10 Essential Acts At Isle Of Wight 2013 And Q&A With John Giddings

By Benjamin Taylor / July 12, 2013

1. The Stone Roses

Friday - Main Stage The Manchester legends reformed amidst a maelstrom of press frenzy and furious fan expectation in 2011 after fifteen years of rumour, acrimony and continued denial. Many doubted whether or not the aging indie-rockers still packed the punch to deliver to the two 75,000-capacity Manchester Heaton Park shows that they sold out in a heartbeat. Many were wrong. After months of intense rehearsing The Stone Roses smashed Heaton Park to pieces; Squires guitar work reigned supreme and Reni reminded the hordes why hed previously been known as the greatest drummer of his generation. Singer Ian Brown held it all together, boasting the onstage boldness and bravado thats since inspired innumerable frontmen, from The Courteeners Liam Fray to Kasabians Tom Meighan. At Isle Of Wight The Roses will not be feeling any of the first show jitters that they may have experienced at Heaton Park and will have had another year to grow even tighter musically. Expect a festival defining performance from one of the UKs greatest ever bands: a night of propulsive grooves and classic funk fuelled indie-rock that will have you teary-eyed with wonder (just blame the wind). Key Track: I Am The Resurrection For fans of: Primal Scream, Happy Mondays, The Charlatans, Oasis The sheer quantity of fantastic bands at the festival this year made narrowing this list down to ten acts an incredibly tough challenge. There are a myriad other awesome acts who'll be performing over the course of the festival: for the full line-up see here. If there are any bands you believe people should be paying particular attention to please let us know in the comments below. Also new announcements are still happening: recently Carice van Houten (who plays red priestess Melisandre in Game Of Thrones) and her band were added to the line-up.NEXT: I chat to the man behind the curtain, legendary Isle Of Wight festival promoter John Giddings, about the festival and his time in music...