HOMETOWN band The Amazons wasted no time when they kicked off Sunday’s proceedings at Reading Festival’s Main Stage East, turning it up to 11 from the off.
The stage was adorned with a Royals scarf, a signal of the band’s strong connections with the club, and the Ding.
During the set, lead vocalist Matt Thomson said: “It feels so good to be home, it’s a dream come true – thank you for joining us.”
For those who miss the days of Reading Rock Festival of old, The Amazons are a welcome reprieve, bringing quintessential guitar-driven rock which was undoubtedly influenced by the festival itself.
Perhaps it is not so unusual that artists who are self-admittedly shaped by Reading Festival should be such a perfect fit for it.
As such, seeing the band look so at home on the stage is evidence that they are not here by chance, but on their own merits.
A particularly touching inclusion was the word HOME, which was emblazoned across the back of the stage as they played the most gargantuan of their hits, Black Magic, to close the set.
May the band call the festival home for a long time, and – as all good sons should – visit often.
Hot Milk was next up on Main Stage West, who, after some sound issues right at the outset, quickly restarted in their full snarling glory, kicking into Party On My Deathbed.
Adorned with a cream flying V guitar, lead vocalist Hannah Mee brought boundless energy, flanked by the equally arresting Jim Shaw, before slowing things down for Glass Spiders, which features thumping emo-punk, screamo vocals, characteristic thrashing guitars, and mile-a-minute tempo through a wave of distortion and strings.
Addressing the audience, Hannah said: “We’re going to celebrate the release of our debut album, which was released on Friday.”
Things dropped back into all-out rage for Horror Show, as Hot Milk approached the end of their set list, setting mosh pits into high gear in the crowd.
Powerhouses MUNA arrived on Main Stage East amid ethereal arpeggios and rapturous applause, and immediately set the stage ablaze with melodic, thumping pop.
While the rain set in once again, MUNA kept things upbeat with their second song, Number One Fan, which carried the audience along with its infectious beat, heady mix of deep synths, and hook-laden vocals.
As the sun returned, the band broke into the final chorus of Home by Now followed by Anything But Me and the shimmering sing-along of The One That Got Away
“We’ve wanted to play Reading forever,” lead vocalist Katie Gavin said on stage, “so it means a lot to us,” before dedicating their next song to the young queer and transgender people in the audience.
They closed with the anthemic Something Fun.
The Snuts then brought upbeat, sun-drenched indie rock, on main Stage West, replete with big choruses full of infectious instrumentation and vocal melodies
Particular highlights included the one-two hit of shimmering Mayday California and effortlessly optimistic Dreams.
Mae Stephens drew rabid crowds to the Festival Republic stage, and while she initially appears unassuming, she bears a disarmingly earnest charm which belies her considered and accomplished songwriting.
Her first four songs were interlaced with asides explaining their personal relevance and influences, showing right off the bat that she is more than just the girl from that TikTok song, bringing heart and humour to every moment spent on stage.
Her song Stranger is a particularly good example, where the downbeat, slower tempo allows her to flex her vocal ability, which shines through with both power and delicacy in equal measure.
The mellow start to the set was a perfect fit for the stage just after 6pm, before the crescendo of the rest of the evening’s acts, but around halfway through she lightened the mood with her latest song, a collaboration with Megan Trainor, the eminently danceable Mr Right.
She then closed with the song which started it all, If We Ever Broke Up, which radiated joy as a sea of phones went up to capture the moment so many had been waiting for.
Embellished with noodling guitar solos from the band and lower register than the studio version, Mae exemplified her status as so much more than a trend by showing that she has heaps more to show, even when you think you’ve seen it all.
Even before he started, Tom Oddell had the Festival Republic Stage heaving, as crowds spilled out of the tent, and only grew as his set continued.
With soaring vocals and consummate musicianship, Odell wasted no time in giving the huge audience what they wanted.
He displayed a level of showmanship and stage presence expected of someone with three or four times the experience he has; his more earnest songs had the crowd gripped, hanging on every lyric, delivered masterfully in his often-haunting vocal style.
Despite this, he also dropped head-first into euphoric sections which galvanised the audience as well as any headliner could, leaving the set on a jubilant note and one of the festival’s must-see acts.
If his packed-out set on Festival Republic is anything to go by, Odell will be stratospheric very soon indeed.
COIN took to the Festival Republic Stage amid synth and strings before dropping into their guitar-driven rock on a sixpence, flanked by an inflatable ladybird.
Their set was immediately arresting, brimming with electricity which caught the crowd instantly.
After singalong smash hit Valentine, the band announced they would be playing a song written right after their 2018 performance.
“We wanted to come back here and play it,” they announced, before beginning You Are the Traffic.
The band kept the hits coming with the mellow but memorable Malibu 1992, followed by one of their breakout songs, Talk Too Much as the sun set on the festival, and their performance.
Vistas took to the stage and dropped into Tigerblood immediately, and slipping seamlessly into their second track, Dayglow.
They then performed I Know I Know, one of the lead singles from their upcoming third album.
This was swiftly followed by 15 Years, before a lightspeed barrage of equally up-tempo indie rock anthems from the band’s catalogue: Calm, Back of the Car, and Stranger.
They closed their set, watertight down to the note, on a radiant, ebullient performance of Retrospect, leaving a breathless crowd.
Catch our interview with Vistas here.
Soon, Billie Eilish had appeared on Main Stage East for her headline set, beginning with Bury a Friend, NDA, and Therefore I Am.
Eilish’s set well underway, she introduced brother and collaborator, Finneas, before taking a seat as both performed an acoustic guitar duet of i love you.
The Main Stage at the festival has probably never been as quiet, as the audience was transfixed by the hauntingly beautiful performance.
The crowd was then lit up again for TV, You Should See Me In A Crown, and What Was I Made For.
As her set approached its finale, Eilish teased two more songs and encouraged the audience to embrace “living in the moment,” warmly adding: “Remember you are loved by so many”.
She closed the set with explosive hit Bad Guy, which ended in a shower of confetti, and then Happy Ever After, accompanied by a final tattoo of fireworks
Eilish was a consummate headliner, and had the audience in the palm of her hand for the full set.
As the last of the fireworks died away, Eilish jumped down from the stage, hugging and shaking hands with almost the entire front row, and drew Reading Festival to a close for another year on an ecstatic and touching note.
