Bad Religion

21st Century Appearances: 2010 Lock Up Headliner, 2005 Lock Up

The Defining Reading Moment: Celebrating their 30th Anniversary with a blistering headline set up against Arcade Fire & Pendulum

Bad Religion are THE So Cal punk Godfathers. Where other bands imploded or fell by the wayside Bad Religion soldiered on and flourished, celebrating their 30^th birthday at Reading in 2010 topping the bill in the Lock-Up. An extensive back catalogue spanning 4 decades with critically acclaimed records in each, they are the very definition of punk rock, with founding member Brett Gurewitz owning the genre’s premier record label Epitaph.

They are also quite possibly the smartest band to grace the stages of the festival, singer Greg Graffin is a professor at the University of California, and the smartest thing festival bookers did was bring the band back again after their show in 2005. In 2010 they took to the stage and tore it up with a greatest hits set appropriate for a birthday party. They were even joined on stage for ‘21^st Century (Digital) Boy’ by NoFX’s Fat Mike and their closer ‘Sorrow’ had the whole tent singing along with what was left of their voices. Adam McCartney