V. Wet

We went to the V 2006 Festival at Weston Park last weekend and a jolly time was had. Here's a brief review.

Saturday

Rain.

Rain rain rain rain... rain. Which means mud. We'd been checking the weekend weather forecast over the previous few days, and the enevitable conclusion was that it was going to be wet and muddy. So one trip to Millets later, Celia & I were suitably equipped for the weekend in macs & wellies. The environment was not a prob. This being our third V at Weston Park, we were used to the layout and where everything would be... or were we? Oh no, co this time they'd changed the layout, for the better, and certain stages had moved (we never actually got to the Channel 4 stage all weekend).

After getting our bearings, and some well needed grub down us - hurrah for Giant Yorkshire Puddings with sausages, mash and gravy! - and getting our beer tokens and doing a little shopping (see Celia's groovy top, right) we saw some of Sugababes' set, before retreating to the JJB Tent/Arena to listen to Imogen Heap and then Nerina Pallot who was really good, in a early Sheryl Crow sort of way. More beers and a trip to the Bacardi stage followed - a weird place rammed where the bartenders poured and served your Bacardi drinks in time to the very loud DJ set in the background, whilst the springy floor meant that everybody there was bouncing up and down in time to the beats. As it was so rammed it felt necessary to get doubles - see left.

And still the rain came down - the ground was holding up reasonably well and we didn't care about the rain due to our protective gear. However, we fancied seeing something guaranteed to be good, and Paul Weller on the main stage wasn't doing it for us, him playing shite album tracks when all the crowd wanted was a few singles and some Jam tracks. So back to the JJB to see The Beautiful South. Unfashionable they may be, but boy did that tent rock. SingalongaSouth time with "Rotterdam", "Good As Gold", "You Keep It All In" & "Old Red Eyes Is Back". Fabulous.

We got out in time to see Faithless tearing the main stage apart with their hits, transferring surprisingly well to the live arena and making the place seem like a club. Night drew in, the rain eased slightly, and Morrissey took to the stage for the finale, playing a set comprised mainly of his new album, some recent singles and Smiths classics like "Panic", "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" (we didn't), "Girlfriend In A Coma" before rounding off with a fierce "How Soon Is Now". Great stuff for an oldie.

Then the long walk out. What would the next day bring?

Sunday

Sunsheeeeeeeeiiiiiiine.

Yes, no rain today, and no reason to rush to see anybody. We meandered in to hear the end of Kula Shaker, did a little bit of shopping again in one of the clothes stalls, whilst listening to The Magic Numbers in the background, more Yorkshire pud (hurrah again) and beers before settling down to listen to Bloc Party, who were alright but never anything better than background fodder. Over to the JJB for Echo & The Bunnymen, who never let me down, doing a 35 minute set of hits - tremendous stuff. We got sidetracked after this trying to get an inflatable Motorola V3 phone from the area where the promo guys were throwing them into a hungry waiting crowd. It was only thanks to the tenacity of Celia that we managed to wrestle one away from some guy who tried to nick the one I had my grip on. So we had something comfy to sit on, whilst watching Keane and having a beer/breezer .

Then came Beck, and his puppet band, which had to be seen to be believed. It's odd listening to him and then seeing a puppet on the big screen lipsynching to "Devils Haircut". His set meandered to a close before a video was shown of what the puppets had got up to that day (hilarious stuff really) before the man came back with "E-Pro" & "Where It's At". Bloody brilliant.

Then the headliners - Radiohead were as good as ever. No surprises (hah! a pun) as they ran through there most popular stuff, (special note must be made here of the efforts of the sound crew - it sounded crystal clear from wherever you stood - fabulous) before we raced over to the JJB to catch some of Fatboy Slim's set - let's party like it's 1997. The guy's a genius, mixing loads of new stuff like Gorillaz & Gnarls Berkley with his own tracks, and the tent was rocking, with Celia giving loads of rave shapes. Great stuff.

We wandered back out to catch the last bit of Radiohead where they were doing "Karma Police" & a rare outing for "Creep" which drew in many a non-fan like zombies in the night "Urrrrgh... Creep... I know this one....". First time I'd ever heard them do it live as well. And then that was it. Home...

... and our temporary home this weekend was with the fabulous Karen & Stef, who handily live in the nearby village of Shifnal, and who kindly let us stay over the weekend. No camping for us! There's no adequate way of thanking them for putting us up, and for giving their generous time and lifts to and from Weston Park. Oh, and for accompanying us to East End Balti House in Shifnal, for the best curry I've had so far, and staying up drinking until the early hours, watching Modern Toss and for Stef's bacon butties in the morning. Let's not forget the Badger cat in a box.

The Shifnal posse - we salute you!