On one hand, Reading Festival is exactly where Freak belongs. Rowdy and ragged round the edges, there’s no way Connar Ridd is standing on ceremony. On the other, The Pit is usually the resolve of a different kind of band. Not that that’s stopping him.
Blasting out of the traps with the kind of energy reserved for those playing by their own set of rules, Freak packs a punch, sitting half way between the unvarnished assault of Slaves and the sugar rush mayhem of Ridd’s fellow school alumni Rat Boy. Already blessed with his own enthusiastic band of fans, a first short power cut can’t dampen the fire. ‘Cake’ sounds like a vaguely tuneful bag of spammers falling down a long spiral staircase, and it’s glorious. ‘No Money’ – a song “about having no money” – goes even higher on the good old din scale. For avoidance of doubt; it’s a good thing. In the end, those power issues win out, bringing to a close the set mid-riff, half way through the final song. It matters not, though. The battle is already won.