Reading will always have a special place in our hearts, because it was the first festival we ever headlined, on the Radio 1 stage.
We spent five months worrying about that show. In the end it was the highpoint of our first year touring. It went as well as it could have done, although one guy climbed up the pole and we were told we had to stop playing until he came down. That threatened to throw a spanner in the works, so to get him down everyone started throwing bottles at him. The only problem was, my mum was standing directly underneath so she ended up getting rained on with bottles and debris. So my mum ended up getting bottled off at Reading!
Reading is the flattest festival, which is very important - there are no floods! And there's also better food and bands, too. I'm looking forward to seeing !!!, Foals and Biffy Clyro this year.
As for our show, this is a biggie for us. We're playing the main stage for the first time at Reading. We tend to get nervous, but the fear is good - it's what drives us. I actually amplify the fear by drinking coffee before I go onstage - that pumps up the anxiety and propels us to greater things!
From outset, you can expect a bit of mumbling, a bit of looking at our shoes and then the occasional moments of jumping into the crowd and erratic tempo changes. And you can expect Russell's fringe to distract the attention of anyone who might think about bottling us off.
One problem with Reading is the liggers. There's a few familiar faces backstage, which are generally all right until about 9pm when everyone's pissed and you end up in all manner of dull conversations. As a touring band, you talk about music so often that you can't be bothered talking about it backstage as well. Especially when there are more important things going on in the world, like what's happening in Neighbours.
For full coverage of Reading and Leeds, visit Guardian Unlimited's special report.
