Saturday overview

Performing early on Saturday, was the not so mysterious ‘606’, who are the world’s worst kept secret. As any over obsessive Dave Grohl fan will tell you ‘606’ is his lucky number, and also the title of the Foo Fighter’s studio, and a handy pseudonym for The Foo’s whenever they want to play secret gigs, like this supposedly ‘intimate’ gig on the Channel 4 stage.

Still, there were a few left in the dark who hadn’t quite spotted that some unfamiliar group going by the name of ‘606’ had been given a long 45 minute set. As I had every intention of catching the band later on today, and I didn’t really see the Channel 4 stage as an ‘intimate’ gig, I decided just to avoid this one.



Actress turner rocker Juliette Lewis and her band The Licks had brought their predictably mediocre female lead garage rock to Chelmsford, complete with some rather ridiculous headwear that looked like Lewis had stuck her head in a blood-splattered peacock carcass.


It’s slightly rawer than a lot of similar acts, but don’t let that fool you. This is just rehashed classic rock, that you’ll love if you’re a traditionalist and you’re quite happy to believe that Jet, The Hives, and The Datsuns are all purveyors of a unique and original sound. Otherwise it’s just easy listening old style rock, with a sub-standard singer. Still – it’s a chance to see that girl from Natural Born Killers, if that’s your sorta thing.

Editors had an unusually low billing for a band who have gained a steady following in the last couple of years, and lead singer Tom Smith was once again going through that weird – I’m getting electrocuted by my mic stand – dance that he performs so marvellously. Watched on by cradle snatching girlfriend Edith Bowman, Smith delivered the best from their debut album, including ‘Bullets’, ‘Munich’ and the recent melancholic offering ‘Smokers outside the hospital doors’. As usual it all sounds great and proof that when you find the right setting on your delay pedal it’s not just U2 that can sound brilliant. I’d be quite interested to see how the boys manage to pull of an acoustic set, but I could be waiting a while for that one.



Young Scottish heartthrob Paolo Nutini had amassed this weekend’s biggest crowd of pre-teen girls, insatiable screaming housewives and their hen pecked significant others. Although I should be careful how much I take the piss out of the audience, as I too was standing there watching the ballad crooner make women all around me weak at their knees.

The man can sing there are certainly no doubts there, as most unequivocally displayed on the memorable ‘Last Regrets’. He survives being cast into the James Morrison / Blunt category by adding a few rockier numbers, like today’s closing track ‘Jenny don’t be hasty’, but it’s more of a case of Paulo don’t be cheesy. A strange Jungle Book cover creeps into the set, as well as an orgasm imitating Robert Plant moment, but between the cringe worthy ballads and the cheesy soft-rock floorfillers are a few freestyle jams that for me are the most entertaining parts of the set.



Now indie anthems don’t get much better than ‘Lay down the law’ by Switches. I hadn’t equated the song with the artist until they actually played it and sadly enough if was the only time all weekend when I genuinely went “Ohhh…they did that song – I never knew that”.

The intro to said song sounds a little like a certain Razorlight track, but that’s where similarities end. Switches want to become a disco dance-rock band like !!! and The Rapture, but they’re too scared to go too far from their indie roots so they’ll settle for those danceable likeable tunes like the aforementioned ‘Lay down the law’, ‘Message from yuz’, and ‘Drama Queen’. There’s bits of Supergrass, Terrovison, Young Knives and El Presidente all in there and the inclusion of the Ghostbusters theme tune into a guitar solo proves this band don’t take themselves too seriously.

An air raid siren kicks off Jet’s set. The band are returning to V after their main stage performance in 2005, and have been relegated to the Channel 4 stage, presumably as the follow up to ‘Get Born’ wasn’t quite the hit that the debut album was. It shows with the crowds reception too, as ‘Are you gonna be my girl’, ‘Get what you need’ and ‘Cold hard bitch’ get far better receptions than the nasally ‘Put your money where your mouth is’.

I spent a little time watching Mr. Doherty and his Babyshambles ensemble doing their thing, but after unsuccessfully dodging pints from unsatisfied festival goers I decided to move out of the firing lane, and away from the group altogether, who at the time were experiencing some teeth grinding feedback issues.



