Live Review: Reading Rising Festival 2023 (Part #1 – Bad Apple Blue Room)

It’s a wet Saturday afternoon in Reading in the middle of November but that isn’t going to stop a few arsonists from bringing some heat to The Facebar for Reading Rising. What awaits us is 12 bands spread across 2 stages with the organisers striking an intriguing balance between Rock and Metal with their selection of bands in a celebration of all things Alternative. The venue has always been a safe place to play with a warm and friendly atmosphere and that is something that Reading Rising builds upon to make for wonderful event. Part one of our review is about the bands that played the Bad Apple Blue Room, part two will cover the Red Room…

When it comes to being the opening band at any event there is always that sense of pride in being chosen but also a little bit of doubt over how big the turn out will be. Having stepped in at the eleventh hour to replace Elucidate that might have been compounded for Pinewall [8/10] but they show absolutely no signs of nervousness. Instead the four piece are given a warm welcome to the Blue Room and reciprocate with a powerful, raw and Doom laden rendition of “Shout” by Tears For Fears that has some really nice edgy vocals. A surprising and yet interesting choice as a set opener but one that they’ve made there own and gets the crowd going almost immediately with the sing-a-long chorus. A little more eccentric than most, the band have a collection of songs in their set that flow between Post-Hardcore, Emo and Alternative Metal with “Stealing Lightbulbs” on the heavier side with its screamed vocals while “X Games At The Vatican” remains a tasty treat.

Whether or not Adharma [8/10] is a solo project or a Progressive Alternative Metalcore band is very much open to interpretation as vocalist Charlie Draper mixes I and We in reference to the outfit, but based on this afternoon’s performance alone, the five piece certainly couldn’t operate without each other in the live arena. A collection of seasoned musicians that include Valis Ablaze pairing Ash Cook and Tom Moore on guitars keep the music flowing while Draper sings some thinly veiled lyrics from personal experience and things get bouncy when they switch out from the choruses with a little DJent. As a vocalist Draper has an emotive quality to her vocals and doesn’t come over as being overly confident, instead having a humble honesty and perhaps even humility to her which is intriguing. Sonically, everything has a real polish and everyone is all smiles as they deliver a set based on debut album “Mirror Mirror” with a few exceptions like single “Porcelain“, the only issue being that the drums are a little too loud in the mix.

Anyone who was lucky enough to watch the interview The Freudian Session [9/10] did with Chris Underhill from My Latest Failure exclusively for Metal Noise will know how much fun the quartet are and their personalities shine through not only during their between song banter but also in the material itself. They’re the kind of band you simply have to witness live because they have a unique energy to them on stage as they inject The Wildhearts style big choruses into Punk infused Metal tunes with riffs flying in all directions. Cuts like “Self Destruct” and “Same Old Story” are real highlights, the power of the rhythm section driving things forward with that pace and energy you want from a live show. It’s all fun and frolics with a great sense of humour with the final cry of “Now let’s get drunk!” greeted by knowing cheers to conclude a triumphant home town throw down before they go and put the finishing touches to an EP set for early 2024.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night are Weller [8/10] who go bass heavy with a one two punch of rap screams and sung vocal parts during a groove saturated set with a nostalgic vibe to it. The band fall somewhere between Nu-Metal and Post-Hardcore, at times bringing to mind Stuck Mojo and are armed to the teeth with a wealth of stories to tell from EP “Life Is Messed Up, Don’t You Agree?“. There is a bit of everything in the set from sing-a-long choruses to mosh parts and the infectious nature of their sound makes it hard not to nod your head. It’s no surprise that they have more fans in the US and Australia than they do in cold wet blighty so if they can break the shackles with cuts like “Fire” and “Irritated” then they could find themselves on the emigration trail…

Arguably the heaviest band to take to either stage at Reading Rising today are Waterlines [10/10] who smash through a set of tunes that take Metalcore and embellish it with Nu-Metal and EDM enhancements. A well oiled live machine they waste no time in flexing their muscles, getting the crowd jumping, moshing and head banging from the very start of their set before vocalist Benji Mars organises a can-can and calls for a wall of death. His crowd interactions are part of what makes their live show great because he helps inject that fun factor which keeps things interesting. Their debut record “Anti-Human” is ransacked for the set list with cuts like “Konig” and “The Halo Around the Horns” taking the roof off with heavy hitting breakdowns and a excellent light show. We can’t wait to see what they do next in the studio.

If there is one band who are hugely underrated but happily go about their business its Confessions of a Traitor [10/10] and fresh from a DIY tour of the US, the London Metalcore merchants are in fine form tonight. Getting crowd jumping early on with their infectious high energy sound and keeping them there throughout a set that goes from the title track of their last years album “Punishing Myself Before God Does” to “Peacekeeper” effortlessly. Honest and passionate they create music that is aggressive while offering an air of positivity to build people which gives them a real grit and integrity almost like no other. Back in 2020 they put out a cover of “Papercut” by Linkin Park which was a live favourite but cleverly they have now cast off its shackles and left it out of the set. They didn’t need it anymore because they have more than enough of their own material which shines to be reliant on something from someone else. Tonight is a triumph and Confessions of a Traitor are a band who need to be celebrated.

Tune tomorrow for Reading Rising Festival 2023 (Part #2 – Red Room) to find out what Our Hollow Our Home, Veridian, Our Fate, NerEndings, InAir and Crushed By Waves had to offer!