Doves got bottled?

[zahidf]

According to my mate who went. What kind of degenerate scum went to chelmsford this year?

[paulbrock]

yeah thats right. My mate watched them, they had to stop twice to threaten some twat.

Also seemed to be significantly more urine being thrown about by people who haven't realised throwing body waste at each other for entertainment was left behind several species ago.

Was hoping to see someone try to do this so I could pour their own piss over their head and see how funny they found it, but was near the front too much, as opposed to the cowards at the back.

[tom taylor]

Calvin harris who was on before the doves didnt get bottled but there was so much drink being thrown everywhere...I would guess that everyone was hyped up from calvin harris and just wanted Prodigy to come on, it's so harsh on the doves though, they're a great band and didnt deserve that treatment!

[Funkyfairy!]

I was gutted at the crowd at Doves

They are one of my favourite bands, but due to the terrible scheduling from the organisers the crowd was 90% full of idiots who were just there waiting for Prodigy. Didn't know or appreciate Doves.

If they'd been on before Stroephonics - or headling the Nissan tent I'm sure the atmosphere would have been electic but clashing them with Faithless, and putting the in a Calvin Harris/Prodigy Sandwich was never going to work

The crowd during Doves was my worst festival moment in 15 years .... so many bottles/cups etc being thrown it was ridiculous

At the end the Doves just said ' it's been interesting' you could tell they were gutted/annoyed and fuming, I'm surprised they stayed so long

Could be my last ever V fest due to the idiots who ruined my 'must see' moment

[Hairywookie]

shame cos doves are a great live band. I went to see faithless because I decided as i like all four at the top of the C4/V stage bills I stay at one stage. So gland now becuase that sort of atmosphere would have completely spoilt it. Unfortunately, plenty of bell-ends attend the v festival these days. Hope that doesnt mean Doves will not return to V, and agreed with whoever said above that it was a poor placement between CH and prodigy.

[Adster]

I was there, I started off at/near the front but moved backwards hoping to find some atmosphere, I saw a handful of people enjoying the music and thousands who only moved when a camera went near them.

Anyone know if Staffs was as bad?

[youthster]

It was pretty digraceful, and as has been pointed out it was entirely due to dim scheduling.

On the other hand, you can't really blame the organisers for a minority's stupidity (and it was a minority). To be fair they still turned in a great set...

Similar thing happened to Shaun Ryder. Crowd were in there hyped up for Tinie Tempah due on after and started chanting 'who are yer?' at Shaun Ryder when the band came on. Now this was because he was listed as TBC in the official program, and I really think they wanted to know who he was, but Mr Ryder didn't see it that way...things went downhill sharpish after that!

[foberty]

I was there, I started off at/near the front but moved backwards hoping to find some atmosphere, I saw a handful of people enjoying the music and thousands who only moved when a camera went near them.

Anyone know if Staffs was as bad?

[Grayburn]

Massive amount of immature pricks at Chelmsford this year, i thought there was alot last year but this year took the absolute piss!

Not going next year.

[jimmyd93]

Massive amount of immature pricks at Chelmsford this year, i thought there was alot last year but this year took the absolute piss!

Not going next year.

[csd01sdr]

Massive amount of immature pricks at Chelmsford this year, i thought there was alot last year but this year took the absolute piss!

Not going next year.

[Supernova]

It was an absolute disgrace. As said before, the scheduling was a problem. Then, they put the V Festival sign in the screen like they were ready to come out and they took another 5 minutes to come on stage.. in this 5 minutes people starting throwing bottles like crazy, and when they came out and saw that they just said "wow what is that all about? what are you doing?"..... wrong thing to say as then the bottles started going on stage.

After a couple of songs, one bottle almost hit Jez Williams (the guitarist) who had to dodge it, and this really infuriated Jimi Goodwin (bassist and vocalist) who started taunting the crowd and got really really angry, thought he was going to f**k off at any minute. At the end of There Goes The Fear he was already leaving and telling the rest of the band to go with him but they convinced him to stay for one last song. Was an utter disgrace really =(

[Big Vern]

Nobody is to blame here other than the festival goers who did it. V is unfortunately largely populated by people who for some reason dont mind paying a lot of money just to go and get pissed and have no intention of enjoying the many artists that are playing. This is often echoed in these forums where so many posts pre-festival are about what type of alcohol people are taking, will I be searched for drink and drugs, blah blah blah. This shows the age and mentality of the people who are attending, posting such topics on here thinking it makes them sound big and clever. In all honesty who gives a f**k what alcohol anybody is taking or will be drinking??? It's a music festival, not a mass hen/stag party which is how it seems to be. The amount of people I saw who were totally hammered by midday and had zero chance or interest in enjoying any of the music.

