“RIP Harambe” - Chvrches offer thumping Reading 2016 set

Reading and Leeds are the last two UK shows on Chvrches’ tour for ‘Every Open Eye’, and they send the 2015 album off with thunder tonight.

Martin Doherty dedicates ‘Under The Tide’ to our sweet prince Harambe, cruelly taken away from us this year, and gives him a bloody good dance routine in tribute - a livewire across the stage as if he’s got a bee stuck in his jeans.

Chvrches’ transition to main stages this summer has been absolutely seamless, and they look completely at home in the biggest of slots. The band first played Reading and Leeds in the cosy Festival Republic stage, a month before debut album ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’ was released, and the songs from that album have been beefed up into anthems worthy of headlining festivals like these.

‘Clearest Blue’ and ‘The Mother We Share’ close the set, and it’s the perfect send-off for ‘Every Open Eye’. When Chvrches return, a few slots higher here - and world domination - look a certainty.