Gerry Cinnamon aired a new song and played a boisterous set as he headlined the opening night of Reading 2024.
Taking to the main stage for his headline set before Blink-182 closed the opening Friday (August 23), the Scottish singer-songwriter came out to tunes by the likes of ABBA and Neil Diamond before tearing into a career-spanning show backed by the visuals of a retro TV showing 1970s imagery.
Towards the end of the set, he performed ‘Sacred’ – a tender ballad that he said “hasn’t been recorded yet”, dealing with the notion of selling out as he pined, “Nothing’s sacred any more, and your so-called hero’s only in it for the dough“.
Footage of tonight’s performance hasn’t surfaced yet, and Cinnamon’s set wasn’t streamed on iPlayer, but he’s been playing the track at recent shows. See footage from Hampden Park below.
Other highlights of the set came with a rowdy outing of fan favourite ‘Belter’, and the sing-along of “shoe la la la” from ‘Fortune Favours the Bold’, which saw fans throwing their shoes into the sky. “Take care of each other,” he said after. “That’s what it’s all about. Get home in one piece, with all your clothes and shoes on.”
Cinnamon was clearly moved by the huge crowd and the fevered response he received, revealing that he “got emotional straight off the bat”.
Tonight’s music in Reading will end with performances from Blink-182, Jorja Smith and The Prodigy. The sister site of the festival in Leeds, meanwhile, has been plagued by extreme weather problems due to Storm Lillian – with a number of stages, including the BBC Radio One stage, being closed for the whole weekend due to health and safety issues.
Follow all of the action as it happens on the NME Reading & Leeds liveblog here.
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