The pinnacle of all of this was some lad who thought it was funny to try and piss like a girl against the wall by the V stage, tripped over his pants and jeans and was just rolling around in mud made boggy by 100's of people pissing there all day.

Never been to Glasto but I am told by many people that this sort of stuff just doesnt really go on that much and the crowd is generally much much friendlier. I guess the whole registration process for Glasto puts all of the knobs off from going.

[Scottish Stu]

Nobody is to blame here other than the festival goers who did it.

[Carpetburn]

I'm a V veteran and yes, due to the very commercially-based music booking policy and T4-slanted TV coverage it seems that the festival increasingly attracts immature tossers who attend mainly to get shit-faced with their mates. They then abuse any act that doesn't quite fit within their herd's narrow musical tastes. To wit, what happened to Doves and Shaun Ryder last weekend.

Don't get me wrong, in this particular instance Calvin Harris and The Prodigy are two acts I'd quite happily watch, but Eels/La Roux/Goldfrapp/Doves/Air seemed to me like a pretty good finish to a largely enjoyable weekend.

I've increasingly had to tip-toe my way around the V weekend in an attempt to find music I like, and being enjoyed by like-minded (or at least open-minded and tolerant) people. If it's some reflection, I haven't seen a main stage headliner at V since 2006 (tried Muse in 08 but I thought the sound was crap and wandered off elsewhere). Last weekend I completed my day watching fantastic sets by The Charlatans and Air.

Doves are a fine band. The last time I saw them at Latitude in 2009 they were upbeat, witty and enjoyed some fine banter with the audience. Heading back from Goldfrapp on Sunday at V, and having missed Doves' first couple of songs I was shocked by Jimi Goodwin's worsening temper. Having seen what I did, and have read since, I think his attitude was totally justified. I would be really surprised if they ever played V again.

It's simple - if you don't know or only vaguely know an act, even if you are only pitching up for a good spot for the next band, at least have the common decency to give them a listen and don't spoil it for their dedicated fans.

I think the organisers have to take a share of the blame here, first in a booking policy that mainly appeals to the mass demographic at a now-totally overcrowded festival.

The other thing that angers me is the way they seem to be using some bands on 4Music stage as a niche "sandwich" between two acts who will draw a massive crowd. They then use the sandwich as a means of shifting/dispersing a people round the site/buy more food/beer. I think Saw Doctors, Shed Seven, Doves and even White Lies were used in this way. I think it's a very cynical attitude. If they are going to book "serious" acts maybe they should have a big tent dedicated to that type of act a la Reading/Leeds?

[markyboy101]

I know you can't blame scheduling, but I feel if on Sunday, Faithless and Doves had swapped positions (so 4stage woud be Calvin Harris - Faithless - Prodigy, and Vstage would be Kooks - Doves - Kasabian) it would have been a much better suit to those bands concerned, as they would all attract similar-ish crowds. Eels and Shed Seven were on in crap spots as well. I think Shed Seven could've fared better on the main stage, perhaps before Madness, and Eels are 'alternative' enough to have been high up in the Union tent.

Alas, scheduling will never please everyone, bands or the public, and Doves will just have to put it down as a bad experience. I saw them at the Ben & Jerry's festival in July, and they were brilliant, and the field was full of people buzzing off them, so they know can attract a proper crowd elsewhere.

[MEGABOWL]

I know you can't blame scheduling, but I feel if on Sunday, Faithless and Doves had swapped positions (so 4stage woud be Calvin Harris - Faithless - Prodigy, and Vstage would be Kooks - Doves - Kasabian) it would have been a much better suit to those bands concerned, as they would all attract similar-ish crowds. Eels and Shed Seven were on in crap spots as well. I think Shed Seven could've fared better on the main stage, perhaps before Madness, and Eels are 'alternative' enough to have been high up in the Union tent.

Alas, scheduling will never please everyone, bands or the public, and Doves will just have to put it down as a bad experience. I saw them at the Ben & Jerry's festival in July, and they were brilliant, and the field was full of people buzzing off them, so they know can attract a proper crowd elsewhere.

[MEGABOWL]

Never been to Glasto but I am told by many people that this sort of stuff just doesnt really go on that much and the crowd is generally much much friendlier. I guess the whole registration process for Glasto puts all of the knobs off from going.

[Joe-]

Wow, this is one of the reasons I'd never go to V festival.

[AphexUK]

I think if Jimi carried out his threat and jumped into the crowd to kick the crap out of the people throwing stuff, he'd have been backed up by 99% of the crowd.

[oebs]

Yeah, was utterly embarrassing! Was stood at the back and ive never seen so many airbourne bottles in my life. Then about 3/4 songs i hear jimi say sometthing along the lines of "carry on doing that and i'll come down there and do you myself"

What an ungratefull bunch of twats!!