Overview

A festival in the sun as is the norm at Isle of Wight and 2006 was no different. An increase in numbers meant the site felt crowded - unless you happened to be there when the England match was on - but the atmosphere in the arena was relaxed and enjoyable. All be it a festival which was possibly much too busy for such a small site, making taking kids awkward but possible this year as fortunately no one had to travel far in the crowds and the sun.

The sensible festival goers made their journey to the island on Thursday so that they did not get caught in traffic congestion, ferry snarl ups or huge queues and had settled in by the time the first act walked out on the main stage. After a nightmare journey, which resulted in us merely hearing The Prodigy while suck in traffic outside the festival, we wrote Friday off to unlucky experience and a cracked radiator. Saturday was warm, blue skies and smiles though as we finally were able to enter the arena.

For those who went expecting IOW2006 to replace their Glastonbury experience they’d have been disappointed as the Island festival isn’t diverse enough to be realistically mentioned as challenging for the diversity of Glastonbury.

But for those that have seen IOW grow, this year saw it as offering its most diverse and festival like experience. With its tough stance on taking in drink and drugs into the arena IOW makes it clear it’s not in the same mould as the old school festival of thirty odd years ago. With its one main stage it also makes it clear that it’s not a huge site and taxing on the legs.

However in previous years I’ve complained of its lack of vibe as a festival with it concentrating on fun fairs, booze and little else. This year however IOW truly became a festival with numerous other small stages – three of them offering dance DJs, unsigned and indie bands. But it wasn’t this which created the festival vibe as much as their concentration on site art, flags and a more diverse catering experience including many festival favourites found on the festival circuit. Also this year were ‘left field’ politics and good causes being supported, sunflowers for a local hospice filled the arena wonderfully.

A whole field was devoted to shopping with all the traders you’d expect to see at festivals stalls like Mashed, Loud, Executive Lizard, Emu Puppet Stall, Highlights and many more festival gubbins shops. The kids field had been expanded and offered a wider choice of activities, dressing up, free swingboats, mother and baby spaces, soft play, workshops and even a storyteller. Plus roving performers, random furniture and even soya based fruit juices. It actually felt like a festival as you wandered about the place.

The arena in front of the main stage was also better laid out, food stalls around the outer edge with bars and token dispensers for them and a smaller loop of food stalls toward the back with the whole central bar loop of last year removed providing much more space in front of the main stage and two big screens half way back inline with the merchandising stall.

As for the line up, I’m afraid it didn’t have the same crackle as 2004 or the musical highlights of 2005. It was a similar story both full days with similar veined chart-favourite bands who were entertaining enough in the sunshine while we soaked it up and supped our festie lagers or ciders but nothing memorable. There were few high-calibre acts other than the headliners, although by all accounts Friday’s acts (which we missed) were all quality artists.

On Saturday the crowd is slim for both The On Offs and the 747s who provide pleasant pop tunes in the sun. Suzanne Vega and The Proclaimers are the surprise hits and of course both Primal Scream and Foo Fighters were worthy additions to the bill. Of the others only Dirty Pretty Things and The Kooks offered any level of entertainment but it was hardly the stuff of legends. Editors showed the most potential to be future stars.

On Sunday Skyline Heroes could have given eFestivals a mention but no one was able to get into the arena to see much of their set. The Delays were pleasant in the heat. Procol Harum were surprisingly good and an apt unique legends slot – with ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ a swaying sing along even at the back! Kubb and Maximo Park were favourites for their fans but unlikely to make many new ones. Lou Reed was a real let down, preferring to stick to lumpy chords and dragged out numbers and entertain his tai chi dancer rather than a crowd who wanted favourites. He was so much better at Glastonbury a few years ago. Richard Ashcroft was festival karaoke - one huge anthem and a few rants - and Coldplay lifted the weekend with a memorable final final performance for supposedly sometime.

Even though I had my doubts about taking a ‘we’re not showing the football’ stance and voiced my concerns I was wrong. Amazingly having half the festival leave to watch the game didn’t detract from it, it gave those that remained breathing space and probably even made many local businesses very happy which is bound to help support for future festivals.

IOW may have been less of a success as a music festival this year with few performances to remember in say a decade, but it has at last come of age to become a proper festival in the sun. Even the corporate sell was turned down this year. Between acts instead of corporate adverts on rotation the big screens broadcast music videos, clips from the campsite and previous IOW performances and yes the occasional advert but it’s less in your face.

We didn’t camp this year but I hear they still had some camping problems with anti-social behaviour but no more than many big festivals although by all accounts the family camping was hard to find. More than that I can’t comment other than to say from a distance it looked colourful and relaxed and all the campers arrived each day in good spirits.

It’ll be interesting to see how many of the crowd were there as there was no Glastonbury and how pleased they were with the striking contrast. But for those of us that go to the island each year it was nice to see it developing and offering us so much more than last year. Let’s hope the organisers continue to build on this and hopefully offer a stronger and unique line up as they have done in the past.

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