Reading 2008. Still feeling the effects.

Let's start by saying I had an absolute blast - highlights for me were Rage Against The Machine, Future Of The Left, Lethal Bizzle, Frank Turner, Tenacious D and Metallica. I was recommended to catch That Fucking Tank on the BBC Introducing Stage but either I misheard what time they were on or the stage times changed round but I missed them anyway. Next time.

Maybe it's because I'm in my 30s (EARLY 30s thank you) and was the perfect age for getting into Rage Against The Machine first time round but I was actually getting properly excited about seeing them for weeks before Reading this year. And believe me, that rarely happens to me these days so it was a delicious feeling to have again. And good christ they were just brilliant. Every song's intro caused me and my friends to look at each other and go "YESSSS!" as it all came flooding back and the best bit of the performance was the fact that they were so obviously LOVING every minute of being back in Rage Against The Machine. Don't get me wrong, Audioslave have some great tunes and Chris Cornell is an amazing vocalist but they don't even come close to the energy and chemistry in RATM. Also, let's thank god that maybe Tom Morello won't be doing any more of his Nightwatchman project. Oh dear me.

I'm not going to get into reviews and opinions on everything I enjoyed but I will say that Future of the Left continue to amaze me every time I see them live. Simply one of the best bands in the country at the minute.

I love Reading. I think this was my 13th and it still holds the magic and fun for me that it always has.