Today saw the 16th edition of V Festival hit Hylands Park in Chelmsford. V Festival is known for providing a diverse lineup to suit everyone and thats exactly what we had this Saturday.
From the headlining Arctic Monkeys, through to to Jessie J, Chase & Status, Aloe Blac, Ziggy Marley and even a comedy tent, it was not hard to be pleased.
Sheffield rockers Arctic Monkeys brought Saturday to an almight close as they trailed through hits from their latest album 'Suck It and See' as well as hits from their previous albums. Notable tracks like 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' went down a treat with the crowd in the main arena that streched right to the back.
Aloe Blacc's soulful and cool presense on stage was the perfect fit for a sun drenched crowd who were lapping up his energy. The crowd got into full swing when Aloe performed his hit 'I Need A Dollar'.
Over on the V Stage, Bruno Mars came out to a wet welcome as the rain started to come down at Hylands Park. Opening with his hit 'The Lazy Song' the crowd, unfazed by the change in weather, continued to sing song after song with Bruno.
With the rain subsiding, the welcoming sun shone over Hylands Park. We headed to The Arena where hip hop star Wiz Khalifa was performing. Wiz has a laidback style about him and he came out performing with a mic on a stand! Fresh off his Rolling Papers album Wiz Khalifa banged out tune after tune with 'Black & Yellow' the biggest song of his set.
Back on the 4 Music Stage, Example had the majority of the crowd bouncing to his army of tracks which included his latest single 'Natural Disaster'.
Still with a cast on her leg, Jessie J arrived to a packed out arena on the 4 Music Stage to perform whilst sitting on her throne. Even though she was confined to sitting down, her performance is still amazing and energetic, you can see how much she just wants to get up and dance! She stated 'It's my first time performing in Essex, this time last year I was in the crowd!'
Back over to the V Stage, Plan B had taken to the stage. One of the biggest UK artist's of the moment, Plan B has featured on a number of festival lineup's this year. His performance is bar none one of the better of the day. Moving through tracks from his 'The Defamation of Strickland Banks' the enjoyment of the crowd can be heard throughout the park as they applause and join in to sing along with him. His tracks 'The Recluse', 'Prayin', 'She Said' were some of the biggest of his set.
V Festival is one of the must go to festivals on the summer calendar! Its diverse lineup and dual location makes it an easy choice for festival goers from around the UK.
V Festival on Sunday will host Rihanna and Eminem as headliners. Its a sure fire thing that they will bring down the curtains to an almighty applause as we witness yet another great year at V Festival!
Bloodstock is renowned for it’s no-nonsense approach to the scene, entwining bands from all areas of rock and metal into a bill like no other. There’s no pop-punk to be found here, no wet-eared emo kids and definitely no over-sized sunglasses wearing, prissy ‘my-hunters-will-get-dirty’ Moss-alikes. Bloodstock is a haven for real lovers of metal.
Friday’s starter for ten The Defiled playing to their biggest BOA crowd yet, exploded onto the stage with a distinctly arrogant air about them, growling and grimacing into the microphones for catchy new track ‘Call To Arms’ and earning the respect of the morning main stage crowd with an energetic show, while the distinctly more rock n roll style of Bloodstock veterans Wolf, brought out the animal in us with ‘Skullcrusher’ dedicated to a techie who’d earlier sustained a head injury in an accident. Notable but not entirely special performances from Triptykon and Kreator seemed to gather fair sized but not huge crowds, whilst Lawnmower Deth’s brand of ear-bleeding thrash on the Sophie stage sticks it to the man in style. Props to Primitai on the New Blood stage for a great set, they deserved a bigger crowd.
Despite retro rockers W.A.S.P’s steely eyed stare and (albeit tamed) list of hits, they weren’t the epic performance we wanted them to be, particularly with the culling of ‘Animal’ and Blackie Lawless’ pvc under-suit is frankly a
little bit creepy at his age. The shout out of “If you want your country back, you’ve got to take it” referring to the recent rioting, was also met with apathy around site – most obviously from the man next to us who shouted back “Shut up you American arse!”. Stand out performance of the day goes to the Devin Townsend Project, returning to BOA after 2010’s comedy of technical errors, Devin and the gang absolutely smash it up with a whimsical tour through his deranged mind and facial expressions often reserved for Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura.
Saturday’s offering of Finntroll saw a topless Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns belting out the folksy vocals with hair windmilling, and former Emperor frontman Ihsahn gave a relatively demure performance, preferring to head-down shred rather than move about the stage.
Despite another batch of technical difficulties, metal dream-team Wintersun were seen to regain their honour after pulling out of BOA 2009 with their harmonic vocals, and the vast member-count of Therion provided much mirth as they swirled about the vortex of the stage each taking a turn to grace the front with their symphonic metal and odd collection of fancy dress. Aside the amusement, even the toughest members of the crowd were seen to be staring open mouthed in the direction of the fine ladies of Therion, and singing along with more than a few songs. Straight from the jaws of Wacken, Italy’s power metal powerhouse Rhapsody of Fire put on a musically flawless set with huge crowd pleasers ‘Holy Thunderforce’ and ‘Emerald Sword’ to a dedicated audience (hundreds of Rhapsody tshirts on show) brandishing blow up swords.
