Reading 2012: Pure Love, NME/Radio 1 Stage

‘We know it’s like being sat at home watching the fucking music channel and not being able to find the fucking remote because you don’t know the fucking songs. So we have some presents for you,’ Frank Carter growls, like the well mannered gent we’ve all grown to love as what we can only describe as a metric fuck tonne (present company encourage the use of that word, sorry mum) of massive balls descends on the audience.

They might be suited and booted and throwing around the word ‘handsome’ like there’s no tomorrow but make no bones about it, if you cross Carter and co., you’re in trouble. As the sound tech for today’s show soon finds out when our frontman realises that the stage appears to have him on a tight leesh. Balling out instructions he stamps around about his short mic lead, causing a ruckus when they won’t let him into the crowd.

Changing his tune slightly, Carter declares that in a few days he’ll be ‘making an honest woman’ out of his future Mrs. Sweet, right? Wrong. What follows is a song so filthy it would make even the most seasoned whore blush. Oh, and of course he calls us all cunts. Well, what were you expecting, really?

So the songs fall a little flat, so there’s not the atmosphere yet, but so what? Pure Love might be a band but currently, all eyes are still firmly fixed on the former Gallows member and it’s truly Carter that makes the show. A one man offensive (in both senses of the word), he commands the stage and the tent with a charisma that most people can only dream about. He doesn’t give a fuck and it’s fucking great to see.