Drenge dress up for Reading 2014

There’s a drummer with long hair, a sort of dirty blonde frontman wrestling his guitar. It’s at Reading festival. They’re both wearing dresses. Can we all see where this one may be heading?

At some point over the past year or so, Drenge levelled up. They got louder; tighter too. They already excelled in the live arena, but all of a sudden here stood an absolute beast of a band. A couple of months back they took on Glastonbury and, from the crowd stood in the tent to those watching through internet streams and telly feeds, blew the roof of. At Reading, they went up a gear again. Maybe even two.

Technical difficulties may delay them, but once they get going it quickly becomes obvious something amazing is afoot. ‘Bloodsports’ reverberates with the crunch of bone, standing ten miles high and demanding attention. ‘Fuckabout’ is sung back like it’s Radiohead’s ‘Creep’. If Reading 2014 came with a match ball, Eoin and Rory would be taking it home.

There are those moments when the lights switch on for a band. Where, if not to them, to everyone else it becomes clear where the story will go next. For Drenge that’s today. Yes, they are wearing a nice pair of frocks, but that’s not the story here. They’re also pummelling riffs and thundering drums somewhere into next week. And it is going off. Not mildly, politely, or in any way understatedly. A dinghy is sailing overhead. This is it. From here on in, everything is coming up Loveless.

Tags: News, Drenge, Festivals