Bleachers deliver the sort of set dreams are made of at Reading 2024

It’s rowdy, beautiful and fiercely positive. Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Frances Beach. Last time we saw Jack Antonoff, he was onstage at Wembley Stadium with Taylor Swift calling him the producer of the century. It’s a hat he wears well, making game-changing albums with the likes of Lorde and Lana Del Rey, but today he’s at Reading as the freewheeling leader of one of the most uplifting rock bands of the century. Over the years, the emotional power in Bleachers’ cathartic, 80s inspired rock has inspired a cult following but the outward facing ambition of their 2024 self-titled album swung beyond that. As he told Dork earlier this year, it feels like the secret is out and this whole era has been driven by gut-led excitement and a desire for more. “Let’s blow the fucking sky off the sky,” he grins ahead of a absolutely massive ‘Chinatown’. The whole set is driven by a sense of warmth, with Jack extending an invitation to the tight-knit community that’s formed around Bleachers’ music through the playfully antagonistic ‘How Dare You Want More’ and the jubilant ‘I Want To Get Better’. From the thundering ‘I Am Right On Time’ through the snarly funk of ‘Modern Girl’ to the scattershot rock of ‘Jesus Is Dead’, today’s main stage set is the perfect introduction to Bleachers’ giddy world. The music bounces between heard-on-the-sleeve tenderness and a rebellious desire for a good time. “When we said we were coming to Reading, people said ‘be careful. They’ve finished their exams and they’re fucking feral’,” says Jack before asking the crowd to get on shoulders for the euphoric Rollercoaster’. “It’s time you made all our festival dreams come true,” he adds with a grin, enjoying the communal rowdiness that unfolds before him Constantly encouraging the crowd to get involved but fearlessly doing things their own way, the whole thing is a swaggering burst of heartfelt rock & roll. It’s rowdy, beautiful and fiercely positive. It’s the sort of set dreams are made of.