the third V-Dub Island seems to be splitting into two events

V-Dub Island 2013

Thursday 15th to Monday 19th August 2013
County Showground, Northwood, Isle of Wight, PO31 8QU, England MAP
£27.50 for the weekend (including camping), under 16s free

Now in it’s third year, V-Dub Island is a festival that according to the sites website is "…for people who love the brand or the lifestyle…" You don’t need to own a Beetle or a Camper, but an appreciation of the vehicles will definitely improve your enjoyment greatly. This year much was made of the fact that it was bigger and better – expanding to four full days programme and offering more than last year, and arriving on site on Thursday evening it was immediately clear that there was a lot more on site than last year. Whether it is better however remained to be seen.

The first thing that you noticed was that the children’s activities area had been expanded, as well usual bouncy castles and craft area there was now a climbing wall, bumper boats as well as some small traditional fairground rides. For the older children there was also a skate ramp managed by local skate group Wight Trash who had experts on hand to run demonstrations as well as provide guidance for those still struggling to stay upright on their boards, let alone do tricks. Also back for another year was the ‘beach’, an area of sand which had been laced with tokens for the children to dig up to collect rewards.

This I feel is one of the festivals strong points as, where festivals can be a long day for young children, this provides a focus point where they can play all day, never seeming to tire of the chance to build sandcastles and dig holes all day – even on the Saturday when the weather closed in and rain showers pelted the site, any break, no matter how small in the weather saw them back out and scrabbling about in the sand.

While the younger ones are thus entertained, the adults are free to enjoy the rest of the arena, sitting round the beach on the deck chairs, enjoying the music and the beer. Bar prices are pretty reasonable, with the bar offering a small selection of lager, ale and cider for around £4 a pint, with cocktails available for £6-£7. Also expanded this year are the food areas, the last couple of years the only source of on-site food was the café which led to some large queues at times, there were now several food vans offering, in addition to the usual burgers or fish and chips, Chinese and a vegetarian offering served from a double-decker bus. Prices were fairly typical and a good meal with decent portion sizes could be had for around £6.

Scattered around this area were a selection of stalls selling clothes, flags and a selection of spare parts for the VWs, as well as a few companies offering full-blown makeover services for your camper. These were spread out over the lower end of the field, towards the camping area, which took up most of the rest of the site. In between this was a fenced off arena for, where those who were particularly proud of their vehicles could park them up to display them for all to admire. This was one of the things that I felt let the festival down, as although there was plenty going on across the site, it was all a bit too spread out, with some of the stalls spread out between relatively large areas of grass that didn’t get used at all. Unfortunately these empty spaces destroyed the sense of intimacy round the site that can make smaller events so memorable. The layout of the site also left you with a sense that there were two festivals occurring as on one hand you had the main arena with all the child-friendly elements and the music, while at the other end of the site were the VW enthusiasts, who seemed to be coming and going to the drive-outs, show events and surfing competitions without troubling the rest of the site.

For those who did venture across the divide and into the music tents, there was a good selection of bands to suit most tastes. The earlier part of the days were generally given over to covers bands of the type you’d find gigging around pubs most weekends, which is not to denigrate the talent on display. Of particular note were heavy rock band Oblivion, covering the likes of Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy and Free, lead singer Jimi Qweer’s big vocals were an easy match for the artists he was covering. Interestingly this band also performed on another day as The Star Men, this time turning their eye to the glam rock of the 70s, dressed in full glam regalia they worked their way through the hits of The Sweet, Slade, and their ilk. It was a shame really that during the day the main music tent was largely deserted, bar a few people seeking shade/shelter from the sun/rain as a large number of bands deserved a better audience than they got, and credit had to be given to those who were unperturbed by the general lethargy and put in memorable performances regardless.

As well as the covers bands there was a good mix of established Isle of Wight acts such as Pleasurade, Weatherkings and Damien Paul, alongside some new faces. I was particularly impressed by Duveaux, a 5-piece rock act whose energetic performance bought to mind Kaiser Chiefs, with strong hooks and an energetic delivery, they even managed to get some of the crowd up and dancing – no mean feat given the generally lethargic crowd in the tent.

A similarly energetic performance also came from Shoot The Moon, whose ska performance gathered one of the larger crowds aside from the headliners. Across the four nights the headliners were a fairly diverse group. Thursday night’s headliner Gareth Icke was a pleasant, if undemanding performance, with some nice indie-pop songs. While Friday night saw ska legend Neville Staple joined by his band to perform a mix of ska classics, original material and hits from his former band The Specials. His encore was a 15-minute version of The Specials most famous song ‘Ghost Town’ which the packed tent bounced and sang along too. Saturday saw V-Dub Island regulars Dub Pistols bring their sound system to the festival for a typically raucous performance, while Sunday saw The Cuban Brothers take to the stage. More usually known for their connection to another Isle of Wight festival – Bestival – The Cuban brothers live show is part musical performance, part dance, part comedy routine. And while in the wrong hands this could be cringe-worthy, however their approach is one that shows a genuine love for the music and dance elements, with the comedy firmly kept to mocking themselves and those members of the crowd foolish enough to go to the front.

Away from the main tent, there were two other venues – a café which served tea and coffee while bands perform acoustic sets, and a third tent which during the day provided a focus for some of the children’s events, while at night was variously a silent disco or a late night magic show hosted by The Skull and Top Hat. We only discovered this last act by accident as there was no promotion of this either before the event or once we came on site, which was a shame as it was one of the better moments of the weekend. Similarly the café tent wasn’t very well promoted either - on some days there was a chalkboard telling you who was on and when, however this wasn’t on show every day and on at least one occasion the line-up was different to the one advertised, making it difficult to work out who was performing.

All in all this festival is at its core a good event, with a range of events that provide a good level of choice of activities for all ages and interests. However as it expands, it seems to be splitting into two events – on one hand is the VW enthusiasts event where you can spend the weekend admiring and getting involved the vehicles and the culture that goes alongside it. On the other is the family-friendly music festival where you can spend a good day enjoying the music while the children are entertained.

However once ensconced in one side or the other there is little to give you a sense that the other is even happening, with the programme being quite limited in information. In the music area you hardly see any Campers or Beetles, or indeed anything to suggest this is a VW themed event. If you’re there for the VWs then the rest of the festival holds little attraction until late in the evening when the bar and headliners give you the opportunity for a dance and a drink before returning to the campsite for the night. If they could find a way to integrate the two halves of the event this could be a great festival, rather just a very good one.

review by: Steve Collins / Marie Magowan

photos by: Steve Collins