Reading Festival Day One

Today is the first day of the annual Reading Festival. So, off to Reading I go. I arrived there around midday and made my way backstage. Today there were some great bands playing. Franz Ferdinand, The Kaiser Chiefs, The Yeah Yeah Yeas, Ice T, Bob Geldof's daughter was there Peaches. Funnily enough, I photographed her a few days ago in Ibiza.. When I was chatting to her today, she said "are you stalking me" cheeky little cow. Anyway, she seems to be getting her self into a bit of trouble these days. Anyway, back in the real world, I was doing a shoot with Alex Kapranos or Franz Ferdinand and Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs. We were doing a shoot backstage in the dressing rooms. They really are very very nice guys.

Alex Kapranos & Ricky Wilson
Copyright 2006 Danny Clifford













The Kaiser Cheifs were supporting Franz Ferdinand on the Main Stage.. Dan Rogers turned up in Reading on his bike.. I have seen this bike, but I am sure it will be a monster. Anyway, when Franz Ferdinand went on stage, the sky opened and it poured with rain. I shot the Franz show from the stage. It was far more civilised than standing in the rain out front.
Copyright 2006 Danny Clifford













Franz had some great back drops and video screen also behind them. It was all very colourful. One amazing thing happend durin the gig, when Alex asked got the whole crowd waving their arms left then right.. This may not sound like a big deal, but it looked amazing from up there on stage. I dont know how many people there were in the crowd, I would geus at 80,000 but it looked fantastic.