V Festival

V Festival has been going since 1996 and has established itself as the perfect way to end the medley of music festivals, always being held at the tail end of the summer in late august. The organizers seem to astutely capture the pop scene of the day and every line up in these 21 years is ‘of its time’ veering gradually from Indie Brit pop/rock to International rock groups and stars to the young pop icons that dominate the scene today. This can lead to highs and lows but it is always a ‘happening’ event.

The weather this year was overall ok, clouds visiting with their showers now and then but an able wind managed to clear them quickly and on Sunday Mr sunshine even came to stay for a while. Loads of fun loving young (ish) guys and gals guzzling the expensive beers and cocktails, skimpily dressed whenever possible, made it very much a party atmosphere whenever a band or artist chose to light up the stage.

Such was the case with Tinie Tempah who stole the festival in many ways with his spot on the MTV (second) stage on Saturday night. A massive crowd was there as he took to the stage dressed in a patterned black jacket and shorts where he proceeded to belt out one hit after another allowing everyone to sing their hearts out and dance with abandon. Jess Glynne played a very entertaining almost intimate set with her strong, emphatic voice demanding special attention, really letting rip with TT on “Not Letting Go” making it the highlight track of the festival with Tinie knowingly seducing the crowd.

John Newman also on the MTV stage with his assured vocals and crazy dance moves worked so hard to get the crowd behind him which he successfully did as there were many more people come the end of the set. You could visibly see that he was giving it his all whilst having a great time himself, he is destined to become a top performer.

Justin Beiber? Well all the stuff on the social network that immediately hit the cyberworld was testament to the attention surrounding the set and his ever increasing presence in the pop world. At the end of the day, for a punter at V, which is all that really counts, it was apparent that he is not ready, be it under the professional aspect in respecting his art and craft or as a star performer, to handle a headline stage in front of an English crowd who have seen them all. The latest album shows sparks of talent but it’s to no avail if you cannot perform.

Travis were very funny and entertaining probably wondering why they were on this V fest bill having so little to do with most of the other contemporary artists but so allowing them to chill out the early afternoon crowd with their forever melodic pop.
Example was very good, Years and Years absolutely fabulous with Olly in a sort of cotton red jump suit with skirt having the time of his life and in his very humble and charming way conquering everyone who sang and danced along to the songs played brilliantly by the band.

Little Mix set up Sunday night’s entertainment perfectly, David Guetta maybe surprisingly preceding Rhianna, as his fun, cool set danced everyone out in many ways despite the pouring, yes I mean absolutely pouring rain, inspiring him to say “ The weather here is always shit but the people party like nowhere else!”. As Metallica once said “Sad but True”.

Rhianna looked stunning, the diva to full effect and with a very versatile and gifted dance troupe put on a good show even though there were rather too many songs from the latest album for my taste. But high spots were hit, enough to get rapturous applause and leave everyone exhausted but in good spirits and ready to start booking next year’s V Fest.