Muse pull off a supermassive performance on opening day of V Chelmsford

The celebrity hang out that is V Festival began on Saturday with a commercial line-up to die for. With this being my third festival of the summer after Latitude and Glastonbury, I wasn't overly sure what to expect – different to those two though for sure. I have been to the Staffordshire V Festival a couple of times years ago but vowed never to go again after a very average festival about 4 years ago, but here I was in Chelmsford for the start of what I hoped would change my opinion of V.

As I arrived, the most noticeable thing was the size of the place. Staffordshire is really quite small and the stages very close together. However, Chelmsford is huge (I guess to accommodate the huge amount of VIP's) so long walks were forecast for the weekend ahead and I for one was exhausted just at the thought. Oh well, it was 12 o'clock and time for gates and the first band to open proceedings...

Michael Franti and Spearhead got the main stage off to a reggae start. Perfect for the warm, sunny weather, the crowd were in fine voice and the festival had started nicely.

The Futureheads were next up and their slice of indie pop proved a popular choice with the growing numbers in the crowd on the 'Virgin Mobile V Stage' or 'Main' for short. 'Hounds of Love' produced a mass sing-along with all but Alanis Morrisette fans (who was shortly to follow), singing 'Oh oh, oh oh oh oh the Hounds of Love are Calling...' and in short the V Festival had begun and on the face of it, was so far very enjoyable.



It was then off to catch a relatively new performer in Beth Rowley... and what a breath of fresh air she is. The act of the day so far blew everyone who was crammed into the Virgin Union Tent away with her atmospheric jazz and incredibly strong vocals. A sure rival to Amy Winehouse's soul crown, this is a girl that is destined for great things and don't be surprised to see her taking the charts by storm and working her way up the festival billings next summer. Wonderful and fully unexpected.

Following Beth Rowley, Tokyo Police Club had a lot to live up to and played to another packed out Virgin Union Tent. Their fuse of dance music with Indie works wonders though and they are given a great reception for their ability to make everyone dance and for managing to create a moshing frenzy. Great stuff in the tents, it was now time to surface into the sun, make my way over to the T4 Music stage and catch... Duffy.



Certainly not my cup of tea, but Duffy strongly engaged the thousands among thousands who had turned out to see her. The crowd were once again in good voice and rapturously applauded anything that came their way in a smooth and strong set. Coupled with the clear skies and blazing sun, Duffy went down great. For me though, it was time for something stronger and Roots Manuva...

Once again it was back to the Virgin Union Tent. Roots Manuva was a real crowd pleaser after much audience participation. 'Witness (Hope)' sparked wild celebrations from the crowd as his DJ's seemed capable of turning a beautiful, sunny day into a dark and moody underground adventure. My how he differs from Duffy...

The Kooks entertained the main stage with their pop indie offerings. Summer tunes such as 'Naïve' and 'She Moves in Her Own Way' are the highlights of the show as the crowd sing their hearts out in the warmth of the sun. It's pretty clichéd though and really quite average. However, maybe it's just me as the lager swilling crowd are in great voice and dancing to the bands every sound. It is nice I guess. Just a shame that with Stereophonics on next, there isn't much to look forward to...



The music is dull and Kelly Jones is a lifeless as ever. It really is a wonder how they ever got so popular. They run through their obvious set of singles through their career including 'Bartender and the Thief' – As if we haven't heard that enough as well as 'A Thousand Trees' and 'Dakota'. As the skies darken and the atmosphere swells on the Main Stage, it is with great excitement that Muse are on next.

Muse are their usual huge sounding and lights pounding mega show. The lights are a continual strobe going off around a film of creative animation which makes it feel more like a monumental event than a festival act. Opening with 'Map of the Problematique', modern classics such as 'Stockholm Syndrome' and 'New Born' are belted out with Matt Bellamy seemingly invincible as his guitar begs for mercy. It's all very OTT but isn't that really what we all love about Muse? Closing with 'Knights of Cydonia' is a gigantic crescendo and it successfully brings down the curtain on a spellbinding set and an interesting first day. Act of the day has to be Muse but Beth Rowley ran them very close in a very different way. Roll on Sunday...

Latest Updates