Friday 18 July 2025.

Friday 18 July 2025. MINISTRY OF SOUND CLASSICAL live at Englefield Estate , Theale, near Reading. I am back again at this lovely outdoor venue. The UK has got plenty of great venues out in the countryside that hold live music events in the summer. Venue security told me around 8500 tickets sold for The Wombats last night, but tonight around 10,000 are here. Pretty much like a giant rave from the 1990s. I saw 60 mins of the PAUL OAKENFOLD 90 mins set. There is no doubt Paul is a "superstar DJ". Paul now aged 61, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Massive Attack, The Cure, New Order, The Rolling Stones, The Stone Roses and Michael Jackson. Oakenfold was voted the No. 1 DJ in the World twice in 1998 and 1999 by DJ Magazine. He got the crowd nicely warmed up. MINISTRY OF SOUND CLASSICAL arrived on stage at 9pm for their 90 mins set. MOS were one of the most famous dance clubs in the 1990s. Must be around 30 musicians on stage, and the strings and brass sound fantastic. Some tracks were instrumental , but we had three female singers sing a couple of tracks each, and there were three backing singers that also sang some tracks. Plenty of anthems from the likes of Fat Boy Slim and Faithless . The lasers kicked in halfway through when it got darker. A dozen giant balloons were pushed into the crowd near the end. An enjoyable enough evening. ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Thursday 17 July 2025 THE WOMBATS, with special guests DOVES, HARD-Fi & ALFIE TEMPLEMAN in the grounds of the stunning ENGLEFIELD ESTATE, near Reading. The Wombats have loads of great tracks , with my fave being a superb older track called ' Techno Fan'. I saw them headline Brixton Academy back in 2011. 15:00 Gates open 17:10-17:50 Alfie Templeman 18:20-19:00 Hard-Fi 19:30-20:30 Doves 21:00-22:30 The Wombats Lot's of car parking spaces and nearest train station is Theale , which is two stops from Reading station , then a 30 mins walk. The show is promoted by Heritage Live and Giles Cooper who put on big names at several stunning outdoor locations. www.heritagelive.net - Visit their website here for upcoming concerts list. ----------------------- My friend with the car and tickets got stuck at work, so sadly we missed all the support acts. My first time at this newish venue , and it's a lovely location in the countryside, where the stage faces the grandeur of Englefield House. THE WOMBATS arrive on stage at 9pm for their 90 mins set. There are big screens tonight , and the overall sound from the stage is crystal clear. It soon gets very lively down the front as early bangers ' Moving to New York' and 'Techno Fan' are played . Murph on vocals and the bass player are bouncing around the stage , as they mix tracks from all their six albums. As headliners, they get the full light show , as darkness falls. Stage hands came on dressed as 7ft Wombats during the show , and for the final song . Lots of guitar led indie rock gems played in the set. Their final song was their usual 'Lets Dance to Joy Division', which sent the crowd home happy...a great show... Full WOMBATS setlist played tonight.... Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come Moving to New York Cheetah Tongue Techno Fan Ready for the High Can’t Say No 1996 Pink Lemonade I Love America and She Hates Me Kill the Director Method to the Madness Lethal Combination (Acoustic) Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves) Blood On the Hospital Floor Lemon to a Knife Fight If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming With You Turn Greek Tragedy Let's Dance to Joy Division

Posted 18th July 2025