V Fest - I got to somewhere renowned for its canals and color of red and lots of guys who shook thei
So, V Fest.
As soon as the Pixies were announced, there was no choice but to go to this - needless to say, tickets were bought in December, and asides from Joss Whedons announcement that Buffy Season 8 would come out this year, this was my prime motivation to stay alive.
After meeting up with the kids at Darghan St, we went up to Well Connected for breakfast, and then off for a pint at the AB. Our group had whittled down to Sarah, Alice, Zac, Nicktimus and myself, and we couldn’t get a taxi for ages. And ages. And ages.
Eventually splitting up, Al, Nick and I got there about 35 mins before Phoenix were to start, and got through the gates in the middle of their second song. I’m not quite sure why the line was so long to get in, apart from the fact that the wrist banders didn’t seem to know their job wasn’t to be nice, it was to slap bands on patrons wrists and let the hordes past. But happily skipping over the hill, and down to the main stage, a smile came over me that rarely left.
The sound was excellent. V Festival used the space around 1000 times better than Good Vibes had, and actually had put some money into the production. It was fantastic, and really has set a benchmark for acceptable levels for outdoor gigs. Of course, this was just for Phoenix, I hadn’t yet discovered the other stages, and Phoenix are just a little bit remarkably inoffensive. Cute, charming and french, they wowed the crowd and played songs that I still don’t know why I like so much, but I do, and live does them justice as well. The sun was beating, it was a beautiful day, and sweet indie pop was soothing all ills.
Following that, we went round the back and found The Other Stage, or more likely, its bar queue. I had got straight into it, and we had to wait probably 20 mins, but it was lucky I had - it was at least 4 times as long when I got out of it... Festivals never seem to get the bar lines right - and ive seen them try everything... cashless bars just mean you have to queue twice - once for your credit card, then for the food/alcohol. Multi line systems, 2 lanes only... nowhere has ever got that right, but luckily there were two massive advantages for the seasoned festival veteran. One - you could quite happily push in - just by walking to where the queue turned the corner into its snake like 'end game' part, and sidling in where people were engrossed in the conversation they had been having for the last few hours. The other being that as soon as most people work out how ghey it is to lineup for an hour to get 4 overpriced Vodka and Coke in A Cans, they don’t go back. Subsequently, from the time Jarvis played until the end, the bar queues were reasonable at worst, positively quick at others.
But I have digressed a little too far... We heard the New Young Pony Club, but weren’t really paying that much attention. We bounded back and heard the New York Dolls last song, which rocked my world, and then went and waited for Gnarls Barkley. Who were exactly like you would imagine them to be - dressed up, sounding like shite, and really really not worth staying around to see how Crazy would go down live. So subsequently we didn’t, and headed over to catch a bit of The Rapture. Not as rad as !!!, I might add, but still, DFA bands rule, especially at getting the kids to dance. As they played House of Jealous Lovers (or FLYING DAGGERS as Nicktimus and I loudly chanted to the chagrin of the pilled up hipsters that surrounded us), we decided to go back and check Jarvis Cocker out.
Jarvis is the man. He made his record that I previously thought was pretty crap, pretty amazing, and I wouldn’t be surprised that if they had toured We Love Life to Australia, I wouldn’t find that an appalling end to Pulps career either. The man is one of the single most captivating front men I have ever seen perform, and it dawned on me that he alone to this point had made the festival a complete success. He was funny, he danced awesomely, and yeah. Winner.
We wandered over between sets to see a little of Groove Armada. I remember distinctly thinking that if I had an affinity for crap clubby house music, I would have really enjoyed those guys.
Beck was on next, and he was rad. There were puppets on stage, id forgotten about just how many awesome songs he does, and I was having a great time dancing around with a lovely girl called Victoria and her friend Matt. This is what actually summed up the festival for me... the crowd were awesome for the most part - not static zombies looking to get in your way, but instead I was surrounded by a bunch of people that were genuinely happy to dance and cheer to the songs being performed. Beck’s show ended, and I still had that same smile from when I walked in.
A brief trip to the toilet - no lines! I picked up my recharged phone, and made plans for afterwards... but the real deal was about to begin. The Pixies were outstanding. Frank Black sounded grand, they whipped through so many songs, destroying everything that had come before. My group of 20 strangers, all singing along and dancing, jumping, moshing and enjoying it for what it was - the best festival moment any of us had ever had, and we were having it together. Indeed, when they encored, and Kimmy finished singing Gigantic, the little girl next to me thanked me for the dance, kissed me on the cheek and went on her way. And that summed up the festival for me - so much more polite than every other one Ive been to in ages. The Pixes really worked, and it was such a blessing they sounded so fantastic.
An excellent time was had by all in my party - Chris, Nick + Al, Zac + Sarah, Hannah +Jack, Katie + Rookie, and only those that got high seemed to not be feeling it of my friends... Finding the next day that Peter and Katie B didn’t like it at all was a shock! But they had gone in with adversarial attitudes, and weren’t there for the music either... And seeing a fair few innernet friends complain as well makes me feel really lucky - I had no toilet queue problems, the beer thing wasn’t unusual, the crowd for me was a trillion times better than the other fests this summer, and it was so refreshing to have such excellent event production! The organisers put an amount of care and consideration into this fest that I wasn’t expecting, and combined with a really quality lineup, I had a truley enjoyable day!
