Blink-182 Close Reading Festival

...while Arctic Monkeys say 'ta-ra!' to Leeds

A festival so damned huge it has to be spread across two sites, Reading and Leeds came to a close last night (August 24th).

In Reading, fans were treated to a lengthy set from returning pop-punk outfit Blink-182. Greeted by a massive crowd, the band plunged into ‘Feeling This’ before hitting ‘What’s My Age Again’.

The set was peppered with somewhat questionable toilet humour, with Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge labelling the unwashed festival crowd “dirty little fuckers” before claiming they had contracted a bladder infection.

References to faeces aside, it was essentially a greatest hits set, with Blink-182 ending on ‘All The Small Things’. Returning for an encore, the American group played a short three song set, climaxing with ‘Family Reunion’ in front of an enormous flaming sign emblazoned with the word ‘FUCK’.

Meanwhile, the Leeds crowd enjoyed a climactic performance from Arctic Monkeys. All slicked back hair and immaculate tailored, Alex Turner appeared onstage with a white Yorkshire rose emblazoned on each lapel.

At times hamming up his Yorkshire accent, the band opened with ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ before entering into a set similar to that employed at their recent Finsbury Park shows.

‘Don’t Sit Down Cos I’ve Moved Your Chair’ was heroically received, with the set ending with Alex Turner introducing ‘505’ as ‘we’ll leave you with a love song because we love you’.

Playing a quick-fire four song encore, Arctic Monkeys finished the performance with an extended version of ‘R U Mine?’ As a treat for fans, Alex Turner played two fake endings, stating he “hates goodbyes.”

Were you there? Tell Clash your opinion via Twitter.

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