Review: V Festival 2007 - Hylands Park, Chelmsford
review
Coined as the posh festival, V festival certainly scored high marks with its starry-eyed clientele -once again proving its worth on the celebrity hunt. But if a peek at the brightly tanned Shipwrecked crew doesn’t blurry your sight or the occasional glimpse of Dermot O’ Leary doesn’t send you salivating, then, like me you were in for the music…
And without fail V Festival excelled in their 2007 line up. At the mere mention of The Killers the grinning victims of V boppers await patiently. But with over 100 acts to go and across five stages the question is… where to start? First off, it’s a quick visit to the twintastic Proclaimers, followed by the entrancing tracks of Tom Smith‘s Munich and Lights. After paddling through to Channel 4’s stage we grasp sound bites of The Fray’s, Over My Head and the predictable, How To Save A Life. To then follow the murmuring echoes of Paolo Nutini’s, Last Request. Taking a gasp of fresh air and enduring my welly footwear akin to dumbbells in weight we, nevertheless trample on to Mumm-Ra and catch sight of the most speculated performance of the event Kayne West.
Needless to say Kayne held a great crowd despite smattering raindrops. Focusing on the forceful classics, Diamonds Are Forever, Touch the Sky and Work Out Plan the throng took to Kanye mania.Thanks to a mushroom and asparagus pie we re-booted our stamina and sprinted over to blud maestro Dizzee Rascal. Now, breathless and pretty much done like a kipper, we unfortunately hear the sparing lyrics to Old Skool, but nevertheless leaving us with sufficient time to savour the Foo Fighters and Kooks.
After an evening of lying low on the dew-sprung grass of Hylands Park we reach the phenomenal line up of Sunday’s spectacular. But like all festivals, clashes surface and our attempt to flavour the Basement Jaxx were derailed by the gobby Leicestershire lads, Kasabian. But along with their Empire stomper we were fuelled by Mark Ronson, Lily Allen, Mika, and a quieter Willy Mason to then the penultimate finale of The Killers.
In spangley gold attire the boys created one of the most invigorating sets of the evening- When You Were Young, Mr Brightside amongst other timely numbers. In a nutshell, whether you were a drenched reveller or a sofa seater viewing the V festival 2007 at the comfort of shelter and warmth you can’t deny that this year's V Festival fittingly spells V for Victory!
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Arriving at Weston Park in Staffordshire on the morning of Friday 17th August 2007, we hit the usual build-up of traffic entering the site. Luckily for us we had got up bright and early and missed the roar of cars, which was later to hold a member of our party on the M54 for almost four hours! After loading up with as much camping gear as was humanly possible, we embarked on the massive trek to find a camping spot. There are only a few things you have to remember whilst looking for the ideal pitch, these include avoiding the toilets, keeping away from the bottom of hills (especially with the rain that was predicted), and to steer-clear of any walkways, which could result in people landing on your tent. After a few ciders in the only sun of the weekend, a trip to the arena was on the cards. The JJB/Puma Arena is the place to be for the Friday evening. Playing all the music from the artists, who were to grace the stage over the weekend, the great blue tent has an excellent atmosphere complimented further by the fact that it was inside ?? no rain! Saturday saw the stalls making a fortune with the sale of anything waterproof as the wind and rain set in. With sets from Kasabian, James, Basement Jaxx, McFly and an amazing headline performance from The Killers that was so powerful that it actually made the rain stop, the day went swimmingly! Walking anywhere on Sunday turned into a military procedure, with one slight jerky movement resulting in you bathing in the mud ?? this just added to the fun. The disappointment of the day was that there was no Amy Winehouse, but this was quickly forgotten when the Happy Mondays entered the stage and performed an amusing but brilliant track list, which included 24 Hour Party People, Step On and W.F.L. Other great acts of the day included The Kooks, the Foo Fighters, The Editors and Paolo Nutini. With the weekend at an end, the only thing left to do was to pack-up and leave, probably the most dreaded part of the weekend. But was it worth it? Of course it was ?? there??s nothing quite as special as a festival, and this years V certainly lived up to all the hype.My Highlights:Headliner: The Killers Best of the rest: Happy Mondays & James Best dressed on stage: Kanye West??s ??McDonald??s fries?? jumper Surprisingly good act: The Editors Biggest disappointments: Amy Winehouse & Babyshambles Fancy dress: Oompa-Loompas Food: Giant Yorkshire pudding with bangers, mash and gravy Freebies: Trident ??mastication for the nation?? chewing gum & Strongbow Essential item: Wellington boots Campsite: Red
