Sad decline

[barty1312]

I went to my 22nd V Festival this weekend and it was a sad sight. Its being going down hill for a few years but was amazed how far it had gone now. The arena must be at least a third smaller than  a few years ago and it still could not sell out. The small bands stage was not even in a decent sized tent just an outdoor stage. Its a shame but organizers must hope to make more money from fairground rides than anything else and there sound systems stopped you being able to sit towards the back of the crowd to watch a band (i say band in loose terms as only a handful there)as all you could here was Scream if you want to go faster. Jay Z was big headliner but I spent most of my time watching people sing to backing tracks and lots of cover versions. Don't get me wrong lots of good acts but nowhere the depth of before. I can't complain to much about VIP as did not pay for ticket but what a rip off if you upgraded, don't do it if you go again. In saying that I would not be surprised if its in it's last days as I am not sure how much smaller they can make it. Real shame as it was a local high light but so much wrong with it as a big festival now. Oh well hopefully organisers see the light and revitalise or put it out of its misery.

[Funkyfairy!]

Does that mean you won;t be going any more ?

I agree much smaller than before, and I hated te postioning o the fairground rides (but I hate loud fairground rides at festivals anyway) , if yo positioned yourself correctly at the stages the sound transferance was negligable and I was worried about it.

Positives at Hylands - much smaller queues to get in than previous years (although I was a day ticket holder), and actually no queue at all at 12 ish each day, I thought the crowd seems friendlier, lots of excuse me's rather than pushing by,

Agree lack of 'real bands' but I think thats the general standard of music as well and I was stil able to seek out some surprisingly good acts, Craig david certainly surprised me and a great set,

VIP - agree a 'waste of money' but if you managed to get 2 for 1 tickets they actually you could upgrade and it only cost what a normal ticket would cost. Plenty of indoor space, hardly queued for the bar, DJ's though were shocking and didn't keep the party going which was sad to see as other years the dj's in VIP have kep the vibe and boogying going well !

Didn't see Jay-Z , as chose Pete Tong , and oh wow what a gig, I'd have paid to see him with the Heritage orchestra in a gig any day and 50+ musicians on stage blew my socks off

I don;t think its really a festival, a big multi staged gig, but hey they badge Wireless as a festival and much the same vibe

The bus stop to the gate was much smaller walk as well this year for day ticket holders

Defo all change this year, and not all good, but I am guessing the festival scene is saturated and only the mighty will remain and V may not be one of them - seen a rumour of them merging with reading/Leeds and having  it as a 3 day / 3 site festival - would make sense and sell out wquickly I guess ..... make V more like the V of old with Indie bands etc, and Reading/Leeds would also change direction - but maybe not a terrble idea

 

 

[watsonjm]

Have to agree with @Funkyfairy! on a lot of this.  No its not the same as it was but its still had a good weekend.  This was my 14th year and for the first time i didn't feel squashed and like i couldn't leave my friends to go to bar and be able to get back to them.  As i said on the other thread i think the reduced capacity/ticket sales actually made it a lot more enjoyable.  We managed to walk the sounds stage both days and stay there for the day without much hassle getting in and out.  Loo's in the campsites were to few but that's nothing new and the ones in the arena were cleaned more than ever (esp the females which had constant attendants) 

Musically its not as indie/rock as i'd like but there is very little there that i 100% wouldn't see so i kept busy and the kids i was with had plenty they did want to see.  Pete Tong was simply brilliant, Pink was good fun, Craig David and Clean Bandit were both big surprises for me and madness were great fun. 

All in all another cracking weekend.  I think V still has a place but they need to reduce the capacity down and except that's its no longer the size it was.

[Funkyfairy!]

51 minutes ago, watsonjm said:

Have to agree with @Funkyfairy! on a lot of this.  No its not the same as it was but its still had a good weekend.  This was my 14th year and for the first time i didn't feel squashed and like i couldn't leave my friends to go to bar and be able to get back to them.  As i said on the other thread i think the reduced capacity/ticket sales actually made it a lot more enjoyable.  We managed to walk the sounds stage both days and stay there for the day without much hassle getting in and out.  Loo's in the campsites were to few but that's nothing new and the ones in the arena were cleaned more than ever (esp the females which had constant attendants) 

Musically its not as indie/rock as i'd like but there is very little there that i 100% wouldn't see so i kept busy and the kids i was with had plenty they did want to see.  Pete Tong was simply brilliant, Pink was good fun, Craig David and Clean Bandit were both big surprises for me and madness were great fun. 

All in all another cracking weekend.  I think V still has a place but they need to reduce the capacity down and except that's its no longer the size it was.

I'd love to see more Indie / rock - but managed to track down some, Wombats played a good set and I enjoyed them, Jack Savoretti was so empty but a good sound , V has just changed direction.

I used to love the small bands tent, but to be fair it was always half empty, last year saw Elisa and the bear in there and Gavin james and neither pulled a great crown despite pulling large crowds elsewhere (especially Gavin James) , so I was hoping having an outside stage may entice a few passers by, but it did seem empty every time I walked by. Jerry Willams on Saturday morning was a lovely find

I was a little disappointed in clean bandit (no idea why) except I've seen them a few times and they just didn't seem as good as before - but hey ho, Pink was amazing, Pete Tong, just wow and Craig David a good set. Scouting for girls, as cheesy as they are certainly pulled a dancing crowd early on Sunday

Will I be back next year ... mmm undecided , but I said the same this year :-). With no Glastonbury its time to jiggle about the festivals and try new stuff next year maybe as got all summer to play with and not have to space them out - Glasto, V, jersey live .... having said that and a few bands I fancy seeing, half price tickets and it mat tempt me back like a shot lol

 

[Richb]

Agree with most of this, more indie would be great, previous years have given us some excellent 80s/90s stuff (Echo and Bunnymen, Inspiral Carpets etc). I do love the small stages so maybe another of those would have made it better, saw Elisa and the Bear at Bestival last year on a really small stage (as well as Hinds) and they really benefit in that kind of environment, Liked Jerry Williams so much I've booked up to see her in oct. Clean Bandit are always decent but curious song choices lessened their usual impact, Telephone Banking & Extraordinary instead of Come Over & Cologne were poor decisions imo, Totally agree with Pink and Pete Tong, both 1st rate sets as was Emeli Sande so enough to keep me interested, and to be fair to V, Glastonbury and Reading/Leeds apart (both unavailable to me), none of the other fests had a lineup better than this, maybe just a lean year for available bands, Hope to be back next year, made some good friends here and its pretty well run, never had any probs here and up to now haven't needed wellies! Have to wait and see what this BBC one shapes up but thats at start of summer so can feasibly do both