The 1989 Reading Festival Day Three

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The Reading Festival is an annual three-day music festival held in Reading, England. A buddy and I attended the 1989 fest, where, for the first two days, we, along with two girls we met upon arrival, had a blast. After two hard days of partying, we all slept in for a bit on day three, knowing we had a long one ahead of us. Day three lineup, in order: World Domination Enterprises, Head of David, Loop, Jesus Jones, Crazyhead, Pop Will Eat Itself, Voice of the Beehive, Butthole Surfers, The Wonderstuff, and The Mission. We made it to the festival ground in time for Loop's brilliant, distorted set, and didn't leave for the rest of the day. We'd been drinking our own booze the whole time, so I hadn't had to negotiate the beer line until day three. I stood in the same place for about 15 minutes before I realized that there was no line. It was every man for himself. I learned to gorilla my way to the front, and started getting two beers at a time after that. Apparently, the girls found it hilarious to withhold the info on how the "line" works. Jesus Jones was fun. This was right before they blew up, and they did a lot of stuff from their Liquidizer album, which I like. If Jesus Jones was fun, Pop Will Eat Itself was an out and out blast, and not just during their hit "Can You Dig It?" They did a killer version of Sigue Sigue Sputnik's "Love Missile F 1-11." Meanwhile, we got involved in the biggest pogo pit I've ever been in during Voice of the Beehive's set. The Butthole Surfers trashed their instruments as soon as they walked onstage, then stole the entire festival with their energy-laden set. They are one of the best live bands I've ever seen. The next band, The Wonderstuff, a great band in their own right, seemed boring in comparison. Finally, my favorite band, The Mission (known as The Mission UK here in the States) closed the festival with a brilliant set that included the filming of the video for their song "Deliverance." It was my first time seeing them, and the only time I've seen the original lineup. It was a special night for me, more so than the other three of us. Again, the girl I'd met and I slept in the car. In the morning, we dropped the girls off at the station (bus or train, I'm not sure which,) and headed back to Dover to begin our journey back to Germany. Little did we know, adventure was still upon us.