachable style.
Rose expressed her gratitude for having been catapulted to the Main Stage after appearing at the BBC Introducing stage last year, marking one of the fastest climbs up the billing to date.
Shout-along hits Same Mouth and That Could Be Me were interspersed with more introspective tracks such as Voyeur, before she closed out the set with Oh My and Pretty World.
Rose is now heading out on her headline European tour next week, before returning to the UK in November.
Elsewhere, Phoebe Green took to the BBC Introducing stage in typically understated style, bringing synthy, 80’s-infused chamber-pop.
She kicked off with Precious Things, swiftly followed by 2022’s So Grown Up and new track I Could Try To Change.
Her assured set layered a cut-glass vocal over an accomplished musical performance.
She closed out with IDK, which was among the songs included in Season 4 of BBC’s Killing Eve and one of the tracks which brought Green to even wider critical acclaim.
Green expressed her joy at performing on the stage and remarked that the festival had been one of the first she’d attended.
Back at the Chevron Stage, Still Woozy made a rare UK appearance, perfectly combining high-energy, boisterous pop sensibilities and chill-hop influences.
He kicked off his set with exuberant energy, which only increased with fan-favourites like Again, Window, and Shaking Me Up, flanked by large blue flowers and spaced-out, psychedelic staging.
Still Woozy joined the crowd mid-way through, as a giant inflatable Moomin-esque creature grew in place on stage, before the set concluded with the undeniably infectious track Cooks.
Anticipation reached fever pitch as The Kooks brought sunny, indie anthems to the Main Stage while the likes of Overpass and The Linda Lindas brought assured yet outrageous rock to the BBC Introducing and Festival Republic stages respectively.
Before long, Chappell Roan took to the Main Stage, which was adorned with a deep green fairytale castle, and in a foreboding orchestral flurry.
As green, feline, disembodied eyes hovered overhead, Roan appeared in a wave of synth and tech and kicked into Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl.
With her usual showmanship, Roan was dressed in an extravagant velveteen dress, knee-length boots, and a net veil complimenting her now-iconic, trademark white make-up.
Despite her reputation for irresistible pop, Roan brought an almost acidic edge to her set, with songs like Naked In Manhattan and Casual taking on decidedly rocky renditions.
She also played one of her newer, more emotional tracks, The Subway, before kicking into the song which catapulted her to mega-stardom, Hot To Go.
She followed up swiftly with Picture You, donning a sultry, Gothic corset, and then the country hit The Giver.
As her set began to approach its end, Roan brought the crowd to a fever pitch with hits like Good Luck, Babe! and My Kink is Karma–noting that an ex of hers was in the crowd– as the sun set on Reading.
She closed out her set with the ubiquitous Pink Pony Club in a flurry of guitar and cheers.
Elsewhere, Mannequin P*ssy brought irreverent, edgy rock to the Festival Republic stage while AJ Tracey brought consummate grime to the Chevron Stage.
As Hozier performed soulful, introspective folk and blues in his headline slot on the Main Stage, Australian punk outfit The Chats tore up the Festival Republic stage with their signature brand of angsty ‘shed’ rock, closing out the first day of the festival with attitude and aplomb
