Slayyyter live at Reading 2026: pop’s star du jour blasts off

Pity any punters who turn up to Slayyyter ’s main stage early on Saturday afternoon (August 29) nursing hangovers from the first night of Reading 2026 .

The Missouri-born star du jour is not in the mood to let the crowd recover gently.

“You ready for this next one, Reading? Don’t piss me off,” she yells into the mic after ‘Old Technology’.

READ MORE: Slayyyter – ‘Wor$t Girl In America’ review: pop that finds salvation in the underbelly of American cinema Even as the rain that’s hammering Richfield Avenue turns aggressively sideways, the crowd does its best to keep her satisfied, bouncing for every chorus and throwing their hands in the air with abandon.

Halfway through the set, Slayyyter seems appeased.

Instead of barking out more commands to “make some noise” or “screaaaam”, she switches to a sweeter tone, purring ahead of ‘I’m Actually Kinda Famous’: “Oh Readiiing , I wanna make you feel like a fucking star today.” It’s hard to feel like anything close to celebrity when you’re being battered by the great British weather, but there is undoubtedly a star before us on stage.

Slayyyter is the kind of performer whose sheer presence can hype the crowd up, pushing them further with her rasped, rocked-up delivery of her lyrics – at one point, she drops her voice to a Slayer -worthy guttural moan that feels like it comes from deep within her core.

Slayyyter live at Reading 2026.

Credit: Andy Ford for NME Her world-building, too, with the limited resources of a mid-afternoon festival slot, is top-notch.

The trailer-trash, Midwest USA aesthetic of ‘Wor$t Girl In America’ is transported to Reading via a washing line with spray-painted t-shirts hanging, a tattooed backing band in sleeveless t-shirts and vests, and a screen showing a field of wheat flapping in the breeze.

It pairs perfectly with Slayyyter’s scuzzy electro-pop – rough around the edges but with its own charm.

That Slayyyter might have given up music before she got to this point makes today’s set feel even more special – a star who’s grinded for her breakthrough and is now enjoying the fruits of her labour, big time.

It’s not lost on her either.

“I can’t thank you enough for all the love you’ve been showing me,” she shares before an epic final two-parter of ‘Brand New Chanel$’ and ‘Beat Up Chanel$’.