It's general knowledge that since England thrashed the Germans in the Second World War that V stands for Victory. Mind you, since a certain Richard Branson made his foot steps to take over the cooperate world the familiar V logo with it's empowering right line rocketing towards the sky the letter is more familiar related to the 'Virgin' Group. A chain which has given the public everything from condoms to a wedding store. Eleven years ago Virgin sunk their feet tightly into a pair of Wellington Boots, booked a bundle of top bands and introduced a new festival to music lovers across the UK. The V festival was born and over the years has grown to be one of the most popular weekends of the Summer. As regular as clockwork a Summer Festival automatically has a space in our hectic Summer schedule and this years V was certainly no exception.
SATURDAY
Our stories
come from Hylands Park in Chelmsford whilst our paradox neighbors up in
Staffordshire enjoy their first day of V. It doesn't take a genius to
work out that each band travels overnight to their second destination
in a posh tourbus if you are Chelmsford headliners, Radiohead/ Kasabian/
Fatboy Slim or a dirty cheap transit van if your one of the first acts
on the bill, Daniel Powder/ The Saw Doctors/ Rushmore.
This year a few changes have been added to the site. The first we have
to report back on is the disabled platform which has been moved closer
to the main stage. Bob Angus, the chief in charge of the whole festival
told ABLE2 that they acted on just one report back last year that the
platform was too far away. Bob told us that if people don't give feedback,
they are unaware about the problems. The new position is a lot more better
situated! The second change, which may not be so great if you have a disability
is that the site has been stretched out which means there's more walking
distance between the V and second stage which is sponsored by Channel
4. The third alteration is that the sister sponsor, Virgin Radio has had
it's VIP area pushed right back and just goes to prove that Virgin Mobile
have completely taken over the event.
Of course, one thing which hasn't changed from V is that it still boasts
a remarkable lineup of live music. Which is why we are here in the first
place and had the awkward task of choosing four acts to cover from today's
schedule.
ORSON - Channel 4 / E4 Stage.
'Here's my bright idea' sing this American boy band to a field of punters who have managed to put up their tents in time. Well, here's our bright idea. Why don't we form a boy band, but cleverly divert ourselves around the pop image and have a few bloody good songs under our belt. Then we can engross our fanbase with half an hour with cheery sings such as 'No Tomorrow' and 'Happiness'. If this goes well, which it most probably will we can use the V festival as a warm up to when we support Robbie William's on his UK leg of his tour. After the Summer we can then discuss if we have enough good songs under our bowler type hats to continue with a second album. Which, in all fairness we think we do!
BLOC PARTY - V Stage
Despite mixed reviews from fellow fans we thought Bloc Party gave us another terrific set. The thing about Kele, Russell, Gordon and Matt is that they still come across as a mediocre band on paper. This could be because of their billing at festivals such as these. Bloc Party are incredible live. Although negative comments from today's performance circled around the band being more suitable to an indoor venue to catch their energetic performance in full. We tend to disagree. Whoever opens the Wembley Stadium should book these guys as their support act - mind you, we will probably all be dead before that bloody structure opens anyway!
WE ARE SCIENTISTS - Channel 4/ E4 Stage
Here's an experiment if you are a Scientists yourself. Observation: Having heard so much about new band We Are Scientists we would like to identify what all the fuss is about. Hypothesis: Arrange the group to play at a well established Summer festival, for instance 'V'. Controlled Experiment : The band play to a packed field mid afternoon with a raucous applauding audience. Conclusion: The band are a breath of fresh air and could well be with us for a few more years. Given us enough time to conjure up a decent review of them in the future!
RADIOHEAD - V Stage
No matter
which review you read covering Radioheads' headline billing at V this
year the journalist wouldn't had been any nearer than we were! We could
see the determination in Yorke's eyes as he walked past us to take to
the stage. The hexagonal sticker we had stuck to our tops allowed access
to watch the Oxfordshire legends from the side of the stage. We could
see the set-list and tried to find 'Creep', but it wasn't there. Tonight
brought much speculation concerning the likelihood that the band could
top their now legendary Glastonbury performance.
With this kind of opening you are probably waiting for us to sing their
praises. Sadly this wasn't the case. The hits were there and when they
were played it was magic. Sadly the new songs weren't up to scratch and
the long drained interview of unlistenable screeching, tuneless music
did nothing for the crowd. I our opinion the set should had been shorter.
A greatest hits hour would had been far more welcome.
Joining Tim from Keane all the guests on stage were asked to leave before
the two final songs. Causally walking down the steps backstage we came
away contented yet disappointed. Radiohead weren't on top form but then
something magical happened. The opening notes to 'Creep' rang out. Running
to the pit we witnessed another festival moment which we will never forget.
It was a rollercoaster of a set where dips fell on deaf ears, but fast
and furious twisting 'bends' with old favorites such as 'Pyramid Song',
'High & Low' and 'No Surprises' and a climax corkscrew with 'Creep'.
Other headline acts tonight were Kasabian (Channel 4 Stage), Fatboy Slim (JJB/Puma Arena) and Sandi Thom for some reason was playing at the Virgin Mobile Union Stage.
