Dragging The Rock To Reading
It’s a good 15 minutes since Bullet For My Valentine should have come on stage and still the only sign of the Welsh band are their roadies hastily setting things up. No, Bullet aren’t trying to build expectations, they aren’t throwing a little diva-esque hissy fit backstage, they’ve simply fallen foul to Justice dragging out their slot, over running for what must have felt like a life time to the metal fans that got to the NME tent early. It’s a fact that’s not lost on Matt Tuck as he eventually gets the chance to take to the stage, grinning at the crowd, cheekily asking, “Have you had enough of this indie dance shit? Are you ready for some metal?” Questions that are met with a flood of resounding cheers, suggesting that this crowd want to finally put some rock back into the second day of Reading.
As ‘Scream, Aim, Fire’ pulsates and pummels through the crowd with adrenaline packed venom, Tuck has stayed true to his word, bulldozing aside the indie dance vibe that had nestled in the tent previously and transforming it into an explosive hive of metal. ‘Hearts Burst Into Fire’ gets a raucous welcome as the Bridgend lads unleash a barrage of guitar riffs strapped to an infectiously uplifting chorus, whilst the inclusion of ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ dedicated to the fans adds a unifying touch of nostalgia to a set that has seen pyros erupting on stage, throat aching screams curtesy of ‘Waking The Demon’ and the epic striving grandeur of ‘Four Words To Choke Upon’ as Bullet held nothing back, delivering a set for the fans to truly relish.
They may have been late to the stage but Bullet insured that for a short while at least, the NME tent got its first glance of metal, guaranteeing some rock was dragged to the Reading fields.