Day 2
As everyone awoke - many surely horrifically hungover - the second day of the V Festival began, with
The Stranglers kicking things off on the Virgin Media Stage, playing a large number of their classics, including of course, "Golden Brown". Singer Baz Warne informed us of the impending cloud overhead, suggesting "it looks like it's gonna rain". Which, to mine and many other's delight, it did for about half an hour. Watching comic
Milton Jones from outside his overcrowded tent, I had little desire to get inside as the rain soaked us, providing temporary relief from the literally blistering heat. His usual brand of so-bad-it's-good punnery was out in full force, though his two best gags were unquestionably... "I saw an old man feeding the birds the other day. No idea how long he'd been dead." "I lost my job as a cricket commentator for saying 'I don't want to bore you with the details'." Bringing the Indie vibe back to the festival were
Shed Seven over at the 4Music stage, playing a firm selection of hits, but most memorable referring to Nicki Minaj - who had announced that she was pulling out of the festival due to vocal illness - as "Sticky Minge", much to the delight of a crowd who probably wouldn't be seen dead near her anyway. Next up were
Madness, who are no strangers to the fest, having played it two years ago, again getting everyone into the party mood, playing a string of their signature tunes, including "Our House", "It Must Be Love" (which featured a baffling but surprisingly good helping hand from
Olly Murs), and of course, "Baggy Trousers". As is usual for them, a massive crowd gathers on the stage for their climactic party anthem, and like Tim Minchin, Suggs also made reference to supporting Pussy Riot. After
The Enemy - who seemed genuinely humbled to be at V - offered some more escape for Indie fans, it was time for
The Human League in the confusingly-placed Arena tent. The 35-year-old New Wave band seemed fresh and well up for the task, getting a particularly huge crowd going for "Don't You Want Me" above all else. Meanwhile, long-time backing singers for the band, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley looked frankly more appealing than most of the other, much younger female presences on any stage all weekend. They provided a rousing segue into the main events for the evening;
Snow Patrol took to the main stage for a run through their most anthemic tunes, such as "Chasing Cars" and "Chocolate", to a crowd who seemed to lap it up, even if the amount of couples making out to it was cringe-inducing. Finally, the show closed with
The Killers, who enjoyed a much larger crowd than expected due to
Nicki Minaj dropping out on the opposite stage, and being replaced with X-Factor's
Cher Lloyd, who was pelted with bottles of urine. The Killers played through the likes of "Smile Like You Mean It" and "Mr. Brightside", brining the crowd to an absolute frenzy before the night was over. When it was all said and done, was the V Festival the best one of the summer? Absolutely not, and it likely never will be, what with the more liberally-minded offerings of Download and Reading/Leeds. Still, it's a festival a stone's throw away from many Southerners - Londoners especially - and though the fest's gearing towards more pop-orientated music is unfortunate, it still knows how to bring a handful of classic bands in, albeit in lower billing slots typically.