Meanwhile Pink’s flamboyant and extroverted performance on the main stage provides some easily accessible pop for the masses who are already claiming their spots in preparation for tonight’s headliners. It’s surprising just how many hits Pink has managed to squeeze out in her seven-year career. The number one ‘Just like a pill’ gets an early outing, and it’s familiar hits from there onwards, with the downbeat ‘Family portrait’, ‘Don’t let me get me’ and ‘Last to know’ all highlights in an entertaining set list. Pink was joined by some flamenco dancers on stilts, and one of those guitarists that has the facial expressions to match his guitar solos.



I’m surprised that Ocean Colour Scene are still around, as the days of their illustrious 90’s Britpop highpoint seem so long ago, yet the staggering crowd that filled the King Tut’s tent at T in The Park earlier this year made me have a rethink about just how popular they are. Guitarist Steve Craddock has returned after becoming a regular fixture in Paul Weller’s live band (he even played V 2006), and despite having a few technical hitches at the start of the set was by far the liveliest member of the group. Not many bands can open with a track as immediate and recognisable as the ‘riverboat song’, and it does a great job of kicking things off. Those that had made the effort to catch Ocean Colour Scene left with smiles on their faces.



I decided to catch a bit of Plan B, whose controversial and thought-provoking lyrics set against acoustic guitar made for an interesting genre cross-over. Although what I caught of the East London rapper was all to brief, it was clear to me that he was first a foremost a rapper that can play guitar, and not a guitarist that can rap.

Now it can’t be long until Snow Patrol headline V Festival – give it two years, three at most. They are the quintessential V Festival act, chart friendly, mum friendly and judging by the amount of people they’ve managed to pull in – crowd friendly too.

Bathed in appropriately soft lighting, lead singer Gary Lightbody’s vocals are immaculate tonight. We’re also treated to a duet between Martha Wainwright (who performed earlier today) and Lightbody on the song ‘Set the fire to the third bar’. It’s the first time in the UK that the pair have been able to team up and perform this live, and I have to say, after hearing the female vocals sung by many different people (usually members of the audience), this is the only way this song should be heard. It’s all rather moving, and Wainwright even manages to drown out Lightbody, stealing the show all by herself.

I’ll keep the cynicism here to a bare minimum, but Lightbody dedicates ‘Run’ to his sister’s baby, who was born prematurely and had to be kept in an incubator. ‘Run’ doesn’t need to be dressed up in any more sentiment, and it’s already the most powerful song that Snow Patrol have in their repertoire, and I couldn’t help thinking of Athlete and ‘Wires’ when Lightbody made this dedication.

All in all it’s a far cry from their V2001 performance, and Snow Patrol have well and truly put their past behind them, rarely playing a single song from their first two albums.

Clichéd it may sound, but the moment everyone seemed to be waiting for was suddenly upon us. I can’t believe I just wrote that. It was of course, The Foo Fighters – who have somehow amassed a cult following, and sold loads of records, and remained cool, and even more astonishingly - have done so without any band members doing anything particularly outrageous. As it stands Dave Grohl is still paraded round as the supposed ‘nicest guy in rock’. So if you’re a drummer in a band get the lead singer to shoot himself – good things will happen to you.


Opening with just a solo Grohl whispering the beginning of fan favourite ‘Everlong’, before being joined by the rest of the crowd for the invigorating ‘Monkey wrench’ and its not hard to see why so many people adore The Foo Fighters. ‘No way back’, ‘Stack actors’, ‘My hero’, ‘Learn to fly’ and ‘Times like these’ all made it into the set list, as well as the brilliant ‘All my life’, each and every one belted out by the unkempt long-haired Grohl, looking as close to his Nirvana days as I’ve ever seen him. Grohl constantly teased the audience, with fake references to Nirvana, and the inclusion of some new material.

A fitting act to round off day one of the V Festival, but it’s tomorrows line-up that looks the more appealing, so hopefully there will be more great performances to follow...

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