After what seemed like an eternity of some of the best weather the UK has seen for years, in Great British fashion it comes to one of the biggest festival weekends of the year and mother nature throws her toys out of the pram. Alongside Victorious Festival , Reading, Leeds, Creamfields and All Points East all felt her wrath.
It’s been a week since the festival kicked off and ive not rushed to write up the experience for one reson or another. i have to admit to not being as excited this year as with previous years, there were some good bands on the lineup but overall it did not set the world on fire, thats a big ask but in previous years it has just connected with me better and seeing some of the acts across the board at other festivals its not just Victorious that fell foul of the available acts this year. Im going to focus mainly on the main stage draw and the castle stage not the smaller stages for the sake of this. Thinking previous years with band such as Queens of the Stone Age and Kings of leon I was epecting a step up again, if thats possible.
For the Main Stages (Common Stage & Castle Stage) this year, the ones they put in capitals on the lineup poster, there were some great smaller acts here as well.
For a selection of clips see our Tik Tok
Common Stage Friday
Richard Ashcroft
Scissor Sisters
The Vaccines
Castle Stage Friday
Faithless
The Royston Club
Hard-Fi
Vengaboys
Common Stage Saturday
The Black Keys
Nile Rodgers & Chic
Jessie J
Castle Stage Saturday
Bastille
Primal Scream
Doves
Kate Nash
Common Stage Sunday
Kasabian
The Streets
James Arthur
Castle Stage Sunday
Basement Jaxx
Kelis
Jalen Ngonda
Sleeper
(My Opinion) There are some great names there and as with any festival you have to make a choice and (Sorry) but I think they got it a bit wrong this year, Friday they should have matched up The scissor Siters on the Castle Stage and put Faithless as the last act on the Common Stage, they would have been epic in the largest space, not as top billing over Richard Ashcroft but what and end to that day, festivals are about the musical journey of the crowd. Nothing against Jessie J but to out her on the same stage as Kate Nash and move either Bastille or Primal Scream to the Common sStage would have worked better and Sunday swap out Basement Jaxx for JAmes Artur would have proved a better setup. Obviously only and opinion but the curation seemed off. Kasabian are always a massive draw even though they seem to be at every festival and touring constantly but them back to back with Basement Jaxx, what a finale that would have been,
Due to the weather and unforseen commitments I stayed put in the Garden stang this year and didnt venture to the Castle Stage which I have normally spent a lot of time at in previous years, 9 hours lst year on the barrier. And a personal gripe, not down tot he festival but the amount of people on the Garden platform who would have rather stood drink and chat/shout during the bands not watch made it hard work in there. I need to print a t-shirt hat says on the back in LARGE PRINT “When the band is playing SHUT THE F##K UP”. (Rant over). Heres what i did stay to see and i begrudgingly binned off the Sunday even though Reef were playing but ive seen them so many times I made a judgement call.
For a selection of clips see our Tik Tok
Who did I see Friday?
Rudimental
I’ve seen them at festivals before and they always put on a great show with full effort, additional singers and a great stage presence, this year was good, its just the three of them in the band and the two behind the DJ stand and Locksmith on MC duty was fun and got the crowd moving, it was an early slot and they did their job, a good start to the day.
Pixie Lott
She took to the stage barefoot in a red leotard outfit with a large red scarf and joked about the nature wind machine which kept that scarf flowing for the full set. A short but fun set of what you would expect from her, great vocals that the crowd enjoyed and a cover version or two thrown in from memory.
The Coral
This was surprisingly to myself my first time seeing the Coral, I lesten to them on vinyl at home and was expectantly please with the set, I moved into the main areaa for them and they were great, early in the day but they made the most of it, bit to short a set for me, would have like more but they played the right songs for the day.
Cast
I actually saw John Power walking through the Garden at the beginning of the day but didnt fan boy him, Big fan of Cast and they did what they do, great tunes delivered the way they do it, got me on my feet moving and singing along but that was inevitable. Bit windy so the sound struggled as with al but didn;t lessen my enjoyment.
The Vaccines
First time seeing them and they put a great show on, again great songs and in this block of three with The Coral, cast and them it was a great block of music. The Common stage became a great guitar stage for a while. Will definately see them again.
Scissor Sisters
As expected they put on a great show, an interesting choice to put after the three guitar band and before Ashcroft but its a family festival catering to all so I get it, its not Reading 1999. They put on a risque camp show that did go down well with the audience, It was interesting seeing my daughters images and video of them play at Boomtown where the show was very different, you could say very toned down in comparison.
Richard Ashcroft
What can you say, nothing but just awesome, his name preceeds hime for a reason. Ive been a fan since mid nineties and the album ‘A Northern Soul’ so this did not dissapoint, so much so I took a couple of pics at the beginning and aquick video then just watched and enjoyed in my usual awe. A great Booking
Who did I see Saturday?
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers / The Hill Brothers
The advertised act was a no show, so the Hill Brothers who are a local act stepped up to fill hte void and hed their own. Playing covers such as ‘ A town called Malice’ by the Jam and finishing with ‘Dont Look Back in Anger’ by Oasis much to the pleasure of the audience. Well done Victorious for the quick thinking.
Dizzie Rascal
Dizzie did the job, the crowd filled up quickly and was bouncing, you wanted BASS you got BASS. Ive seen Dizzie before in a small venue and he proved to me hes a good on a big stage as much as indoors. The crowd could not get enough, he filed the air and just threw hit after hit at us.
Lottery Winners
Im a big fan of this band and there live shows, they said at a previous Victorious festival when playing the Castle Stage that they would one day headline the main stage, well they are getting closer but the the thirty minute slot they recieved did not do them justice. Following Dizzie is a big ask but those who stayed got a great set from a great British band.
White Lies
An intersting booking at this point of the day, to put that into context im a fan and was looking forward to seeig them. They are a great indie rock band from London but not in the loud jangly way, they are more considered dark, synth-heavy indie rock and post-punk way which at that point of the day missed step, Dizzie, Lottery Winners who are super upbeat then White Lies did not do them justice but thourougly enjoyed there set.
Happy Mondays
Ive been a fan of them since the early 90s,late 80s even and they still put on a good show, I have seen them already this year, and last year and so on, they tour a lot and always have great support acts so a regular on my bookings list. There eight song set of Kinky Afro, God’s Cop, Loose Fit, Mad Cyril, Hallelujah, 24 Hour Party People, Step On, Wrote for Luck, went down wel, with the crowd so no complaints, would have been great to see them back to back with Primal Scream.
Maybe the weather affected my mood, the bands, maybe ive got a low mood as i skipped Boomtown this year (should have gone, should have gone). It was s good festival as always just missed it with me this year compared to previous years. As a side note moving th garden back and having the large VIP village was an intersting choice, amazing to me how many people spent the entire day almost just drinking i there and not watching the acts but thats ther choice, the weather on Friday was good. It did mean with the weather planned unlike last year the accessibilty platform was not undercover so I felt for them sat in the pouring rain at times when VIPs were ignoring the music and chatting through it (Rant 2 over). I;ll be keeing an eye on next year, not booking early bird and might just go day ticket depending on the lineup or go full weekend if it good, hedging my bets. Its hard to please evryone and looking at the socials there were a lot of people who were raving about how good a time thay had so they got something right. Maybe i just see so many bands, been to so may festivals big and small for years, i’ve become cynical and unfairly critical? Organisation seemed great and people had fun.
For a selection of clips see our Tik Tok
