Gordon and Tony are careful not to drop their freshly-chilled cans of Carling at Reading. Photo: Yui Mok/PA
Guardian Unlimited Music is at Reading and Leeds to review the music, as that is what we do. But we've also been walking around with our eyes open, noting what's been happening on site and, even, writing it down. Here's what was happening on day one:
This year's favourite Reading pastime: defacing the giant posters by the main stage. Someone has clearly raided the autograph tent's marker pen cupboard, and has had a gay old time making Johnny Borrell look almost as much of a tool as he really is. Razorlight has become Razorshite, and a speech bubble coming out of the self-regarding singer's gob says "I love cock and chips".
The Pigeon Detectives, meanwhile, have become, you guessed it, the Penis Detectives. Their forthcoming single, Wait for Me, has been given a bracketed addendum "... (to Get Hard)", and the poster decorated with lots of bus-stop penises. Kids, eh?
A lotta bottle: As mentioned elsewhere, vollied projectiles are a key part of the Reading/Leeds/Carling Weekend experience. And so it was, that when Fall Out Boy were performing at Leeds on Friday evening, they were surprised at the lack of missiles being hurled at them as they played.
So surprised were they that Pete Wentz was forced to address the crowd: "This is our last song, so if you've been saving up any bottles to throw at us, now's the time to do it."
Cue a snowstorm of plastic cups and bottles being hurled from and across the crowd. The storm lasted the entire song - a cover of The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and The News.
It appears you can now take in your own booze - overturning a ban which was the bane of previous festivals. Facing a threat to their alcoholic monopoly, Carling have responded by offering an amnesty: give them your warm can of beer of any (red) stripe, and they'll give you a cold Carling instead. It's up to you to decide whether that's a fair swap.
Overheard in the press tent at Reading: "Take it to the Razorlight compound." Razorlight compound?!? What, is Johnny Borrell's cult of personality on the level of David Koresh's now? Is Reading destined to become synonymous with Waco?
In any case, it seemed unusual terminology. "Do all the bands stay in 'compounds' or just Razonlight?", we asked an official.
"Usually just the headliners", they replied. "But some are more compound-like than others." Amen.
Leeds promo of the day: Kate Nash flags. On one side they read "Get drunk, get dancing" thus making sure they are eagerly snapped up by the enormous throng inside and outside the Carling Tent waiting for her appearance. Lo and behold, flip them over and they carry a not-subtle-at-all plug for her new album. Perfectly fun and perfectly cynical in equal doses. Like Kate, who really should be surnamed Allen.
For full coverage of Reading and Leeds, visit Guardian Unlimited's special report.
