V Fest 2014 Reviews

[daniel.k]

Now V has finished for another year, what are people's highs and lows of the festival and memorable moments

[Mr Nasty]

What was yours?

[daniel.k]

I'll write mine later, on the coach coming back now so in maybe a week I'll have a bigger review up but I enjoyed this year and thought although some of the clashes seemed odd it was a good line up and didn't really notice the lowered ticket sales but I had a different view for a lot of acts this year compared to last.

[A13]

Sunday at V Festival Chelmsford was the ending of a mammoth road trip for me from London to Liverpool for The Killers warm-up show and then back to London via Chelmsford.

Managed to get right in the centre barrier for the whole day. The line-up for the day was pretty underwheliming for me on paper, but actually enjoyed everyone. Train were a surprise as wasn't really 'aware' of them. Recognised quite a lot.

The Killers were great as expected. Managed to catch Ronnie's last drumstick which was thrown which was a bonus, along with one of Train's T-Shirts earlier on. Perk of being at the front I guess.

Not usually a massive fan of V, but from where I was the crowd seemed pretty friendly. I did the whole weekend a couple of years back, and since then have done two Glastonburys so wouldn't go back unless the lineup was incredible, just go overpriced and corporate for what it is.

Enjoyable none the less.

Oh and another thing, very surprised how east it was getting off site afterward. Literally back to the car and straight out. Was back home in South London within an hour. Good site management.

Edited August 18, 2014 by A13

[tom taylor]

I'm not sure whether reading the report prior to arriving saying 10,000 tickets hadn't sold had some impact on my review...BUT it definitely seemed quieter this year! Around the campsite and all day Saturday seemed far far quieter than other years in Chelmsford. Sunday it seemed to pick up abit but who knows!

Campsites and toilets seemed better than other years, apart from on Saturday night our tent was raided, they took our bags and dumped them 10 metres away with everything out the bag...having camped at V for the last 5 years I hadn't experienced this before so this was a bit of a downer but nothing major was stolen...a bra in fact..how bizarre!

Atmosphere was as good as ever, plenty of young Essex teens dotted around but it was all fine in my opinion. The whole campsite seemed quieter than ever which was more than fine when it came to sleeping.

Alesso was incredible, shame Axwell ^ Ingrosso had to have an unplanned "interval" half way through their set due to the stage catching on fire ha ha! All in all very well run yet again, will more than likely return for my 8th V Fest next year. Hoping for a little bit more originality in the line up, the money is still abit of a con for a two day festival, but its my local festival and it's brilliant!

Until next year...

[chchel]

I was at Chelmsford on Saturday, first time back after a few years, got to the end of All Saints singing Never Ever and The Beach (I think), they were ok, couldn't get in the tent but was ok nonetheless. Keiza, in my opinion, wasn't much of a singer spent more time dancing and Hideaway the crowd sang, disappointing. Pixie Lott was ok. Kaiser Chiefs I'd seen before when Ruby was their newest song out and I think they were headlining, so I knew what to expect and I enjoyed it. I was impressed with Bastille and Example, I thought they were good live.

I did get to go in the Comedy Tent and saw some bloke who did a song about dogs, he was funny Alan Carr came on with a couple of four legged friends too.

JT was my headliner, and really who I was wanting to see and I wasn't disappointed. More so, to see him on tour was approximately £80 a ticket, whereas going to V, which is local I can see other bands etc too. Although, this year I wasn't flitting from stage to stage, whereas with other years I have been.

Edited August 18, 2014 by chchel

[Rose-Colored Boy]

M People - meh. Heather Small's got a hell of a voice but didn't really click for me.

Newton Faulkner - absolutely fab. Been waiting to see him for years and didn't disappoint. Loved his 'J Tizzle' cover.

Aloe Blacc - ace. The Man sounds heavenley live.

Sam Smith - brought a tear which was unexpected. Incredible voice but 'Money on My Mind' is still irritating as balls.

Chic - absoutely phenonomal. Could have headlined. Not the biggest crowd but an absolutely capitvated one.

Adam Hills - slightly disappointing. Did he actually have any material other than the "let's all laugh at the likely audience of thick chavs when I play Essex tomorrow" banter? Usually has good one-liners on The Last Leg so got a bit bored of the 'let's get my foot to crowd surf' fun and games after it carried on and on and on.

Lilz as good as ever. Seemed really engaged with the festival which I didn't expect given she's been brought up on Glasto. Didn't play L8 Cmmr again though

Paolo - not as good as at Glastonbury but still a class above most of the rest of the day. The reworked songs got a few negative reviews around me in the crowd but I don't see that the original arrangements would have fitted the atmosphere generated by the rest of the set.

The Killers - enjoyed far far more than expected. Was torn between them and Embrace but glad I stuck it out with Brandon and co because what a band. If I look as young and hot as Brandon Flowers when I'm in my mid-30's I'll be a very happy man. Only negatives were the absence of Jenny WAFOM but with so many hits you can't have them all I guess. Also the 'vote for which cover we do' thing was a bit of a mess, a lot of the crowd were waiting to hear the choices before cheering hence so few people cheering for the far better known first option.

Fuse ODG - bit of a lol to start the day. Great drummer.

Dan Croll - nice but didn't know many of his songs due to poor research. Only act I saw at the Futures all weekend and disappointed to report it was still suffering the exact same sound bleed issues from MTV as Jamie Cullum had last year (although it hadn't moved an inch so I don't know why I expected differently).

Kodaline - very nice beers in the air stuff. Could maybe have done with being indoors to reflect how many in the crowd knew every word of their lyrics and were singing their hearts out but a band on the up most definetely. More enjoyable than at their own gig, probably due to them cutting out the fillers on the album.

