Heavy rain subsides as Charli XCX takes to stage at Reading Festival

Charli XCX played Reading Festival on Friday (Matt Crossick/PA) PA Archive Casey Cooper-Fiske 5 minutes ago Heavy rain at Reading Festival subsided as Charli XCX delivered the first full UK set of her Music, Fashion , Film era.

The 34-year-old opened with fuzz-drenched, electronically manipulated rocker Rock Music, which also opens her latest record, before embarking on a set which drew heavily from Music, Fashion, Film and also featured songs from her Wuthering Heights album, released in February.

She kept words to a minimum throughout the set, telling the crowd towards the end: “Thank you, Reading.”

Despite the change in sound towards more instrument-based music, many of Brat’s rave-inducing classics remained in the set on Friday night, such as 360, Von Dutch and Guess, with many being mixed with snippets from songs on Music, Fashion, Film.

Before Apple, she teasingly said: “Here’s a classic for you, Reading.”

Unlike on the Brat tour, which saw her mostly performing alone with the exception of the odd special guest, at Reading Charli, whose real name is Charlotte Aitchison, performed flanked by hordes of dancers, and with a full live band.

The dancers were dressed all in black, matching Music, Fashion, Film’s dark cover, which features The Velvet Underground’s John Cale, who features on Wuthering Heights’s House, director Martin Scorsese and fashion designer Marc Jacobs.

Festival-goers frolick in the mud during the Reading Festival (Jeff Moore/PA) PA Wire 2007 saw Charli handed a cigarette by a dancer which she took one puff of and then handed back, while Pink Diamond from How I’m Feeling Now began as the sun set.

Fireworks and flames exploded as Charli sang her part of House, which features a spoken word part by Welsh singer Cale.

She also performed two of her B-sides which were made available to fans only on YouTube, Instagram and Apple Music in Playboy Bunny and If You Take Away The Music Then What Has She Got?.

The set finished with Nothing Lasts Forever, the closer from her latest record, with director David Cronenberg’s repeated words of “they are dead, they are gone, nothing lasts forever” echoing over the main stage.

She began the set in a blazer and trademark black shorts before changing into a long blue dress and later a torn white shirt.

Geese frontman humours damp crowd as they brave heavy rain at Reading Festival

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