Badger-faced black metal headliners Immortal spent most of their set looking disparagingly at the crowd in an effort to seem cool, which is hard to do when you’re wearing black leather pants covered in what looks like talcum-powder, but hey-ho.
Though they’re not every metalhead’s keg of ale, they did put on a good show and end BOA Saturday with a flaming bang.
With a glimmer of sunshine, Brummie grindcore gods Napalm Death began their audio assault on Bloodstock Sunday, with all the fire and fury they could muster, stopping only to breathe and calmly say “We’re Napalm Death from Birmingham, and this song is about Peace…” before launching into another incomprehensible scream. Hammerfall provided light relief with a good old sing along (it’s easy, apart from Craig David, they probably weave their own name into more songs than any other band) with the likes of ‘Let The Hammer Fall’, ‘Hammerfall’ and the incredibly funny ‘Hearts On Fire’ which sounds quite a lot like ‘Arse On Fire’ from across the arena.
At The Gates’ brutal death metal reunion was welcomed onto the main stage with a huge crowd as they rolled through a selection of their vast catalogue for a good old headbang, and venerated death metallers Morbid Angel threw down with everything they had. Hailing from sunny Florida, you’ve got to wonder how they fit in with the Disney crowd there…
Home grown rockers Motörhead are certainly deserving of a headline slot at BOA, especially as they closed Wacken only a week ago, but something was definitely amiss. Gritty voiced Lemmy looked bored as sin and apart from the obvious hype for ‘Ace of Spades’ the people of BOA were largely unresponsive. After a day of hard, fast and heavy thrash – were Motörhead the musical equivalent of a 50mph zone on the motörway?
Anyway, the epic performance of the day, nay the weekend goes to the raw talent of San Francisco’s Exodus with an absolutely scorching set of drum-pounding, ear-drum-busting old-school thrash. So many people came out blinking into the sunlight saying “I never really liked them before, but… wow.” and we were utterly converted by the sheer power rolling off them into the crowd. Tattooed frontman Rob Dukes grimaced and swore his way through a stunningly heavy set, inciting the scariest circle pit you can imagine, all fist-meets-face. If you get a chance to see them – take it, you won’t be disappointed.
All in all, Bloodstock Open Air 2011, with its eclectic mix of new and old metal from many different genres and backgrounds has claimed another victory. In a lineup which is arguably weaker than previous years it would be easy to say that it just didn’t work, but the spirit was there, the community was there and everyone was having a great time experiencing bands that you might see once in a blue moon otherwise, thanks to the Cowell’s of the world. Roll on BOA 2012…
As we head towards Lulworth Castle on Saturday, I am not quite entirely sure what to expect. Billed as a family friendly festival, I can only assume that Camp Bestival will be aimed more at the children and families rather than just the avid music lover. With a sold 30,000 crowd in attendance we were quite excited to find out what Camp Bestival is all about.
It’s a nice slightly overcast day at Lulworth Castle and upon entering, immeditely we are surrounded by children lining up for the ice cream van! Making our way towards the main stage, the sound of children having fun echos through the grounds, the kids are being entertained with things like mini golf, music shows, puppet shows and storey telling. The main stage faces in the direction of the impressive Lulworth Castle, banking down a slight hill, familes have setup picnics, there is food and drink everywhere, blankets are layed down and people are having a wonderful relaxing time.
Over the weekend the kids had plenty of keep them entertained all day. A medival theme brought about an array of both parents and children dressed as knights, jesters, princeses and more. With Dick and Dom performing on the main stage, as well as an appearance from the Zing Zilla’s and The Gruffalo, you cannot help but simle as the kids lap up the entertainment and sing and dance along. An area specifically dedicated to the children is filled with rides and the ‘Little Big Top’. The Skrek and Fiona Singalong show is a treat and has the kids rocking along to ‘Im a believer’.
There is plently of entertainment for the younger and older adults as well, with performances from Blondie, Mark Ronson, Groove Armada, Katy B, Primal Scream and more. The lineup is aimed at both the young and old, and this winning formula has worked at Camp Bestival since its installment in 2007.
Saturday saw The Wonder Stuff get the older crowd off their feet with a great performance of hits, followed by late running Miss Dynamite whos short but energetic set had the teenagers up front and centre. The lovely Eliza Doolittle graced the stage and with her soulful voice played her hits ‘Skinny Jeans’ and ‘Pack Up’. A mass crowd packed to see reformed House of Pain whose lyrics might not have been appropraite for some of the children there, had the entire crowd (young and old) jumping to their hit ‘Jump Around’. Mark Ronson’s tribute to Amy Winhouse was fitting as she passed a week ago, but this didnt stop him from playing an entertaining set. Joined on stage by The View’s ‘Kyle Falconer’ Mark Ronson performed Valerie and had the entire crowd singing along with him. Sound issues at the begining of Groove Armada’s set put a small damper on things, however once they were sorted, Groove Armada were back to their best, playing to a crowd which had now thined out as the young ones took refuge to rest back in their tents. Jaguar Skills in the Bollywood tent had the crowd dancing so hard that sweat began to pour off the ceiling!
