“Sun arise,
Come every mornin’.
Bringin' back the warmth to the ground.”
“These guys have been tuning up forever. When’s the band coming on?” “They are the band! This is their best song.” Ah, the joys of Spaceman 3 on another soggy Friday afternoon at the Reading Festival in 1989.
My first Reading was back in 1987 when it was still the Reading Rock Festival, with the emphasis very much on ‘Rock’. The days of piss bottle fights, burning fields, and the general fear of getting your head kicked in if you looked at a New Model Army fan in the wrong way – which was in any way at all. My cousins and I were by far the youngest ones there. By about a decade. We’d been drawn in by the twin gothic majesty of The Mission and All About Eve. And, of course, The Fall – who popped up third on the bill every year in the 80s and gave 95% of the field a chance to head off to the beer tents.
Looking back through my diaries at old Melody Maker clippings of past line-ups, brings back memories of Harry Hill bottom of the bill in the comedy tent, bands possibly best lost in time (The Telescopes, An Emotional Fish, Tack>>Head) and the days when a special advance three-day season ticket was just £35.
The Godfathers played at my first Reading and I remember them being a great moshing band. Another dozen or so Readings followed – mainly due to the convenience of my parents living nearby, which meant I avoided the squalor of camping there. My last one (now transformed into the Carling Weekender or something *groans*) was six years back, with Moz and The White Stripes. I felt a decade too old and can’t imagine I’ll be back. I even gave a little farewell salute to the fields of my youth – by urinating in a bottle and lobbing it a Libertines fan. Only joking!
Spotify linky:
The Godfathers – Sun Arise
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