Jamie xx lights things up at Reading 2015

There’s always going to be a limit to producers keeping it a decks-only affair when playing live. But let’s not forget Jamie xx isn’t the type to resort to bravado.

Over on the Radio 1 / NME Stage, he still brings enough quality beyond the cuts from debut album ‘In Colour’ to win over Reading. A giant discoball does half the talking - the rest is up incorporating Skepta and Idris Muhammad’s ‘Could Heaven Ever Be Like This’ to his glitzy showcase.

Closer ‘Loud Places’ (bringing Muhammad’s 1977 hit into the equation), ‘The Rest is Noise’ and ‘Just Saying’ are the strongest of the album cuts. His sped-up take on ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’ isn’t a perfect peak. But the best arrives in what’s surrounding Jamie Smith. Kids dance in the mud, families sway to a type of dance that’s anything but exclusive. It’s the motif of ‘In Colour’, and it rings true here.