The Charlatans, Ash and Starsailor for Isle of Wight

The resurrected Isle of Wight festival – taking place for the first time in 32 years, over 2 weeks from the 3rd June – has announced the acts for the major event, Rock Island (on 3rd June), a concert for 25,000 at Seaclose Park, Newport.

The line-up has been announced as The Charlatans, Ash, Starsailor, The Coral, local band The Bees, Johnny4 from West Sussex and DNA Doll.

We were tipped off several weeks ago about some of this line-up, and asked the organisers whether it was correct. It was strongly denied, and we understood that a headliner of higher profile than The Charlatans would be needed to draw a crowd of that size to the island.

The Charlatans have stated that they’re to play at Glastonbury on the Friday (28th June), and will be supporting Oasis over 2 nights at London’s Finsbury Park on July 5th and 6th. Ash and Starsailor are also strongly rumoured to play at Glastonbury.

With the hassles of getting onto the Isle of Wight, and these other opportunities to see the bands at (arguably) better value, in more accessible places, and only a small amount of young people residing on the Isle of Wight, we think something needs to be pulled out of the hat.

The stated aim of the festival was to attract people onto the island for more than the day, boosting the local economy. With a line-up that will attract primarily those under 25 – who are less likely to stay on the island for more than the day (particularly in the middle of the exam season), it appears that it will fail in its stated aim. This is of major concern to other promoters on the island, who fear it will jeopardise the chances of similar events in the future.

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