As soon as the Pixies were announced, there was no choice but to go to this - needless to say, tickets were bought in December, and asides from Joss Whedons announcement that Buffy Season 8 would come out this year, this was my prime motivation to stay alive.
After meeting up with the kids at Darghan St, we went up to Well Connected for breakfast, and then off for a pint at the AB. Our group had whittled down to Sarah, Alice, Zac, Nicktimus and myself, and we couldn’t get a taxi for ages. And ages. And ages.
Eventually splitting up, Al, Nick and I got there about 35 mins before Phoenix were to start, and got through the gates in the middle of their second song. I’m not quite sure why the line was so long to get in, apart from the fact that the wrist banders didn’t seem to know their job wasn’t to be nice, it was to slap bands on patrons wrists and let the hordes past. But happily skipping over the hill, and down to the main stage, a smile came over me that rarely left.
The sound was excellent. V Festival used the space around 1000 times better than Good Vibes had, and actually had put some money into the production. It was fantastic, and really has set a benchmark for acceptable levels for outdoor gigs. Of course, this was just for Phoenix, I hadn’t yet discovered the other stages, and Phoenix are just a little bit remarkably inoffensive. Cute, charming and french, they wowed the crowd and played songs that I still don’t know why I like so much, but I do, and live does them justice as well. The sun was beating, it was a beautiful day, and sweet indie pop was soothing all ills.
Following that, we went round the back and found The Other Stage, or more likely, its bar queue. I had got straight into it, and we had to wait probably 20 mins, but it was lucky I had - it was at least 4 times as long when I got out of it... Festivals never seem to get the bar lines right - and ive seen them try everything... cashless bars just mean you have to queue twice - once for your credit card, then for the food/alcohol. Multi line systems, 2 lanes only... nowhere has ever got that right, but luckily there were two massive advantages for the seasoned festival veteran. One - you could quite happily push in - just by walking to where the queue turned the corner into its snake like 'end game' part, and sidling in where people were engrossed in the conversation they had been having for the last few hours. The other being that as soon as most people work out how ghey it is to lineup for an hour to get 4 overpriced Vodka and Coke in A Cans, they don’t go back. Subsequently, from the time Jarvis played until the end, the bar queues were reasonable at worst, positively quick at others.
But I have digressed a little too far... We heard the New Young Pony Club, but weren’t really paying that much attention. We bounded back and heard the New York Dolls last song, which rocked my world, and then went and waited for Gnarls Barkley. Who were exactly like you would imagine them to be - dressed up, sounding like shite, and really really not worth staying around to see how Crazy would go down live. So subsequently we didn’t, and headed over to catch a bit of The Rapture. Not as rad as !!!, I might add, but still, DFA bands rule, especially at getting the kids to dance. As they played House of Jealous Lovers (or FLYING DAGGERS as Nicktimus and I loudly chanted to the chagrin of the pilled up hipsters that surrounded us), we decided to go back and check Jarvis Cocker out.
Jarvis is the man. He made his record that I previously thought was pretty crap, pretty amazing, and I wouldn’t be surprised that if they had toured We Love Life to Australia, I wouldn’t find that an appalling end to Pulps career either. The man is one of the single most captivating front men I have ever seen perform, and it dawned on me that he alone to this point had made the festival a complete success. He was funny, he danced awesomely, and yeah. Winner.
We wandered over between sets to see a little of Groove Armada. I remember distinctly thinking that if I had an affinity for crap clubby house music, I would have really enjoyed those guys.
Beck was on next, and he was rad. There were puppets on stage, id forgotten about just how many awesome songs he does, and I was having a great time dancing around with a lovely girl called Victoria and her friend Matt. This is what actually summed up the festival for me... the crowd were awesome for the most part - not static zombies looking to get in your way, but instead I was surrounded by a bunch of people that were genuinely happy to dance and cheer to the songs being performed. Beck’s show ended, and I still had that same smile from when I walked in.
A brief trip to the toilet - no lines! I picked up my recharged phone, and made plans for afterwards... but the real deal was about to begin. The Pixies were outstanding. Frank Black sounded grand, they whipped through so many songs, destroying everything that had come before. My group of 20 strangers, all singing along and dancing, jumping, moshing and enjoying it for what it was - the best festival moment any of us had ever had, and we were having it together. Indeed, when they encored, and Kimmy finished singing Gigantic, the little girl next to me thanked me for the dance, kissed me on the cheek and went on her way. And that summed up the festival for me - so much more polite than every other one Ive been to in ages. The Pixes really worked, and it was such a blessing they sounded so fantastic.
An excellent time was had by all in my party - Chris, Nick + Al, Zac + Sarah, Hannah +Jack, Katie + Rookie, and only those that got high seemed to not be feeling it of my friends... Finding the next day that Peter and Katie B didn’t like it at all was a shock! But they had gone in with adversarial attitudes, and weren’t there for the music either... And seeing a fair few innernet friends complain as well makes me feel really lucky - I had no toilet queue problems, the beer thing wasn’t unusual, the crowd for me was a trillion times better than the other fests this summer, and it was so refreshing to have such excellent event production! The organisers put an amount of care and consideration into this fest that I wasn’t expecting, and combined with a really quality lineup, I had a truley enjoyable day!