Foals' Reading 2016 headline slot is the triumph everyone expected, obviously

It’s been a long time coming for Foals. No flash in the pan wonder, shoved blinking into the Main Stage lights as they’re catapulted up the bill, they’ve worked for this. We may always hear about the lack of new blood at the top reaches of festival posters, and while they’ve done it before elsewhere at smaller events, this is something different. Tonight, Foals headline Reading. The beauty of the Oxford five piece’s coronation is there's absolutely zero doubt they’ve got what it takes to pull it off. It’s a unanimous victory; of course Foals are ready. They’ve been ready for a while now. In many ways we should be asking what took so long. Still, that doesn’t mean they’re taking their step up lightly. Foals have brought the fire, quite literally. Flames hit the sky from huge on-stage pyros as the bangers roll out. And what bangers they are. ‘My Number’, ‘What Went Down’ and ‘Inhaler’ - the track which first suggested Foals weren’t just a smart sounding math rock band - all land perfectly. “We grew up down the road,” Yannis muses before ‘Spanish Sahara’. “This was the first festival to give us a chance. We played in 2007, I think, on the Carling stage. It’s pretty overwhelming to see all of you out there. Let’s make it magic.” Magic they make it, too. ‘Cassius’ is a track that belongs on the highest plinths of the Foals trophy cabinet, and yet live it rarely if ever gets a look in anymore. The last time was, literally, years ago. Tonight it refuses to sit it out. Deployed with a frenzy, it’s the echo back that proves this was always on the cards for Foals - the most likely from their mid 00s yearbook proved champions after all. As ‘Two Steps Twice’ rings out - Disclosure’s Guy Lawrence joining Jack Bevan on drums and confetti littering the air - the transformation is complete. Foals play exclusively in the big leagues now. Further victories await.