Reading Festival review, day three: Queen of alt-pop Billie Eilish closes the weekend in sublime but subdued fashion
The IndependentSign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Cavorting around Main Stage East with a cohort of dancers in The Last Dinner Party’s dresses, she hollers her way through the operatic pop drama of “Hold the Girl” on her knees, as if tormented by the sound of her own backing track. “My Life”, in particular, comes across as a ponderous “Mr Brightside”, and while Brandon Flowers’ showman talk of whirlwind journeys and lessons learned was occasionally touching, Dan Reynolds – topless and pumped, as if stopping by between cage fights – invokes a heavier tone by punctuating the set with new age self-help advice and testimonials on the benefits of psychiatric therapy. Later, Eilish – who at 21 is Reading’s youngest ever headliner – briefly dons a crown in recognition of her standing as the queen of alternative pop, but otherwise, her oppressive tone buried vocal mumbles and total lack of big gig pizzazz – a signifier of the downbeat direction of festival headline sets in the age of the bedroom pop superstar – is somewhat at odds with her between-song encouragement to “have some fun” and “go as buck wild as you want”. “Oxytocin” is vampiric Latino pop; “GOLDWING” throbs along on subterranean jungle beats; “I Didn’t Change My Number” is funk music entering its third month locked in a basement.