Got back home this morning after an epic V Festival in Essex, had a shower and went straight to work. Thankfully it was a quiet one today, because my body and brain are still ravaged from the weekend’s excesses. I’ve got supernova heartburn and some gorgeous bruises all over my body thanks to an impromptu bout of Bacardi- and mushroom-fuelled crowd rugby during The View’s awesome early-evening Sunday set, which peaked with Superstar Tradesman. Hells’s bells – Brian Lima would have winced at some of the sackings being dished out.
Overall, the Festival was a hoot and seems to have been very well received in the press. The weather held for the most part, with serious rain only falling once we’d all retired to our tents for zzzzzzzzs.
Muse stole the show on Saturday night with trademark flair: 6 choreographed, NASA-sized satellite dishes flashed lights, graphics and lazers through screens of smoke and fire as the band ripped through a collection of their biggest songs, kicking off with Map Of The Problematique and New Born and finishing up with Plugin Baby and Knights of Cydonia (which I stupidly missed because I’d simply run out of juice). They were preceded by the Kooks and Stereophonics, both of whom had the packed Main Stage singing and jumping for most of the evening. I was pissed that we had missed the Futureheads at the beginning because we were still dicking around a bit, but we still got to see the Hold Steady and they totally rocked the kasbah. We also flitted past Spearhead, Paul Heaton, The Scripts and Air Traffic, but fucked up our scheduling quite a bit because I’d been sent an incorrect list of starting times. Still, there were plenty of bars, food stalls and non-musical distractions to keep a handful of blithering idiots occupied for most of the afternoon.
Sunday was a more dedicated affair. We started with the Stranglers, took in Noah And the Whale (one to watch!), the Dodos, the aforesaid View, a bit of Lenny Kravitz (predictably dull) and finished off with the ever-reliable Kings of Leon and a surprisingly good showing by the Verve. And once Richard Ashcroft had rattled off Bittersweet Symphony, there was just enough time to rush across to the electronic tent to catch the Chemical Brothers’ pump Block Rockin’ Beats. Surprise of the day, however, was Alphabeat. Yes, they’re quite pop and very 80’s, but the crowd went absolutely tits and roared when they left the stage – which isn’t bad going for a band playing at the bottom of the line-up in the most remote tent.
Looking forward to getting home this evening and scooping the mud out of my pack. And I think I’ll have to attack my shoes with a toothbrush and a bucket of industrial-strength detergent. Bliss.
As a parting shot, here’s The View doing Same Jeans. Sweet, sweet candy.