aaamusic | On 13, Sep 2011

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V festival has established itself as a major event of the festival season.  The event runs over two days on two sites – Chelmsford and Stafford, swapping acts between the sites for fun in both the North and South.  With pervious headline acts Muse, Oasis, and The Prodigy expectations were high.  This years crowd pullers featured Eminem, Rihanna, Pendulum, Primal Scream, and Chase & Status, all of whom were sure to please.

Finding the site and the appropriate car park was fairly easy with good signage and an easy to follow colour scheme.  With the car park not too far from the campsite we quickly pitched our tent and went for a wonder round the site.  There were three main campsites; the red, the yellow, and the hospitality/staff site.  Wrist bands responded to respective sites meaning the wearer was limited to their own site and unable to visit friends on different fields.  After a quick nip to the nearest toilet (which was in a reasonable condition), we were off to the nearest food outlet.  Serving a predictably limited choice, existing mainly of fried foods, which fed the hunger but sadly did not tantalise the tongue.

Back at the tent all the campers seemed friendly and it wasn’t long before our neighbours were round for a drink and chat.  Everyone was excited for the start of the music with chants and cries of ‘Alan’ and ‘Back Scratcher’ ringing across the site for many hours.

Entering the arena on Saturday morning the crowd was greeted by the ticket checkers and the Essex constabulary with their canine friends.  The entrance led on to the 4 music stage which impressed with the size and the atmosphere of the crow which was already buzzing.  With the sun shining we had four main stages to choose from.  Our first visit was to see Ziggy Marley whom had drawn a large crowd.  His performance definitely pleased all those who watched, with his reggae beats setting a good vibe.

Shortly after Ziggy finished the heavens opened so we made a quick retreat to the tent.  The heavy rain lashed down for more than an hour, however didn’t dampen the spirits of the crowds.

The highlight of weekend was Chromeo on the Virgin Media Undercover Stage.  Consisting of two creative Canadian musicians, their electro-funk beats commanded a smaller and excited crowd.  Gomez also put on a very good show with the crowd singing along to the classics.

Plan B played a reasonable show but seemed to particularly suffer from the audio lag on the video screens that blighted the Virgin Media Stage the entire weekend.  Meaning the experience worsened the further away from the stage you were.

 

Worst part of the weekend had to be getting lost due to a lack of arena signs pointing to the different stages, and the ‘interactive map’ on their own official iphone app regularly freezing.

 

Best bits of the weekend included dancing to Chromeo, being part of the field jumping along to Example, and the Strongbow tent with its funky DJ sets.

 

A good weekend was had with much music to be enjoyed regardless of your tastes.

I know I wasn’t the only one waking up with a hangover Monday morning! ;)

 

Author: Christopher Foglietta.

Photos: Alan Thomas