Richard Ashcroft

Richard Ashcroft finished this years V2000 festival on the main stage at Chelmsford. He brought with him a large band, including a mass of backing/gospel singers and brass section. It appeared that Ashcroft wanted to prove something, perhaps that he was bigger than The Verve.

A large crowd had gathered at the main stage to hear this man sing, perhaps in anticipation of something new. But it was when he played The Verve numbers that the crowd really showed their appreciation. A keen fan next to me in the crowd pointed out that he was only singing the Verve songs he'd written, but he certainly made the most of them. It was all very dramatic with a big band, big lighting and a big personality. But this fitted the music and when appropriate the lights were brought down and Ashcroft stood alone singing his doleful tunes.

The general policy at V2000 had been that no bands played encores and we were all rather bemused when Ashcroft appeared to finish his set 15 minutes early, only to discover that he had decided to fit an encore into his set time. This was fine, but rather contrived, with the crowd - used to failed attempts to bring bands back - not even bothering to yell 'moooorrre' too loudly. Suddenly he was back on the stage though, alone and singing the Verve's 'History' followed by a great rendition of his latest single, 'Song For Lovers'.

In the end the crowd got what they really wanted as Richard Ashcroft finished his set with 'Bittersweet Symphony' to tremendous crowd applause. He began the song alone until it built up and up and the whole band came in on the final resonant notes. Ashcroft swapped his acoustic guitar for an electric and rocked the house as orange and green light span around the stage. He sang, 'I wanna thank you, I wanna thank you' as the music finished. The crowd left V2000 up-lifted by this great performance, humming that tune, and looking forward to similarly good stuff again next year.

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