Right... a quick review of what I saw at Reading Festival if anyone's interested...

Deep breath... Inme (horrendous), Bowling For Soup (fun), Saves The Day (pretty good), OK Go (ace), The Datsuns (rock!), Mull Historical Society (belligerent, fun), The Darkness (probably good but so quiet that I could hear the people next to me talking over them), Electric 6 (had to put up with constant shouting for Gay Bar, then half the crowd left after they played it), Blink 182 (see The Darkness), Evan Dando (brilliant to see again - set was about two thirds Lemonheads songs), The Futureheads (ace), Cave In (fair to middling), Junior Senior (enjoyed 'em!), Doves (good but too hot to enjoy anything), Beck (an entertainer), Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (surprisingly good), Blur (fantastic), The Applicators (average shouty punk stuff), The Raveonettes (very good), Good Charlotte (utterly atrocious), Primal Scream (entertained us by telling us how much they hated us, but still pretty good), Sum 41 (dumb shouty fun), System Of A Down (not really my thing but undeniably impressive), Metallica (best band of the whole festival).

(exhales)

Sorry... nearly forgot to mention the downer of the whole thing, which was (as usual) the site itself. I'm sharing this in case anyone else on here went, as I'd like to know your views. Let's see...

They provided a woefully small amount of water points (Glastonbury has this sussed, why can't they?), and the pressure on them was so low that you would have to wait hours if you needed any - which in the sweltering heat, you did. Even at 2 in the morning, the queues were still there. And once the heat really got oppressive, all the stands put up soft drinks from £1.50 to £2. The only exception was the bars, but then they just poured you some from a large bottle into a small plastic cup so it was a rip off anyway.

The site was a dustbowl, causing me to spend half the weekend coughing my guts up - again they have this under control at Glastonbury by spraying affected areas with water.

Once you get out of the arena, there's nowhere to go in the big crowds except straight through peoples' tents, leading to some near-violent confrontations with people who didn't like having their tents trampled (I didn't like doing it, but then I didn't like the idea of being crushed either).

They seem to have upped the capacity again, meaning that there was little or no distinction in places between the car parks and the camping areas. They let some cars block others in completely, so there may have been some mightily cheesed off people here this morning (I left after Metallica).

There's more but that will do for now... I'll direct the rest at Mean Fiddler.

These same problems recur every year, and smack not of oversight but of the fact that they feel no actual NEED to make site conditions nicer, because the event sells out anyway and the money is coming in. So I feel sorry for the punters... well, except for the ones who burn plastic and make the air even less breathable.

So, to anyone that went - do I have a point or am I a moaning git? Discuss.

I was planning to go, but didn't because I was stupid enough to leave it until after all the tickets had sold out.

If I had gone, I think my weekend may have been slightly knocked by The White Stripes pulling out, but then, there were plenty of other bands I'd have wanted to see, including my second favourite band of all time, Lagwagon, on the Concrete Jungle stage... I think, to be honest, I'd have spent most of Saturday at that stage, that was a hell of a lineup.

I'm not surprised Good Charlotte were bad. I'd have to admit to having both of their albums, I liked them for about a fortnight, now I can't stand the sight of the gits. The same thing happened with Limp Dipshit, I only got round to buying one of their albums... but why?! I hate that Durst chimp with a vengeance, so whatever possessed me to buy one of their albums, Christ knows.

I actually thought 'Girls and Boys' was a good pop single, which is why I thought I'd watch them out of curiosity, but they were just diabolical. No other tunes to speak of, and pointless banter such as 'Hey, the Leeds crowd said Reading sucks, what do you think of that?' which they spent more time on than playing.

I ended up going to brave the loos after about 30 minutes of it, which was infinitely better than watching them.

I haven't been to Reading since 2001 but I can understand your comments. There is no organisation whatsoever in terms of the camping area - with the main arena so concentrated (which is one of the good things about Reading) everyone clusters their tents as close in as possible. The last time I camped there was plenty of room off towards the western edge of the site but no-one seemed that bothered about it.

I guess things were made worse by the exceptionally dry weather this year, but that still doesn't make any excuses. Glastonbury is a class act all round, and I was a bit worried when I heard about Mean Fiddler taking a stake in it!

you have a point. however crap the conditions are, they aren't gonna get any better until it stops selling out. which will never happen. it's comparable to the microsoft monopoly.

but i don't mind, when i went i was too young to get into any real fights, the bad conditions where... part of the experience, i suppose. like hurting your tongue on cold chocolate ice cream, or saying 'pardon' for days after a bloody excellent gig.

Glasto always sells out, yet the facilities there improve year on year. Partly this is because Michael Eavis etc. genuinely care about the people who attend, and because it's in aid of charity, but it's also to do with the local council and the whole licencing process. The local politicians in Reading should be putting pressure on Mean Fiddler to do something about it. Unless they're taking a big juicy cut of the profits, of course.

Well said. I'll be writing to Mean Fiddler, and if I think their response is crap, I'll write to the NME (something I've never wanted to do before, and would only do now reluctantly) and see if I can get publicity for my thoughts on the letters page.

Regarding the point above about some of the camping areas being less busy, I agree - I camped well away from the arena, but this doesn't stop you being forced through peoples' tents on the way out at the end of each night. This is something that could be fixed with a bit of thought, surely...

Why all the negative vibes?! Reading rocked as it always does without fail. The campsite issue is merely part of what makes it a weekend to remember. As for fights, I didn't come across one. Everyone was loving it, everyone was pleasant and everyone was there to have a good time. Take the campsite atmosphere for example - it's something else, it's it's own world. It is the same every year and it's great!
As for the bands this year, I managed to catch 50. Highlights (in order of impressiveness) go to Metallica, The Darkness, Mad Caddies, Beck, The Streets, Saves The Day, Blur, System Of A Down and Serafin. Managed to catch some of the good upcoming talent too, White Light Motorcade being ones to look out for.
All in all, a super weekend, as expected. Can't wait for next year!

Yep, I had no issues with the music or the people - just the facilities. Big difference. The people and the bands are the reasons I go every year. But I stand by every point I made above.

Due to work commitements finally got to the stages at 3pm on Fri afternoon

In order I saw:

Friday:

Staind
The Darkness
Placebo
Blink 182
Linkin Park

Saturday:

Stellastaee
Thrice
Poison The Well
Jet
The Rapture
The Kills
Junior Senior
Doves
Beck
Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club
Blur

Sunday:

Sugarcult
The Prosaics
The Applicators
Kinesis
Primal Scream
80'S Matchbox B-Line Disaster
Hell Is For Heroes
Hot Hot Heat
Grandaddy
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Metallica

In all my time at festivals this was the 1st that I only got 100 mins of sleep in 3 days.

On the whole it was pretty crap, the evenings were good.

But lets say this OK, the 1st 5hrs of Reading 2002 were better than the whole of V/Reading 2003 put together.

Right, you saw Stellastarr, I'm now very jealous, dammit!

What were they like?

They weren't nothing special.

Very average to say the least, seen it all before. They attract a Teenager crowd