Tech Issues for Renee Rapp, But Liam Gallagher Steals the Show

Sunday at Reading 2024 may go down in history for an unusual first: the only headliner in the festival’s near 70 years who threatens to upstage themselves. On the day that Liam Gallagher arrives to play all of Oasis’s debut album Definitely Maybe on the week of its 30^th anniversary, the atmosphere is feverish with rumors of an imminent Oasis reunion. The buzz is that the band may announce a huge run of 2025 reunion shows in London and Manchester, gigs that couldn’t be more eagerly anticipated.

Twitter is abuzz with news that every Premier Inn in London has already been booked out for most of next August. The excitement on-site is just as much for pre-sale details as for Liam’s show itself. The rest of the bill has its work cut out to create more memorable moments today.

In the Radio One tent, Good Neighbours arrive on the crystalline tails of Glass Animals and a TikTok hit in the shape of the anthemic “Home.” The London alt-pop duo both look and sound like Weezer heavily into hair bleach, La Roux, and The Communards.

Renee Rapp’s attempt to steal the day meets disaster in a nightmare set. This Broadway Mean Girls star, now a pop rock hopeful, bounds onstage only to find only her drummer making any noise. She quickly leaves the stage and returns after ten minutes, but high winds soon empty water from the roof all over her and her equipment. After another lengthy rethink, she returns but soon suffers another water deluge, ending her performance abruptly.

Pendulum, next up, have no issue with a mildly damp stage and pull out all the rave metal stops. Meanwhile, 21 Savage’s slow-groove smolder could not be extinguished by any amount of flood.

Some of Liam’s real rivals are on the outskirts. On the BBC Introducing Stage, Leeds’ Venus Grrrls come on like a gothic Elastica with their taut atmos-rock focused on love spells and hex sex. In the Festival Republic tent, London’s Rachel Chinouriri offers some bewitching soul rock and big balladry about her relationship “delusions,” and on “Robbed,” the death of her six-day-old niece.

She’s followed by Londoner Hak Baker, a geezer fronting a band resembling a punky reggae Blockheads. On the Radio One stage, North Carolina’s Ashnikko, a blue-haired, bikini-clad performer, presents deep-pumping porn pop, which made her a TikTok star but might blow up further once OnlyFans sorts out its streaming algorithm.

You almost feel a bit sorry for Catfish & The Bottlemen. With Oasis reunion news looming, their effort to hype up their modest concert at the Tottenham Hotspur ground next year seems overshadowed. They also catch some of Renee Rapp’s bad luck. Singer Van McCann, a rock’n’roll vision, finds his guitar malfunctioning two songs into their main set, requiring a 15-minute pit-stop.

Despite a sludgy mix making much of the set sound like Arctic Monkeys in a hurry, they return determined. They have howling rock rampages and anthemic choruses by the canyon-load and deploy Biffy Clyro-level bombast on “Outside.” As Catfish ascend to stadium status, there’s a whole book to be written on the atomization of fandom in the digital era.

By 8 AM the next morning, the numbers 27.08.24 and the time of 8 AM flash up in an Oasis logo box on the stage-side screens, a teaser not hard for the average Oasis fan to decode. Reading isn’t given any exclusives on the big reunion tonight. Just a hell of a preview.

As a clacker clock on the screens ticks down from 2024 to 1994, Liam Gallagher appears on a stage decorated with giant versions of objects from the Definitely Maybe sleeve — a hanging globe, a Bacharach portrait, two giant flamingos. “Liam vibes in the house, Bonehead vibes in the house,” he says, pointing out the presence of Oasis guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs. The band kicks off the show with “Rock’n’Roll Star,” setting the tone for a punkish set.

The set covers the entire debut album plus a selection of B-sides and singles, providing a dream performance for Gallagher fans. Delivered with a mix of bolshiness and satisfied relish, it feels like a great reward finally earned.

“Columbia” holds its own against the thumps of Skrillex on the Chevron Stage, while “Up in the Sky” brings out Revolver-style psychedelic vibes. Even “Digsy’s Dinner,” dedicated to Reading’s vegetarians, becomes a proper Britpop knees-up, and “Supersonic” melds melody, attitude, and nonsense poetry effortlessly.

The B-side section, a previously lumpen interlude, proves sharp and focused, culminating in a “Whatever” so Beatledelic that Liam slips in lines from “Octopus’s Garden.” He seems more wryly altruistic tonight, dedicating songs to glue-sniffers, Oasis haters, and even to his flamingo decorations. During “Live Forever,” screens show pictures of rock legends like Bolan, Marley, and Lennon.

Most touching is “Half the World Away,” dedicated to “Noel f***ing Gallagher,” hinting at a thaw in their frigid relationship. Wembley 2025? Bring it on down.

Source: Sarah Louise Bennett, BBC