SUNDAY
You should
know by now that we don't exactly slum it at festivals. The hospitality
at V is one of the most welcoming so it was no surprise to find Jade Goody,
BB7's Mikey & Grace, Sir Richard Branson, Alan Carr and a issue-full
of Heat Magazine C-List celebs roaming around. The main guest area had
a paying bar, fairly decent loos and even an ice cream van. Backstage
had the Channel 4 outside studio, a free bar in the organizers portacabin
and a huge marquee for staff catering. Plus a fantastic massage parlor
which was raising cash for good causes - even Morrisey donated money to
them! But the most glamorous hospitality was the Virgin Mobile Louder
Lounge with a Free bar, a massive Bar-B-Q, inflatable chairs and live
music.
Outside in the pleb area Strongbow and Barcardi provided live music in
their regular bars, both had a very small VIP area tucked away backstage!
Lynx introduced the first ever man-wash, grooming dirty lads who had spent
a hot sweaty night in their tents and Nintendo provided their comedy lounge.
On a more educational level and indeed, a safer one the Don't Do Drugs
& Drive Campaign tried to lecture us that Charlie and driving is a
dangerous combination. Thanks for the tip guys - we would never had guessed!!
Whether you were taking a break to have a Snakebite, a Barcardi Breezer,
having your gonads cleaned, laughing your head off or having a sniff of
brown sugar the most important aspect of the day was to catch some jolly
good live music. Which we did and thought we would share some of the memories
with you, even though we were paralytic before 3pm!
THE FEELING - Channel 4/ E4 Stage
Next year
the V Festival will have the E4 +1 Stage where the acts will play for
a second time one hour later. This is of course, rubbish. In a matter
of fact we relayed this joke to quite a few guests at the festival and
no-one found it funny! Our humor matches our taste in a variety of music
we enjoy and we appreciate The Feeling isn't everyone's favorite band.
But we love 'em.
Their current single, 'Never Be Lonely' is a mellow yet jazzed up little
gem which more or less sums up the band themselves. With the added element
of a stutter in the chorus.
Granted, they are no stadium rock act, but they great mainstream material
makers who are about to embark on their first headlining tour in the Autumn.
Fingers crossed we have given the band enough positive reviews to gain
our complementary tickets!
HARD-FI - V Stage
Um, how
can we put this? Just as The Feeling we have been giving Hard-Fi rave
reviews all Summer. Unfortunately today we were extremely disappointed.
It wasn't purely because of their performance, we had the same banter
from Richard encouraging us to be louder than Staffs. The songs were all
there and they didn't lack any charisma. The trouble with the Stains band
is that they are much more at home playing in a small venue. Their set
often relates to a good lads night out, cash machines, bouncers etc. which
blokes can easily relate to. However when you are standing in a field
with thousands of others it difficult to relate to.
OK, we gave Hard-Fi a good review from T in the Park, but that was probably
because we managed to wangle ourselves on the side of the stage! The band
also need to head back to the studio to write an eagley awaited second
album as they have promoted the current one to death!
FAITHLESS - V Stage
The complete opposite can be said about Faithless. The band can entertain an audience as large as Knebworth. The reason for this is quite simply, because of their music. This may seem obvious, but most complaints from large outdoor gigs relates to the fact that it is virtually impossible to see the band playing if you are stuck right at the back. With this band you could be as blind at Stevie Wonder and still enjoy them to the full potential. A few days after V we phoned bass player, Aubrey who told us that the band aren't planning any more live gigs until next Spring as their record label are requesting a new album to be released before Christmas. Aubrey also told us that Faithless have just signed a contract to have a second management as, up until quite recently, he managed the band himself.
RAZORLIGHT - Channel 4/ E4 Stage
It's Sunday.
We should really be in church. Not because we are religious or anything,
no because we need to confess. This report will include a piece about
a mistake we made on the side of the stage which ended in a near fatal
incident. Before we indulge lets take our final Summer look at Razorlight
before they embark on their first arena tour. Thanks to their ruddy great
current album every song was widely recognized. For a band who have only
been going for a few years their set tonight seemed like a greatest hits
compilation. The band have grown over the years and although still keeping
their rocky feel have managed to reveal their sensitive sides as well
with their current single 'America'. This detour has made Johnny even
more attractive to the opposite sex.
Which leads us to our confession. Standing on the far left hand side of
the stage a fat girl asked us to allow her to pass by we presumed she
worked with the band and needed to get on stage. Well we were correct
with one of our presumptions!
Fatty bundled past us, ran across the stage, grabbed Johnny and brought
him to the ground. Sadly he wasn't singing 'Tumble and Fall' as this would
had been ideal timing! The sex God continued despite the incident and
Pete, the bloody huge bodyguard swiftly grabbed the fat bundle of unwanted
lard off stage.
Morrisey headlined the V stage and other acts who played across the site today included Groove Armada, The Beautiful South and Paul Weller.
So, another V draws to a close and in 2007 ABLE2UK could be a 'bit more' involved in the festival. We will give you details nearer the time.