Ben Hurley - seemed a bit keen on the perverted shit? Might wanna watch his obsession with genitals. No prior knowledge of him so don't know if that's the act or if he was a bit tipsy but don't know that I'd watch him again.

Dana Alexander - despite an audible "oh" when she came out instead of Alan Carr was nice enough.

Alan Carr - GREAT! Easily the best of the four I saw in the 'two red nipples' as he renamed the tent.

Kaiser Chiefs - what a frontman!! Seen them before but Ricky gets better every time. Really glad they've had a resurgence cos have some great anthems and seemed to be widely enjoyed more than anyone else all weekend except the headliners and Chic.

The Wailers - fantastic. Deserved the main stage.

Miles Kane - absolutely shockingly small crowd yet he still went on about it being better than at Hylands so presumably the MTV stage on Saturday at Hylands was closed off?? Good singalong anthems though and didn't find my first experience of being down the front at a rock show as exhausting as expected.

Janelle Monae - what a lady!! Another embarassingly small crowd (probably the only reflection of the poor ticket sales we noticed all weekend) but didn't stop her and us thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Hope she gets a higher-profile slot if she comes back on her next album.

Ed - great great great great great. Enjoyed the unexpected appearance of Bloodstream on the setlist, one of my favourites on the album although no Runaway Biggest crowd of the weekend which is no surprises given how well the album's done. Expect him to headline on the next album.

JT - what a fucking showman! Shame he cut out Drink You Away as was one of the highlights of the tour but enjoyed Shake Your Body far more than Poison as the cover, other than that it was pretty much the same show as at the NEC but no less enjoyable. Really gave two fingers to those decrying him as a "Beyonce-lite, he won't get the vibe and will spend more time changing clothes than singing again". Can remember two times he stopped for a breather/drink which was less than Brandon Flowers. Was nice that he came on stage early and played for longer than advertised as well - only a small thing but, as Ms Knoweles will tell you, first impressions count double.. 10/10

Overall a 9/10 for my second V experience. Wasn't expecting to enjoy it more having experienced Glasto earlier this summer, less in fact, but it didn't turn out that way. Probably a combination of no disappointing headliners, the company I was with being less clingy and just generally knowing what to expect. Only spoilt by the much much better crowds overall being compensated for by some twats interrupting the surprisingly peaceful campsite at 3am for an hour of non-stop hilarious Alan banter. Even the rain mostly held back, sudden downpours during Miles Kane and the get-out this morning apart. Not sure if I'll be back next year but if they're already advertising it as a 'special 20th year celebration' the line-up should be a corker right? We'll see.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Zac Quinn

[benus80]

My fave V festival ever ( I have been to five) over the weekend I saw 18 acts and 17 ever either good or amazing. The acts I thought were amazing were

human league, kaiser cheifs, manics, embrace, elbow and chic which is now my fave gig/set of all time!

[Narnia]

My first time at V and got a last minute cheap ticket to Weston. I camped elsewhere (farm) and had lots to do Sat so didn't arrive into the arena until 7pm so can't comment on most of that day.

I remember a while back hearing someone refer to it as a "gig in a field" and that is exactly how I found it to be. I didn't like the "festival" itself... combination of the area style set up, crap food and booze and a crowd which mostly I couldn't relate to. I did actually wonder at time if it was a Hunters (wellies) festival! First time in my life I got to witness (thankfully not experience) piss throwers. Did meet a few nice people tho. Toilets were very clean and always paper in them! Generally felt uncrowded which was nice.

Music wise... I don't know if I had a bad position but when I was watching the killers the sound was quite bad at times. Anyone else find this? Sunday spent most of the day by MTV stage which seemed a better place to be and not many twats about. Nice start with a trip down memory lane with Starsailor. Near front for blondie which I really enjoyed to then got to the barrier for manics who were ace. Crowd was a bit mixed during manics tho, great fun with a group of lively welsh fans by me but there were also a fair few people at the front who either didnt sing or move which I thought was quite odd, esp during tracks like pcp ! :S That was the best gig for me tho by a long way and one of the best i've been to in years. This has left me in a very positive mood and happy to have been to V.

I think I will write a seperate review about the farm camping. It saved me from potential mental breakdown in the V campsites! Really good friendly bunch there!

Overall, i'd never pay £200 for this festival. I'd rather see individual acts elsewhere. I paid £85 for ticket and if I got another bargain like this and I really wanted to see the acts i'd go. Otherwise if it was just a case of wanting to goto a festival i'd not go near it.

Incidently, aparently touts couldnt even shift £50 tickets they were selling on the roads nearby. It's definately not a favourite atm.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Narnia

[adam1234]

In relation to ticket sales they were apparently down by 20,000. I machine that must be across the two sites? Is overall capacity 90, 000?

Edited August 19, 2014 by adam1234

[adam1234]

In relation to ticket sales they were apparently down by 20,000. I imagine that must be across the two sites? Is overall capacity 90, 000?

[Rose-Colored Boy]

In relation to ticket sales they were apparently down by 20,000. I machine that must be across the two sites? Is overall capacity 90, 000?

175,000-180,000 including day tickets I think

[Toon Army]

Best bits for me

Stranglers

Odell - met him when jt was on, daughter was over the moon

Wailers

Weather

Neon trees

Chic

Train

Paolo

Killers

Msp made a right mess of my schedule, apart from that, all good

Harry and stein really should have been on in the comedy tent though, it was 37 years since I last saw them, it showed

Edited August 19, 2014 by Toon Army

[adam1234]

175,000-180,000 including day tickets I think

Aahh right that makes sense then because it was stated that Weston park was 20, 000 under capacity. That seems about right