Dave headlines Reading Festival headline night: yellow smoke, fireworks and thousands of people singing "Thiago Silva"

Wearing a black overalls, the upper body was untied around the waist midway through the song, revealing a fitted sweater underneath - this is the outfit that 28-year-old Dave wore when he appeared on the Saturday night of Reading Festival 2026. It was simple, but enough for him to be free on the main stage. According to NME's live music review, he launched "Verdansk", "Clash", and "Location" in three consecutive bursts. The stage was filled with yellow smoke. While he was directing the chorus, the heat of the fireworks he released could be felt through the second guardrail.

This co-headlined performance with RAYE is more joyful than outsiders imagined. The Boy Who Played the Harp, which he released last year, is an introspective album that deals with self-doubt after becoming famous; before that, his collaboration with Central Cee on "Sprinter" allowed him to break into the American market. After rising in popularity, he chose to step away from the limelight. But this night when he stood on the main stage of Reading, NME described him as clearly in "party mode". Facing the endless and dense audience in front of him, he once showed a slightly embarrassed smile.

What really pushed the whole show to a climax was the interlude before "Thiago Silva" came on stage. The audience in the audience sang "Ohhh Thiago Silva" to the melody of "Seven Nation Army", and Dave's guitarist played the signature intro, causing a commotion in the audience. Dave took the microphone and jokingly asked: "I have a song called "Thiago Silva", if you want to listen to it, Reading...?" Then thousands of audience members sang the entire song with him verbatim. This scene was called a moment worthy of being written into the history of Reading Music Festival by NME's music reviewer.

The whole performance was interspersed with multiple groups of guests: James Blake took the stage to sing the emotional "Both Sides of a Smile"; Kano sang with him on "3 P's Freestyle" and "Chapter 16"; Central Cee appeared and performed a fiery "Sprinter", once again setting the audience ablaze. Dave emotionally mentioned on the stage that when he first set foot on this music festival in 2017, he only performed in the 1Xtra tent. Now that he is at the top of the main stage, he said that he will not "take this for granted."

Dave's complete set that night included "Verdansk", "Clash", "Location", "Both Sides of a Smile" with James Blake, "Screwface Capital", "Professor 16", "Trojan Horse", "The Boy Who Played the Harp", "Sprinter" with Central Cee, and "Starlight" and "Raindance".