Reading 2022 was one for the ages…..
Want to relive the madness or simply find out what you missed out on? You’ve come to the right place.
Friday
Kicking off the festival with Honeyglaze on the BBC Music Introducing Stage. South London-based trio Honeyglaze rose to the occasion, as they opened the BBC Music Introducing Stage. The set was a dreamy way to start the weekend.
TikTok royalty PinkPantheress had Reading Festival swept off their feet,. With a performance filled with effortless coolness and boundless energy and an album on the way early next year, PinkPantheress is here to stay.
THREE-time Grammy winner, Megan Thee Stallion blessed us with a colossal performance on the Main Stage. With her infectious energy, incredible dancing (the girl can move), and the production to match, Megan stole the show. Spotlight moments were hit rap track ‘Body’ and when she invited up some of her army of fans, affectionately known as ‘Thee Hotties’, to the stage.
As the first headline act of this year’s festival, Streatham’s finest Dave kicked off Reading Festival 2022 with an explosive set on the Friday night. Dave spoiled us with smash hits such as ‘Funky Friday’, ‘No Words’ and ‘Twenty to One’, which all went off with a bang. And that’s not all – not one, but two special guests joined Dave up on stage. First, AJ Tracey joined him for their anthem ‘Thiago Silva’ and later on in the set, Stormzy burst onto the stage, donned with love heart sunglasses to help perform their lockdown-lifted summer hit ‘Clash.’
Saturday
Reading residents Enter Shikari rocked out on the Main Stage. They’re back! Judging by the masses of fans eagerly awaiting the band’s performance, Reading Festival couldn’t wait to see Enter Shikari play. Their often politically-charged lyrics have covered topics such as climate change, a message which mirrors the ‘No Music On A Dead Planet’ mantra of Reading & Leeds Festival 2022. With all the classics, plus a special rendition of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’, Enter Shikari surely gave us one of the weekend’s top highlights.
Irish stars Fontaines D.C. made their roaring Reading debut on the Main Stage. Mosh pits propped up all over as soon as the first chords were struck, with Irish flags on the shoulders of proud revellers in the crowd. They even brought up a fan (Dexter) to play guitar for one of their oldest singles ‘Boys in the Better Land’, which went down an absolute storm with the packed-out, rowdy crowd, whilst newer songs such as ‘Jackie Down The Line’ and closing track ‘I Love You’ were met with the same adoration.
Arctic Monkeys returned in a UK Reading & Leeds exclusive.The moment we’ve ALL been waiting for. Arctic Monkeys are back, after not playing on home soil since 2018, they treated Reading fans to an exclusive night to remember. Despite a change in direction musically with their last album, the band’s vigour, high-energy performances have remained a constant through the years. With a huge disco ball donning the word ‘Monkeys’ glittering across the field, encore tracks ‘Arabella’ and ‘R U Mine?’ sealed the deal, ending the set in spectacular style, the only way we expected Arctic Monkeys to.
Sunday
Sunday was a perfect end to the weekend…
Indie-pop sensations Pale Waves took the Main Stage by storm Manchester’s finest, four-piece Pale Waves took to the Main Stage to gift us a set filled to the brim with pop-punk anthems. Crowd favourites included smash hits ‘Television Romance’ and ‘There’s A Honey’, which were the perfect way to warm us up for a final evening of unmissable music.
Queen of pop Charli XCX heats up Sunday’s Main Stage. We were blessed with the presence of pop royalty in the form of singer-songwriter Charli XCX. As soon as the heavy bass boomed out from the speakers, hoards of screaming fans ran to the stage to set their eyes on the iconic hitmaker.
Reading Festival 2022 came to a close, with a stellar set from The 1975. The 1975 have now headlined Reading & Leeds Festival twice in the space of three years – that’s no mean feat. The fans non-stop adoration and constant energy for the pop-rock band throughout their career, means that this is a highlight for The 1975, with Matty declaring the headline show means a lot to them, and we can certainly see why.
