V Festival Review

Although V Festival may be the most mainstream and Pop orientated festival around, there were still some great rock bands to liven the place up. So if you want to know how Lilly Allen, James Morrison or Elbow went down you may want to look elsewhere.

Saturday 22nd August, Chelmsford

Raygun (8/10) are the first band to make a real impact in the Union Tent with their catchy pop/rock sound. They come blasting out with recent single ‘Just because’ which gets the crowd and front man Ray Gun into a bouncy and excited mood. Maybe guitarist, Adj, got a bit too excited as he mounts Ray during the set. As long as no one was hoping for some serious music then Raygun are enjoyable and entertaining.

Jet (6/10) seem to have been around for awhile and yet not have much of a back catalogue. This is the case when they take to the 4Music stage. Playing songs that are enjoyable but quickly forgotten, it’s obvious everyone’s waiting for one certain song. ‘Are you gonna be my girl’ goes down a storm and is a highlight of the day, but the rest of the set lacks, still they manage to please the crowd.

The Killers (5/10) headline the V stage and the expectations of a band from Las Vegas to put on a show are huge. To put it bluntly they don’t deliver. For every song the crowd knows and is excited by, it’s followed by an unknown without the hooks you’d expect. This seriously hinders The Killers getting into any sort of rhythm with the crowd and in the end their set feels drawn out and underwhelming.


Sunday 23rd August, Chelmsford

The King Blues (10/10) are maybe the best thing to hear to get you up and excited for the rest of the day ahead. Despite having an early slot on the 4Music stage, they attract a large crowd and The King Blues reward those present handsomely. ‘Save the world, get the girl’ goes down especially well, it’s plain to see that TKB have the passion and desire to be a huge success, not only that, they have the songs to back it up. Even singing the last song in Italian doesn’t stop the all round feeling of pleasure at seeing this band perform.

Biffy Clyro (7/10) are the most notable and token ‘rock’ band on the main stage this year. This is also the first time all weekend it sounds as though the volume on guitar and drums has been turned up, which is a refreshing change. Biffy have amazing song, even with album tracks sounding like hits. Lead vocals and guitarist, Simon Neil gives it his all and the aggression and energy is plain to see. The only thing that detracts from Biffy Clyro’s set is the lack of crowd interaction, although that may be due to them not having a big crowd compared to the pull that the mainstream acts have.

Damon Fowler
Comfort in Sound