Sunday at Camp Bestival was more of the same, great music and entertainment for all. Wretch 32 took to the main stage and opened with his latest hit with Example, ‘Unorthodox’, he had kids and parents alike bopping to his hop-hop beats. One of the acts I was most looking forward to seeing was Katy B whose set was jam packed of hits from her album ’On a Mission’. Her hits Perfect Stranger, Lights On, and Katy on a Mission had the crowd dancing from begining till end of her 45 minute performance. Beardyman’s impressive layered and tech infused beat making ability and skills on the mic had the bass pumping from the main stage sound system. Primal Scream closed Camp Bestival playing their classic ‘Screamedelica’ album in full as well as diving into their back catalogue to perform hits like ‘Rocks’.
A massive fireworks display at the end of Primal Scream’s performance signalled the end of another excellent and well organsied Camp Bestival. Showering over Lulworth Castle, the fireworks combined with projected images on the castle wall and the sound of Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ made for a spectacular finale. For me Camp Bestival was one of the highlights of the festival season so far, combined with good music and a great atmosphere, this is one festival I would recommend!
We arrived at the Global Gathering at around 5pm and to my surprise a good crowd was already building in the grounds of Long Marsden Airfied. It is overcast above and there is no sight of the sun, it is warm and the ground is dry and that is all that matters! Walking into the grounds, past the tight security complete with police dogs, I immeditately noticed that the arena’s were now more spread out than in previous years. One thing that will never change is the great array of people that come out to Global each year. The costumes are out again in force this year, we run into some bananas, a large group of tigers, chickens and more!
Heading over to the main stage, we are just in time to see the infamous Jaguar Skills who always performs behind a ninja mask. Little is known about the man behind the mask, but this doesnt take away the fact that Jaguar can rock a crowd with his skills on the decks.
One of my favourite area’s at Global is the outdoor Toolroom Knights arena, there is always a great crowd here and Friday’s lineup was immense. Rocking the decks was Micheal Woods, coming straight off his success with Example’s ‘Changed The Way She Kissed Me’, he had the entire crowd jumping with hands in the air. As we look over from the front of the stage, all we see is a crowd full of smiles, they have a massive weekend of great music ahead and this is the perfect way to start. Special guest Benny Benassi kept the crowd going with his uplifting house set before making way for Toolroom Knights head honcho Mark Knight.
With Above and Beyond having their ‘Group Therapy’ tent at Global this year, we were expecting nothing but uplifting trance and it was supplied by some of the heavy hitters in the scene, Super8 & Tab, Gabriel and Dresden, Gareth Emery, Sander van Doorn and of course Above and Beyond all graced the decks in this tent. Above and Beyond showcased their Group Therapy show with a spectacular music, video and lighting production and played a blinding set to a full house.
Underworld still promenintely play the festival circuit each year and we catch the trio, Karl Hyde, Rick Smith and Darren Price in the Global tent. With Karl on vocals and Rick and Darren on mixing, the trio certainly know how to whip a crowd into shape. Eric Prydz brough his EP/IC show to the Global tent this year and really only one word can describe it ‘Epic’. With a massive LED wall which curves around the stage and displaying amazing visuals, the show is on another level of production I have never seen before. As a massive fan, I knew that Eric would deliver a brilliant uplifting house and electo set, and that’s exactly what he did!
The main stage at Global is set totally seperate from the rest of the arenas giving plently of space to enjoy the headliners that hit the stage over the weekend. With Professor Green cancelling due to health reasons, and Steve Angello and Pendulum to perform, this was defintely the place to be. As night begins to fall, Steve Angello takes to the stage to huge applause. The crowd are massive Swedish House Mafia fans and Steve takes to the mic, ‘Are you guys having a good time, my names Steve Angello from the Swedish House Mafia, are you guys ready!’ As the bass drops and the pryotechnics blast out from the front of the stage, the crowd is jumping, and Steve drops banging track after banging track, including the massive ‘Save the World Tonight’, ‘Miami to Ibiza’, and ‘One (Your Name)’
Pendulum headline Friday night at Global Gathering and they have a huge stage rig complete with huge LED screens and a pryotechnics setup. Pendulum have featured on the lineup’s of festivals all around the world this year and they have the Global main stage crowd well and truely in the palm of their hands. With the energetic front man Ben Mount on the mic, their set are so full of energy you could actually power half the site with it! Hits like ‘The Island’ and ‘Salt In The Wounds’ have the crowd going insane and you can feel the crowd’s excitment as they plow through hits from their latest album Immersion, and the rest of their back catalouge.
Although the sun did not come out to play, Global Gathering delivered yet another fine lineup and the crowd was on hand to enjoy every single moment of it.
Catch our interview with Above and Beyond before they took to the stage at Global Gathering 2011.
