Just back from V-Festival 2008… thought I’d review the bands we saw. The bits in brackets are the stage they were on and at the end a rating out of 10.
Saturday:
- Squeeze (V) – just saw a little bit in the background, nothing to say really.
- Girls Aloud (V) – they were very popular – the area filled up when they came on, but I thought they were truly a waste of time. Basically they came on and did a set routine, gave nothing to the crowd, barely said a word (other than “Are you ready V?” which got no response of note). My feeling was they thought they were amazing and we’d love them, but at a festival, you have to adapt what you do to fit, and they certainly did not. 2/10 – just cos I knew a song or two
- The Feeling (V) – these guys were brilliant. They were a lot more rocky live than you’d guess from the songs you hear on the radio. 9/10 – third best band of the weekend.
- Lenny Kravitz (V) – Lenny was good, although didn’t blow me away. Think I’d have enjoyed it more if it had been sunny and I was sat down on the grass relaxing to the soulful funk he puts out with the odd moment of rock. As it was it was raining and so it didn’t quite work for me. 6/10 – enjoyable, but not quite right.
- Amy Winehouse (V) – what can I say? She kept us waiting for about 20 mins, then her band came on, who she then kept waiting for a further 15 mins. She came on looking skinny, ill and fidgety. She was barely singing, instead just chirping the odd word out of time and vaguly in tune. Waste of time waiting for her, so we walked away after a few songs. 1/10 – biggest waste of time of the weekend, but 1 for me now having experience the direness for myself.
- Hot Chip (JJB) – only saw a couple of bits from them, and I was busy eating too 🙂 Still, sounded good, but I didn’t know much of their stuff. 5/10 – didn’t see or know enough to rate more
- The Charlatans (JJB) – a lot more rocky than I remember them, so that was good. Nothing amazing, but good fun nonetheless. 7/10 – just cos
- The Chemical Brothers (JJB) – oh yes, now we got the good stuff. What a show! Great visuals tied in with the awesome music – a mix of all their stuff, old and new. Great atmosphere and fortunately dry because it was in a massive tent! 10/10 – couldn’t fault them, a great end to the night
Sunday:
- Futureheads (V) – just saw a little in the background, not much to say.
- Alanis Morissette (V) – she was really good. After Amy was so disappointing the day before, it was great to hear a strong female voice doing what it does best. Knew lots of the songs and, despite being miles away from the stage, thought she put on a good set. 8/10 – good stuff, back to me youth 🙂
- Amy McDonald (4M) – expected to recognise some of her songs, but didn’t. Even so, enjoyed listening to the set – she has a good voice and a rather nice scottish accent. 7/10 – good stuff, want to hear more
- Duffy (4M) – she was cool, pretty much as expected. Good songs, but set seemed quite short and perhaps hadn’t rocked up enough for the festival (Dido did this well in 2004). 7/10 – some room to improve, but good nonetheless
- Maximo Park (V) – on in the background as we made our way to the front for the others. Recognised a couple of songs. I think their name makes them sound like Linkin Park, so I expected them to be heavy metal and American whereas in reality they sounded like they were from Yorkshire and their music was not metal, which was good. 5/10 – a pleasant surprise, but didn’t hear enough to rate more
- The Kooks (V) – I think they were good, but I was somewhat distracted as the massive mud pit in front of us was rather close and people were getting dragged in against their will. Also a fight broke out next to us. Shame, as the songs I did hear were really good. 6/10 – probably would have been more were it not for the mud pit
- Stereophonics (V) – delivered as expected. 8/10 Great songs, great show, great stuff!
- Muse (V) – OH. MY. PANTS. Saw Muse 4 years ago at V and thought they didn’t quite live up to my expectations. This time, they lived up to them and then some! What a show; with 6 massive satellite dishes with lights & projectors; visuals and effects; lasers; smoke; fireworks; massive white balls with confetti stuff in (bit weird, but cool). Only slight criticism is that it could have been louder – I could still hear people singing around me (and I’d imagine they could hear me warbling out of tune rather too much too) which seems a little wrong at such a gig. 10.5/10 – better than the best!
And then it was home late at night after a little delay due to a road closure – home at 2.30am and bed for much-needed sleep. All in all, another great V. There are some photos here (only friends can see them all, so get an account and ask me to be your friend). Here’s a sample of Muse:
