Reading Festival: Iconic moments from the 80s to now

Virgin Radio

25 Aug 2022, 09:27

This week, thousands of people will be flocking to Reading to listen to the likes of Arctic Monkeys, The 1975 and Bastille play on the infamous red stage. 

The festival originally started as National Jazz and Blues event in the 60s and gradually transitioned into the rock and rock festival we recognise today. 

It officially became Reading Festival in 1971, when tickets cost just £15, and has provided us with decades of incredible acts and legendary moments ever since.

What better way to celebrate the return of this legendary festival in 2022 by counting down some of its most iconic moments from its beginning up to today. 

1984-85

It might be a well established event now, but Reading Festival didn’t really get off to the best start. In 1984, the event was banned for a number of years due to a fall-out with the local council, however, Reading being what is, was not stopped and made a glorious comeback in 1986. 

What at first seemed a not-so-iconic moment turned out to be its immortal comeback.

1992

If you were lucky enough to attend Reading Festival in 1992, you couldn’t possibly forget this legendary performance. 

Nirvana took to the main stage for, what would be their last UK live gig ever. Despite rumours of drug abuse and deteriorating health, frontman Kurt Cobain rocked up in a wheelchair and a wig to perform to thousands of fans.

If that wasn’t a big enough two fingers to those doubting him, he went on to give an incredible performance that would go down in the festival’s history. 

1996 

It’s not often that an act on the main stage gets a smaller crowd than an act in one of the tents at a festival, but that is exactly what happened to The Stone Roses when Underworld performed at the same time as them. 

The latter had famously released the hit Born Slippy, which featured in the hugely popular cult classic Trainspotting that premiered the same year. 

It was because of the success of this film and its connection with their song that they drew huge crowds to their set to hear Born Slippy live.

2006

We’re shooting forward 10 years to Pearl Jam’s momentous decision to return to the stage at Reading. 

It came six years after the disastrous accident at Roskilde festival in Denmark, where nine festival-goers sadly died during their set. 

After the tragedy, the band vowed to never play at a festival again. However, lead vocalist, Eddie Vedder, urged everyone to look out for one another, and in an immensely emotional set, the band returned to festival life choosing Reading as their first destination.

2011

What do you get when you mix two iconic rock bands from different generations together? 

Well, Queen’s Brian May seemed to find the answer after making a surprise appearance during My Chemical Romance’s set back in 2011. 

The band performed one of Queen’s best known tracks, We Will Rock You, as well as MCR’s hit Welcome to the Black Parade sparking another unexpected friendship within the music industry. 

2014 

With all the will in the world, sometimes technology just does not comply. 

This is what happened when Paramore took to the mainstage in 2014 for their headline slot and were met with a deafening dilemma when the power cut during their set for a full 15 minutes.

Instead of admitting defeat, the band went old school and did an acoustic version of The Only Exception, getting the audience involved in a rendition of the song that ended up being far more memorable.

2019

Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl has become known for his cheeky sense of humour over the years and it seems he brought a bit of that to Reading in 2019. 

After a long speech professing his love for the 80s pop icon Rick Astley, the singer went on to perform a rock rendition of the classic Never Gonna Give You Up and brought the Astley out onstage to help, much to the surprise of the crowd. 

Yet another musical duo we didn’t know we needed!

So there you have it! There have been some pretty iconic moments from over the years and who know what Reading Festival 2022 (and its sister festival in Leeds over the same weekend) has in store for us.