Florence + The Machine headlined Reading Festival for the first time tonight (August 30) – see the full setlist and footage below.
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The band appeared on the festival’s main stage – now known as The Grid – at Little John’s Farm just before 8pm, ahead of fellow Sunday headliners Chase & Status.
It marked Florence Welch and co.’s first performance at Reading since 2012, and followed their headline set on Welch’s birthday at Leeds Festival on Friday (August 28).
The show also brought their ‘Everybody Scream’ tour to an end, having begun with a run of UK and European arena dates in February before travelling across North America and returning to Europe for the summer festival season.
Welch was on characteristically energetic form, prowling and spinning her way across The Grid’s huge stage, leading singalongs to the likes of ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’ and ‘You Got The Love’.
She told the crowd that it was “the first festival I ever wanted to go to”, adding that her dad took her when she was 14. “This is my childhood dream, so thank you so much.”.
IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen joined her for ‘One Of The Greats’, the song the pair wrote together and recorded in a single take. He also appeared on stage with her on the tour’s opening night in Belfast in February, and also at Madison Square Garden later in the year.
With the rain tearing down, ‘Dog Days Are Over’ drew one of the night’s most frenzied crowd reactions, with Florence imploring the crowd to join her in “a small ritual”, asking “every single person at this festival” to “put your phones the fuck away”, because “filming this song will stop you from experiencing this song, and is that not why you came?” As the final chorus hit, the crowd leapt as one, arms in the air.
Florence and the Machine ao vivo no Reading Festival pic.twitter.com/cvG09xeJa3.
FINAL #everybodyscreamtour dress is BLACK for Reading pic.twitter.com/RPydghaC8V.
Florence + The Machine’s Reading 2026 setlist was.
NME awarded ‘Everybody Scream’ five stars, describing it as “a tempestuous record, one that stays with you longer than the rage and anguish which, here, is as fleeting as it is striking”.
Welch’s history with Reading stretches back considerably further. The festival was the first she ever attended as a fan, having received a ticket as a 14th birthday present.
In the intervening years, Welch has become an established festival headliner. Florence + The Machine famously stepped in for Foo Fighters at Glastonbury 2015 after Dave Grohl broke his leg, with their Pyramid Stage set including a cover of ‘Times Like These’.
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