Reading 2009: Them Crooked Vultures
It was at around 4pm on Saturday afternoon that the inevitable became a reality, as the drum kit with their logo on it was unveiled, several weird and wonderful looking guitars were tested, and Brody Dalle waited side of stage with her kid. Yes, Them Crooked Vultures, the supergroup of Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones, and Josh Homme, had come to Reading and the crowd inside the tent exploded when they hit the stage. They could have just smashed all their instruments and stormed off stage like Kings Of Leon did the night before and still be lauded one of the ‘bands of the festival’.
Thankfully though, they didn’t do that, but instead they delivered a solid nine-song set comprised of all new songs that is most likely going to feature on an album of some sorts (possibly later this year). Of these nine songs, three of them stood out – the lengthy and constantly changing Elephants, the booming and pounding Gunman, and Nobody Loves Me (And Neither Do I), which has an almighty monumental riff that powers the second half of the song. All in all, despite a couple of songs that sounded like Queens Of The Stone Age b-sides, it was very promising stuff.
This gig will forever be remembered, however, for its countless energy both shown by the band and in the audience. Two thirds into the set, we stopped counting the crowd surfers at 101 – it was that mental in the pit. On stage, the band were impressive, comfortable, and all smiles, and each band member got their own chant from the crowd – ‘Joshua,’ ‘John Paul Jones,’ or ‘Dave Grohl,’ all of which were repeated to create the effect of being at a football match. Grohl in particular played to the crowd, blowing kisses to the crowd and waving in appreciation.
In summary, this was definitely one of the best gigs at this year’s festival and this should go down as one of the more memorable moments in the festival’s modern history.
The setlist was:
Elephants
Dead Air Friend
Gun Man
Mind Eraser
Caligulove
Daffodills
New Fang
Nobody Loves Me (And Neither Do I)
Warsaw
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Posted on September 2nd, 2009 by Max
Filed under: Reading Festival 2009
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