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V Festival (Staffordshire) 2005

Saturday 20th to Sunday 21st August 2005
Weston Park, Staffordshire, TF11 8LE, England MAP
£110 w/e (with camping) SOLD OUT, £90 w/e (no camping), £52.50 day

The Stands opened the V stage on the Sunday afternoon at Staffs. My first impressions of this band had been fairly abysmal, and I remember being disappointed watching them at Move in 2004, and then even more disappointed with last years ‘All years leaving’ album.

Today they seem to have a refreshingly new sound, altogether different from the internalized warbling of their debut. The Stands have gone up a gear and have transformed their summery blues from something that was dwindling on repetitive tedium to something far more upbeat, somewhere along the lines of a cross between The Coral and The 22-20s.

The band was joined on stage by Abi Harding from the Zutons for ‘Just enough Love’, which caused a frenzy of excitement from all the photographers, clambering to get a shot of the saxophonist.

Throughout The Stands half an hour set the crowd looked bored and uninterested, which was a shame because The Stands really have improved. ‘When the night falls’ was an excellent song and the set was filled with faster rhythmic songs that help move them away from the comparisons of The Coral. The Zutons suffered from a similar problem until they were able to establish a uniqueness of their own. I think this is what The Stands are trying to do; it’s just taking them a little more time.

The Stands dedicate ‘Back to you’ for anybody who had friends who got arrested while attempting to get into the festival. “After all” says singer/guitarist Howie Payne “It’s a festival, all you want is a smoke”. The Stands couldn’t stay away from their introverted psychedelic indie for too long and as the set drew to a close there was less of the short snappy songs and more of the experimental instrumentals that I remember from earlier sets.

The Stands are clearly on their way up, and if their new material is anything to go by they should be making an impact on the UK airwaves very shortly.