Reading’s Are You Listening? Festival is now in its second decade and is one of the highlights in the town’s musical calendar. Although it attracts a more mature crowd than its big brother, the increasingly pop focused Reading Festival, the multi venue event still focuses on up and coming bands mixed in with a few more left field choices. Over the years, we have the likes of Idles, Black Honey, Lambrini Girls, Hot Wax, Pet Needs and Bob Vylan producing memorable early sets at the festival.

This year, the event is spread across seven venues including Sub89, The Facebar, Purple Turtle and the impressive St Laurence Church. The day starts at noon with local artist folk punk Ben Marwood gracing the Market Place stage. Ben’s been doing this a long time and has a good selection of varied material although the stand out was a song used to remember the first 30 numbers in Pi. Add in a song with a singalong chorus of ‘we all forgot the words’ and you are definitely onto a winner. Ben Marwood - AYL 25 St Laurence Church has hosted Are You Listening? for a few years and it always looks an impressive venue especially when there is no backdrop hiding the ornate carvings in front of the alter. First up is the post punk funk of Y playing to a sizeable crowd. Any band with a saxophone is going to do well to my ears, and adding a jazz element to the band’s sound makes for a very enjoyable set. Singer Sophie adds a Debbie Harry vibe to the proceedings as she glances over her sunglasses to survey the gyrating audience. One to watch most certainly. Y - AYL 25 Staying in the church, next up is the flamboyant Ziyad Al-Samman, resplendent in a stunning red shirt that few men could honestly get away with wearing The Jordanian born, London based singer brings along one of the most energetic performances of the day as he bounces across the stage and frequently into the audience. The disco beats of ‘Ya Habibi’ and equally hummable chorus are a delight whilst the eighties europop vibe of ‘Bang’ will have you happily tapping along. This could be incredibly cheesy but Ziyad pulls it off with aplomb helped by his infectious personality – the man is clearly enjoying himself far too much. Ziyad-Al-Samman - AYL 25 The downside of multi venue festivals is either having to leave a set early or arrive late to the next. By the time I had gotten down to the Purple Turtle for House of Women, the venue was already rammed with the side door being the only way to get anywhere near the stage. I doubt we’ll be seeing the band playing venues this size for much longer given the excellent  alt rock wall of sound coming from the stage. House of Women - AYL 25 Heading over to the Facebar to see Skunkworm went a little pear-shaped with this clumsy oaf tripping over his own feet whilst crossing the Oxford Road and faceplanting the tarmac. Battered and bruised, I hobbled into the venue to catch the start of the band’s set, only to find that the sensor shutter on my camera had packed in as well. Cue trying and failing to get the camera working again. Meanwhile, Skunkworm were producing another of their raucous performances channeling the outer edges of the eighties and nineties alternative scenes. There’s a hell of a lot of promise in this band – they are not there yet, but if they keep developing along this trajectory, there will be great things ahead. Skunkworm - AYL 25 I pop out to the local camera shop to see if there is any hope for the camera (there isn’t) and return to the Facebar to find it rammed for Benefits. The Teesside duo have come a long way since their formation in 2021 dropping some of their punkier elements and moving more into electronic territories, whilst retaining their social anger in their lyrics. The crowd are lapping it up and it is well deserved. Benefits - AYL 25 Heading back home to retrieve up my old (and working) camera, I returned to the Facebar in time to see Canada’s Truck Violence. Fuck me, this band are good – proper visceral hardcore punk rock. The band are all over the place and it one of the most enjoyable sets I have seen since Discharge played here a few years back. Truck Violence - AYL 25 Having decided that rushing between venues was likely to cause me more injuries, I decided to stay put in the Facebar to see The Pink Diamond Revue. Stalwarts of the local scene, the band have been producing acid drenched psychedelic soundscapes intertwined with distorted twangy guitars for many years. Guitarist Tim’s menacing presence is offset by the glamorous but battered shop mannequin that takes place of a recognized singer. Despite the strange stage set up and hallucinogenic projected visuals, songs such as ‘At the Discotheque’ and ‘Elvis Presley’ demonstrate why people keep coming to see them. Pink Diamond Revue - AYL 25 Alien Chicks are next and the three piece are another highlight. Another band that mixes post punk beats with jazz elements, they are an exhilarating blend of genres – each song keeps you guessing where they will end up next. Having two vocalists helps widen the sound whilst the rhythms produced by drummer Martha and bassist Stefan are delicious. Alien Chicks - AYL 25 A change of pace next with punk poet Thick Richard taking the stage. Coming from the John Cooper Clark school of poets, he swears a lot and ‘Aging Raver’ is quality but it is the Greg Wallace puppet that takes the day. Thick Richard - AYL 25 AK/DK are another interesting prospect with the duo sat behind two drum kits and a bank of synths. The trance like beats pulsate around the room like the soundtrack to one of those obscure eighties trashy Mad Max rip offs. It shouldn’t work but it does, even more so when Thick Richard takes up vocal duties for a few songs. AK/DK - AYL 25 Ending the night at the Facebar are the wonderfully named Man/ Woman/Chainsaw. The band are impeccably young but have a significant number of gigs behind them plus they have been making waves in the industry. A number of their songs remind me about Of Monsters and Men with a similar penchant for fiddle enhanced and equally hummable songs. Man/Woman/Chainsaw - AYL 25 Around town, events are still taking place but this old soul is calling it a day. Once again, Are You Listening/ has proved its worth putting on an eclectic mix of acts on across town (even if you can never see all of them). Over half the acts were new to me and being blown away by something different is why I still enjoy doing this after nearly forty years of gig going. Long may it continue.