Friday 24/08/07 Day One @ Reading Festival, Richfield Avenue, Berkshire

Despite the queues outside of thousands waiting to cash in their early entry permits on Wednesday afternoon and the logistical nightmare that the Reading festival always proves to be, there will have been no wiping the smile off organiser Melvin Benn’s face as the Carling Weekend: Reading Festival 2007 began on time after a difficult years planning.  The site was certainly different in look and feel to years gone by as fields were fenced off due to the flooding of early summer and the majority of revellers became acquainted with the Reading boat service which ferries people across the Thames from the giant 6000 capacity White car park.  Despite improvements to the service the queues were predictably long even on Wednesday as some waited up to four and a half hours for the two minute boat ride across.  So 2007 really wasn’t the year to pack 100 cans of Lager and half your bedroom into the car.  Surely for the festival to expand, as they will wish it does, Festival Republic will need to move to a new site in Reading sometime soon.

Aside from all this the real reason for 60,000 campers converging on Reading was for the music. After the early bottle neck of people entering the main arena subsided, Gigwise managed to scurry along to catch Little Man Tate on the main stage.  They immediately hit you with a giant sound and an exciting confidence.  Simple pop it may be but their Cribs crossed with the Libertines style draws in a large crowd and singer Jon Windle looks excited and animated at the prospect of such a big show.  A definite step in the right direction for these scallywags.

The Long Blondes follow them onto the stage to continue what is an indie dominated main stage for Friday.  They came on early on the Radio 1 stage last year, so a spot on the main stage will be a sign of satisfying progress for them.  ‘Lust in the Movies’ is a high octane set opener which gets the indie kids legs moving and with vocalist Kate Jackson’s hands on hips swagger they entertain the growing crowd with favourites ‘Once and Never Again’ and ‘Swallow Tattoo’.

The NME/Radio 1 tent is a fantastic spot for any band despite the allure of the main stage but it seems Sparta couldn’t give a shit and proceed to bore the crowd with their non-descript sounds.  It feels more like an extended jam than a gig and is utterly uninspiring for the crowd.

Gogol Bordello on the other hand are at the other end of the spectrum to boredom.  Their eastern European party-pop goes down a storm on the main stage with a frenetic, energy filled performance.  The perfect cure for any Thursday night hangovers still lingering around.

It seems almost ironic to hear Beth Ditto singing a verse of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’ during the Gossip’s set.  Both Winehouse and Ditto are triumphing over an image obsessed world with their respective music and Ditto is keen to flaunt her cellulite by dressing in a slightly, well stupidly, small dress.  She is a ball of energy onstage and seems born to be a performer.  Their set continues the momentum built up by Gogol Bordello and by removing her dress and giving us all a good peak at her ample arse as the set closes she proves to us all that there’s more to the Gossip (quite literally) than just the sound.