After hurried packing a mere ten hours after returning to the UK I was in a car and on the way to Reading. Thursday went without hiccup unlike last year and the 'short walk to Tesco' fiasco. With a good camping spot, the near-by Tesco located and vodka in the system the mediocre fun fair almost seemed as exciting as Germany's Europa Park.
Friday morning got off to a weird start with us taking spots at the main stage to watch Hacktivist followed by Crossfaith and if I was feeling sleepy two hours before then I certainly wasn't anymore.
With no time between the end of Crossfaith and the start of La Dispute, many would have witnessed my hysterical shrieking when the big screens came into my vision and frontman Jordan Dreyer was already on there shyly bouncing around. Their unique sound - and the list of people I know who like them being restricted to two - I was surprised to see the NME tent packed out. Looking around there were the kinds of people who were in attendance at the epic Cardiff headline show I caught earlier this year but also a wide array of people who I would've never have guessed were fans. Typically, the band played flawlessly with tracks mostly from their beautiful masterpiece Rooms Of The House with older tracks like the weighted 'a Letter' cropping up every now and then.
With his face bloody and voice shaking Jordan broke out of storyteller mode just long enough to timidly talk to the crowd about their best friends Touche Amore whose frontman joined the band onstage causing an excited uproar in the tent for a fantastic send off to La Dispute whose set unfortunately had to end. Whilst my heart swelled with pride at the sizeable crowd the five piece managed to capture I almost wish they'd been put in the Lock Up tent for a more intimate show like the Clwb gigs I favour over everything.
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Staying at the main stage Enter Shikari were next to entertain our ears and just like back in 2012 it didn't take long for me to start questioning whether we were actually going to make it out of this crowd alive. To say that Shikari fans are enthusiastic would be the biggest understatement I could ever make. 'Solidarity' right through to 'Gandhi Mate, Gandhi' sees the craziest crowd melt under the sun until Rou just can't help but get educational on us all. Pre-'Anaesthetist' the crowd found ourselves cheering him on as he rambled about the NHS and the morons who run our country and whilst the chaos was momentarily calm it didn't take much to open the pits once more.
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Checking all limbs were still attached we collapsed outside the Lock Up stage and heard some of Brody Dalle's set but with a crowd of people trying to get Greg James' attention we were distracted. Starting off as just two girls it wasn't long before what seemed the whole of Reading was gathered calling to him and throwing their demo's. Turning away for thirty seconds I near enough broke my neck when one of the mob screeched Paramore. Sure enough my favourite trio had taken seats in the Radio One balcony for their pre-show interview. Ecstatic and near bursting with excitement to be reunited with our Tennessee babes we unashamedly stared at the backs of their heads for half an hour until earliers reluctant goodbye to Jimmy Eat World came to an end.
It's at this point in the post I feel I should give a mention to how atrocious the sound had been so far that day. Most of the mics were no where near turned up enough and Jimmy's second appearance was almost twenty minutes late because of the sound system and when we finally got off to a start it turned out to be a false one with guitars having to be switched around as the sound was so bad. But anyway, I stood there kicking myself that I hadn't put a bet down that their headline set was to be Futures in full. The Reading Festival set time people were not in my good books as we could only catch 'Futures' 'Just Tonight...' 'Work' and 'Kill' before our final goodbye and mad dash to the main stage. It's Paramore time.
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Joining a train of people determined to get a semi-decent position (yes, for Paramore I would be one of those people) we found ourselves stationed centre left of the stage in a mix of people that had faces of skeptics yet the moment 'Still Into You' blasted through the speakers the crowd was dancing and singing along with such force I thought we were going to jump the band right off stage.
Continuing with 'That's What You Get' I could feel everyone being absorbed by the magic of Paramore. Hayley spins and stomps her way around the stage probably throwing real-life fairy dust as she goes and Reading is falling hook, line and sinker for the blue-haired pixie and her best friends destroying the stage alongside her.
'For A Pessimist' starts off their feistier performance followed on by the ultimate angry song - 'Ignorance.' And the crowd is there with them screaming the first verse raring for the chorus when... nothing. The sound is out. Silence strikes the crowd before the murmurs and realisation that they don't even know hit us. Fingers crossed the sound will come back quickly the crowd carries on singing and sure enough before the last chorus the sound is back and impressively we're still singing in time.
Oblivious, 'Pressure' and 'Decode' go by without a hiccup when mid-speech and disaster strikes again. The 80,000 strong crowd stand there wondering just how long they're going to let Hayley talk before someone tells her we can't hear. Eventually, thanks to the front row, she's clued in and suddenly on a mission to figure this out. The crowd boos and chants mean things at the sound people unforgiving for the interruption of the best damn hooks of the last decade. Miming a mock temper tantrum Hayley plants herself on the Paramore box and tells us how they refuse to move until the sound works again - thank god, I was nearing a break down at the thought of their show being pulled. Some fifteen minutes later the trio sit together and we're told the system is down. The three may be terrified that they've lost it now but the worry need not exist as an acapella version of 'The Only Exception' takes place leaving the hairs on the back of everyone's necks standing on end. A landmark show in the bands' timeline truly became one to remember, initially for the wrong reason but the fandom united there and turned the disaster into a stunning moment in the trio's career.
Taking her spot in front of the keyboard 'Last Hope' reduced a good half of the crowd to tears with its brutally honest lyrics, I for one would be happy to watch Paramore play that song forever. Bringing it back to old school tunes 'Brick By Boring Brick' was followed by 'Misery Business' and one dinosaurs chance to be a part of Paramore history when she was handed the coveted golden mic for that killer bridge part. If by now the fandom wasn't already in pieces the trio's next move most certainly tipped us over the edge. RIOT's dark 'Let The Flames Begin' complete with the hair-raising outro continued into it's sister song 'Part II' and let me tell you I could see nothing through my tears. Any remaining doubters out there were soon silenced as their exceptional talent was blindingly obvious and undeniable as they poured their heart into those intense ten minutes.
Sadly it was nearly time to say goodbye but not before they had us all grooving once more to two self-titled tracks 'Proof' and and near everyone's new favourite Paramore song 'Ain't It Fun.' As we all sang 'don't go crying to your mama...' my brain tried desperately to make sense of this band and how it's possible to be so bloody incredible. I walked away from the main stage that night with the confirmation that being part of their fan base makes me part of something and that night that 'something' felt bigger than ever - the world truly is theirs and I don't think anyone dare complain.
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