August 28, 2010 19:06

Serj Tankian joined by orchestra at Reading Festival

Former System Of A Down man preaches on the NME/Radio 1 Stage

Serj Tankian was joined by a string and horn section for the whole of his set on Reading Festival's NME/Radio 1 Stage.

The former System Of A Down frontman performed a number of tracks from his debut solo album 'Elect The Dead' and its forthcoming follow-up, 'Imperfect Harmonies'.

With his band and orchestra dressed in black, Tankian stood out in a white suit, dancing and playing air guitar and violin.

He performed a number of monologues before some songs, criticising capitalism and society. Introducing 'Borders Are' he declared: "Trees don't recognise borders, nature doesn't recognise borders, natural disasters don't recognise borders, the sky doesn't recognise borders – so why the fuck should we?"

Serj Tankian played:

'Into The Hand'
'Beethoven's Cunt'
'Lie Lie Lie'
'The Sky Is Over'
'Saving Us'
'Left Of Center'
'Elect The Dead'
'Electron'
'The Unthinking Majority'
'Borders Are'
'Feed Us'
'Empty Walls'

NME is coming live from both sites at Reading And Leeds Festivals this weekend. Head to NME.COM/festivals for full coverage including news, reviews, videos and picture galleries.

Plus make sure you buy next week's issue of NME to get the definitive review of Reading And Leeds Festivals, either on UK newsstands from September 1 or digitally worldwide.