Little Boots Turns Tables on Reading Bottle Throwers

A decade ago, this wouldn't have happened at the Reading Festival.

A blonde pop starlet? In a dress? With backing singers? Synths? No sign of a Flying V guitar? Several years ago when brattish pop duo Daphne & Celeste played the festival they received a hail of lager pints, some of which had already been stored in bladders for a few hours, so the legend has it.

But Little Boots -- the BBC Sound of 2009 winner and one of rash of female singers to brighten up Britain's pop chart this summer -- turned the tables on this dubious Reading tradition in front of a massive crowd at the NME/Radio 1 Tent on Friday.

"I threw my shoes out into the audience," singer Victoria Hesketh tells Spinner. "They weren't comfortable and I couldn't move around in them. It's all about physics with shoes.

"I hope the two people who found the shoes find each other, take a photo of them and send it to me."
Hesketh, whose electro-tinged pop has included the hit 'New in Town', says the reception to the show was a surprise.

"It was f---ing amazing," she said. "It was one of the biggest shows of the summer. I was really worried because the Virgins had played before me and the tent was only half full. It was such a big crowd -- and they knew all the words."

Reading bookers may take note -- the rock festival may finally have learned to love electro pop.