Arctic Monkeys at Reading Festival is the definition of iconic. When Britain’s biggest rock export started playing “505”, the crowd began singing along to every word, creating an electric energy among the 100,000-strong audience. Arctic Monkeys have closed most of their shows with the dreamy slow-burn hit since it dropped in 2007. The band has changed a lot since 2007, but one thing that hasn’t changed is their ability to create hypnotic, intense live shows like their headlining Reading set.
The brooding presence of frontman Alex Turner was the center point for the performance, and he didn’t disappoint with a lithe and sonorous vocal in the opening half of the song. Turner let the tension build until the 2:30 mark, where he opened up the taps with a searing, almost shouted vocal, which along with a thumping groove from the band, got the whole crowd jumping as one. It probably won’t surprise The Music Man readers that the smash hit 10 million view performance went down in Reading history.
BBC Music uploaded the live cut of “505” to YouTube on August 28, 2022, and it has since become one of the most popular Reading performances in the history of the event. Fans said the performance was big-time goosebumps territory, and added comments such as “They sang every single word! Wow! That crowd was wild!” and “Hearing that crowd, an ocean of people in unison, the looks on their faces, the build, the release… almost moves me to tears.”
Arctic Monkeys were really firing on all cylinders at their 2022 Reading set, which marked their fifth appearance at the event. The band produced another viral video with their performance of “R U Mine?” at Reading, which drew 3.1 million views. The psych rock banger finds the band kicking out the jams, as Turner picks up a six-string to drive the band hard with a snaking fuzz riff. The Music Man has to say that not only Turner but also his bandmates really hit it out of the park with the vocals on this one.
Arctic Monkeys’ history with Reading Festival goes all the way back to 2005. Sheffield’s finest debuted at the event that year despite not even having a studio album to their name at that point. The fledgling band had only an EP out but caused a sensation by drawing a massive crowd for their appearance on the New Band Stage. Arctic Monkeys have appeared a total of five times at Reading now, with their appearances coming in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2022. They have headlined three times now, with every appearance since 2009 being a headlining slot.