There are over 200 artists performing at Reading Festival. Assuming you’re not one of those pricks that goes to a festival just to see the headliners, that’s a hell of a lot of bands you don’t (yet) give a shit about to trawl through in the hope of finding your new love. Plus, you’ve got a job, pubs exist and you don’t even have a tent yet, so time is in short supply. That’s why we exist. We’re here to make sure that you don’t settle on wandering around in a field, blindly hoping to stumble upon greatness but settling on Deaf Havana or, even worse… Mallory Knox. Here are our top tips. Some are new bands and others are just great. Also, there are 12.

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Sometimes, things go wrong. Things went wrong when we sent our man in Liverpool, Matt Thomas, along to photograph the Limp Bizkit-headlined Kerrang! Tour 2014. Some wires got crossed somewhere, and whole everyone else in Liverpool with a camera was allowed into the photopit to snap Fred Durst and co., we were barred and only allowed to snap the support acts – Crossfaith, Nekrogoblikon and Baby Godzilla.

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Part and parcel of being opinionated music lovers is that we go and experience lots of music in its natural habitat – on a stage – and then we decide how good it was. Some spectacles are so powerful that they evoke emotions strong enough to form memories through the drunkenness. It’s a rarity but that’s why some here have to name several before deciding upon their Favourite Gig of 2013. There is zero reason for you to be reading this but if you’ve read this far, you’ll get at least halfway down before clicking the cross.

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We’ve talked about how punk rock Enter Shikari are before. Right now they could be playing massive venues, raking in the cash, and generally have a bloody nice time of it being the world premier whatever-you’re-calling-it-this-week-core banbut-it’s-got-lasers-and-electronics-core band. But instead, they’re off playing deliberately much smaller venues than usual, just because they bloody want to. That’s how our photographer, Matt Thomas, was able to get so up close and personal with the action when they played the New Brighton (not near the Brighton you’re probably thinking of) Pavilion last week.

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