Aug 19 2008 11:24 am,
V Festival
16/08/2008
Things start off well at V Festival this year. Royworld aren’t the coolest band on the planet and, seeing as they’ve just been dropped by their Virgin label, the quartet can be forgiven for lacking spark. But the strength of their songwriting remains undeniable. Then there’s The Futureheads who have written a few catchy numbers of their own. Like a mix between The Proclaimers and The Jam, though, they’re a bit raw for this time of the early afternoon. “Everybody needs to get loose,” they encourage from the stage, but the intent is wasted on an audience setting up deckchairs and drinking wine. Climbing out of their TARDIS, Shed Seven do manage to get the crowd going. And they may be a pair of flares in a universe of skinny trousers, but ‘Chasing Rainbows’ obviously still does the job – there’s a seven year old dressed in Armani trousers enjoying the song as much as his Dad. The Hold Steady draw a much smaller audience. Softie ‘Lord, I’m Discouraged’ is heart-melting, but generally Craig Finn’s boyish enthusiasm struggles to make it across the vast gap between stage and crowd. LostProphets have no such problems. They may have expected the mainstream V festival to turn its nose up at their relatively heavy racket, but Ian Watkins has turned into the best frontman in the world and he leads the huge crowd through a forty-five minute singalong. The Kooks struggle by comparison and Luke Pritchard looks nervous. He announces that Ray Davies will be joining them on stage. A woman in the crowd looks pleased, until her mate sets her straight. “Ray Davies not Craig David,” she says. The guest appearance has little impact, and Kinks song ‘
