Hey Guys
So every summer I throw myself into the world of festivals and this year was no different with me attending both Sonisphire and Reading Festival. When it comes to music I tend to gravitate towards the alternative scene however this still ranges over a large spectrum from glam rock to heavy metal so festivals such as Sonisphire, Download and Bloodstock are the obvious choices every summer. However, with me being local to Reading Festival I decided to go with a friend that had a spare ticket and even though the line up wasn't exactly to my taste there were a select few good bands and the idea of partying in a field for three days solid is always an appealing one. Hey what could go wrong right?
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Source: http://www.readingfestival.com
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Oh how wrong I was. Don't get me wrong I will be fair to Reading and say that some of the reasons I didn't enjoy my time there were down to poor decisions on my part and it did have some high points which I will get onto later but first let me get my little rant out of the way. Firstly the staff that were working for Reading Festival were definitely only there for the free entry, never in my life have I met more unhelpful staff who were constantly giving me wrong advice or not knowing answers to things they really should of. Now I'm not sure if this was down to poor briefing on the festivals part, or laziness on the members of staffs part but I picked up very quickly that if you wanted any helpful advice to look for staff members that looked like they really didn't want to be there. Another point I'd like to make is the amount of hiccups that occurred with bands sets over the weekend from the power going out during paramores set to bands having to stop mid-song because their instruments weren't tuned properly. I totally accept that things like this may happen here and there with such a huge event but it happened with 50% of the bands I saw and by Sunday was really starting to grate on me.
Another point that I really want to make is the crowds at Reading, now as I said before I tend to gravitate towards heavier music which means I'm no stranger to rough crowds, mosh pits and many drunk people in a small area. That said the crowds at Reading were nothing like I'd ever experienced before, even with the more mellow bands that I saw there were people starting pits left right and centre which is fine by me. However, these were not standard mosh pits these were people out to try and hurt everyone around them; kicking, punching even biting I saw it all and don't even get me started on the amount of young girls I saw being dragged into these pits that clearly wanted nothing to do with it and were scared shitless. Eventually I decided I'd had enough of being kicked in the head and went to leave the crowd which was a challenge in itself as it appears no one is willing to help you in anyway and you end up having to turn into an asshole yourself and push people out of the way to get yourself out. I guess mosh etiquette is wasted here and I'm just spoilt by the kindness of metal crowds, and they say we're the rough bunch!
A final point I would like to add to round off my Reading rant 2014 is that this assholery didn't end at the crowds and I received regular abuse walking around site, this hit an all time high when I group of guys decided to grab me and harass me on my way back to my tent on my own. I must say out of every music event I've ever been to Reading is definitely where I felt the least safe, and it takes a lot to unnerve me. Now these were the main points that really made the festival a total write off for me, sure there were other things that did annoy me over the weekend but I will credit that to me already not feeling great about things due to the above points and also some poor decisions on my part.
With my rant out the way I'm going to say that although I completely stick to my view that Reading 2014 was the worst festival I've ever attended it did have some high points which I will cover in my next blog post to prevent this turning into an essay. Hell it feels so weird to write a negative review on something but I really needed to vent my frustration about a wasted £200! So I'll talk to you guys very soon with a much happier outlook on things and even a few festival pictures thrown in there for good measure!
Love & TubTubs
I agree with you on this post, tbh I have never been to Reading Fest but have heard so many horror stories. I hate crowds and drunk people and would never go, especially paying 200+ quid for the pleasure of disgusting toilets and people trampling you. No thank you! Although I have been to a few smaller festivals this year, that were quite cute and under ground, less hardcore drunks and more relaxed hippies! haha, even though I didn't enjoy reading your horrible experience it was an interesting post and puts me off reading fest more than ever <3
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