Every Reading Festival there’s The Crowd or A Moment. The set that not-so-quietly dominates the lineup whether it’s someone returning, reuniting or making an arrival of sorts. Last year, Arctic Monkeys made their big comeback at the festival after several years away; in 2019, Billie Eilish played a mid-afternoon set to one of the biggest-ever crowds in the festival’s history.
This year, it’s undoubtedly Central Cee. Though The 1975 are indulging in some much-needed fan service, and Billie is making her comeback to the UK, this is the set that brings in diehards and curious fans alike. And how can you not be intrigued by this prospect? Cench is the hottest rapper in the UK right now, his Dave collaboration ‘Sprinter’ reigning at Number One in the UK charts for 10 weeks and his golden-touch for hits right now that few can match. Shows have been scarce until this summer, as he takes on Glastonbury, Governors Ball and beyond to build a festival repertoire.
It leads to a conversation that few acts can justify: Are we looking at a future headliner? In this case, yes, almost certainly… but perhaps not yet. Rap and hip-hop continue to draw the biggest crowds and most engaged audiences at Reading: Kendrick Lamar, Dave and Stormzy have all triumphed here in recent years. And for large portions of this set, so does Cench. No songs go past without every line being chanted back: he references material from the 2021 mixtape ‘Wild West’ as “old-school” but they sound fresh and at the forefront of the fan’s mind. ‘Doja’ and ‘Sprinter’ draw some of the rowdiest moments so far, as does a gooey middle section of ‘Commitment Issues’ and ‘Obsessed With You’.
There are still a few tweaks before the big slot comes calling, however. Throughout, there’s almost nothing to look at: visuals are minimal, the backing track overwhelms the odd song and there’s little presence or showmanship. The pals he brings on stage quickly lose energy and end up milling around looking awkward. You can’t help but feel that the strength of the material – and it is solid – is let down somewhat by this omission, as is the shorter-than-billed runtime he ends up playing. Only have to look at Loyle Carner’s heroic set yesterday evening for the type of show that thrives here.
He has vaulted the initial hurdle of having the songs to back up and fully justify the hype – with a few tweaks, added pizzazz and another slate of hits surely incoming, there’s potential for this to go truly stratospheric. The power is in hands… but can he harness it?
Central Cee played:
‘Loading’
‘Little Bit of This’
‘Retail Therapy’
‘Overseas’ (D-Block Europe cover)
‘UK Rap’
‘LA Leakers Freestyle’
‘Day in the Life’
‘6 For 6’
‘Commitment Issues’
‘Obsessed With You’
‘LET GO’
‘One up’
‘Sprinter’
‘Doja’