Royal Blood followed up their summer comeback shows with a surprise appearance at Reading Festival last Friday, August 28. The Brighton alt-rock two-piece popped into the new Gallery tent for a 40-minute set of classic hits, as well as two brand new tracks.
The duo returned from a two-year absence earlier this summer with a batch of announcements – a new single ‘Ten Over Ten’, the November release date for their fifth album ‘Dead Company’, and a run of three UK shows to play “a couple of new songs!” ‘Ten Over Ten’ showcased a new heavier sound with raw, uncompressed production quality.
The initial set of UK shows ended with a night at Southampton’s O2 Guildhall on Thursday August 27, leaving a gap just in time for last weekend’s Reading and Leeds Festival. Their sole members, drummer Ben Thatcher and bassist/vocalist Mike Kerr made an appearance on Jack Saunders’ show on BBC Radio 1 to drop the news that they would be playing a secret set on Friday August 28 at 2pm.
As the crowds packed into the tent at The Gallery, the new alternative music second stage, Royal Blood ripped into fan-favourite singles ‘Out Of The Black’ and ‘Come On Over’ before giving ‘Ten Over Ten’ its festival debut, which brought the pits with its frantic, metallic riffage. From there, they broke into groovy jam ‘Boilermaker’ and radio hit ‘Little Monster’ before unveiling their second single from ‘Dead Company’. ‘Swallow The Bomb’ is a fast-paced punky blast, with its melodic bass strumming and desert-rock vocals. Kerr and Thatcher look like this is the most fun they’ve had all set, playing together in perfect synergy. The duo finished up with ‘Figure It Out’, one of the songs that made them so famous as a live act. Check the full setlist below:
‘Out Of The Black’
‘Come On Over’
‘Ten Over Ten’
‘Boiler Maker’
‘How Did We Get So Dark?’
‘Little Monster’
‘Swallow The Bomb’
‘Turn The Lights Out’
‘Trouble Coming’
‘Figure It Out’
Sadly the secret set was a one-off for Reading, with Leeds-goers missing out – but if you weren’t there, BBC iPlayer have the full show available until the end of September. Thankfully, Royal Blood will be back on tour this November and December supporting the November 13 release of ‘Dead Company’, with dates in Bristol, Newcastle, Manchester, Glasgow, Wolverhampton, London and their hometown Brighton. Unpeople are support on all dates, with tickets on sale now.
