Walking 'round the room singing stormy weather (V2001 (Staffordshire))

Member Name: TJ-Mackey

Product:	V2001 (Staffordshire)
Date:	22/08/01 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great bands, good atmosphere

Disadvantages: Rain and mud (but who really cares?)

On one of the few rainy weekends of the summer, I ventured over to Staffordshire's Weston Park for the V2001 festival. Despite the criticism of being far too over-commercialised, it turned out to be an excellent couple of days, with the headlining acts including Texas, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Gray and Coldplay.

SATURDAY

After arriving very early in the morning and finally finding a pitch for our tent, we managed a few hours sleep before heading over to the arena to check it all out. As well as the three main stages, there was also a range of food and drink stalls, several merchandise stands and even a few fairground rides. The main 'V' stage was home to the 'bigger' bands, whilst the Wembley TV stage at the north end of the park and the covered JJB/Puma arena played host to the other acts.

-- Grey clouds, occasional showers, more rain on the horizon

Picking up something to eat and drink, we settled on the grass by the Wembley stage to see the first performance of the day; scheduled to be American group Lifehouse. Instead, we were greeted by another band altogether. Coming on stage, the brightly-dressed singer proclaimed, "You're probably wondering who the f**k we are" and I'm still not entirely sure of their name. Still, they were a nice start to the day, with a couple of good songs and an interesting choice in shirts. Luckily, I had my sunglasses on!

Next up on the Wembley stage was Ed Harcourt, and although I'd not heard any of his music before, we decided to stay where we were. I wasn't disappointed with this decision. Coming on with his band, Ed settled down behind his keyboard and flew straight into the first song, accompanied by a trumpet and double bass. Only playing for half an hour, I was left wanting to hear more, and will definitely be looking up a few of his songs. The finale was an outstanding rendition of 'Shanghai', with Ed literally leaping on
to his keyboard with such energy that a stagehand only just managed to keep it upright!

With a twenty minute break before the next act, we took a quick trip over to the V stage to catch the end of Powderfinger's set, but only managed to see their final song. Rain clouds started to form overhead, and by the time we arrived back at the Wembley stage to see Turin Brakes, the rain had started to fall. Not for the first time during the weekend, waterproofs were brought out. The band themselves gave a good set, with the standout song being their recent single, 'Mind Over Money'.

Rather than paying for alcoholic drinks at the festival with cash, you instead were required to purchase 'beer vouchers' in advance for £2.80 each. These can then be exchanged for whichever drink you want (lager, bitter and Bacardi breezers were amongst the selection), so after Turin Brakes had finished we headed over to the nearest Carling stand. Looking through the programme (bought for £6), we didn't see anything in the line-up that stood out at that time, so, beer-in-hand, we headed over to the JJB tent to catch a glimpse of Atomic Kitten. Surprisingly, it was jam-packed, so rather than trying to dodge past the under-staffed security people, we drifted back over to the V stage for the second half of Neil Finn's set.

Fairly good, Neil's performance was lifted further by the addition of three Crowded House numbers towards the end that really got the crowd going. After 'Distant Sun', the rain of the last hour stopped and, almost tempting fate, Neil launched into probably his most played song, 'Weather With You'. By the time he finished with 'Don't Dream It's Over', the crowd were more than ready for the appearance of Placebo, so we pushed further towards the stage. With a great live performance, Brian Molko bounded around the stage whilst the band played a number of popular songs, the best being 'Pure M
orning' and 'Haemoglobin'.

Quite a few people left after Placebo finished; probably off to see Starsailor and Doves over on the Wembley stage; so by the time David Gray emerged, we were reasonably close to the front.

Launching straight into 'Sail Away', the first thing that was evident was David's confidence - he was clearly enjoying himself. His usual bobbing head was on overdrive here, although fortunately the crazy drummer did draw some attention away from it! Playing a few songs from 'White Ladder', plus a few older ones, this was one my favourite performances of V2001. A final extended version of 'Please Forgive Me' closed the set, with David standing triumphant atop his piano. With the Foo Fighters not due on for another half an hour, we popped off to get something to eat before returning to watch them from the back of the crowd.

-- Rain clearing; a warm evening in prospect

The Foo Fighters were very good and enjoyable to watch. I'm not that familiar with their music, but it was heavy rock oriented with plenty of crowd-surfing and general madness taking place. After their set, there was an air of anticipation abound for the headlining act, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as we made our way forward through the massive crowd.

Although they were due to come out at nine fifteen, the Chilis didn't actually appear until close to half past, so the atmosphere during the build up was electric. Eventually the wait was over though, and the band began with one of their better known songs, 'Give it Away', before following up with the more recent hit, 'Scar Tissue'. Mixing several songs from their 'Californication' album with some of their older stuff, the band gave a very enjoyable performance, although they often seemed to go off at a tangent during some of the numbers. Halfway though a song, bassist Flea would start jamming with lead guitarist John Fruciante; r
eally showing off their obvious musical talents. All of this culminated in a marvellous guitar finale that was simply breathtaking in its grandness. Overall, a very impressive set, with a good stage design and some nice song selections.

SUNDAY

-- Heavy showers, dark clouds, plenty of mud

After a torrential downpour during the morning, when I foolishly decided to queue for the cash machine, it was looking like another damp day in prospect. Thankfully, the rain started to clear later on, making for a pleasant, sunny afternoon. After getting lost on the way to the car park (don't ask) and half-covered in mud on the way back, we eventually made it to the V Stage to see Nelly Furtado.

Having only heard her two singles, 'I'm Like A Bird' and 'Turn Out The Light', I was interested in listening to some of her other songs. Her strong vocal ability was most noticeable in this performance, as well as her obvious energy as she bounced effortlessly around the stage. I suspect most of the people in the crowd were waiting for the appearance of Embrace though, as her attempts at audience participation fell rather short. However, a drawn out final chorus from 'I'm Like A Bird' went down well, as more people arrived for Embrace.

As well as a few songs from 'The Good Will Out', Embrace threw in some new material too, but there's no doubting what was most popular with the audience. 'All You Good Good People' and 'Come Back To What You Know' were the real crowd pleasers, and the rousing 'la la la la' finale had everyone singing along. The singer's dancing left much to be desired though… ;)

-- Rain clouds moving away, weather brightening up

Returning to the Wembley stage for the first time on Sunday, we joined a raucous crowd awaiting the entrance of Wheatus, a band I only knew through the huge success of their single, 'Teenage Dirtbag'.
As it turned out, this was the final stage of their tour, and the lead singer obviously wanted to go out with a bang. It was quite a good show, with a few songs I did actually recognise, and the introduction of Spooks towards the end was somewhat surprising (although after reading another opinion, it sounds like they were returning a favour). All of this culminated in a lively extended playing of the aforementioned single, with several members of Spooks joining in with saxophone, trumpet and drums. We had to leave quickly at the end though, as Coldplay were due to start over on the V stage just a few minutes later.

Coldplay were one of the acts I was most looking forward to seeing, having bought 'Parachutes' a while ago. Singer Chris Martin carried the performance with real enthusiasm, as the band played several songs from that album, including 'Shiver', 'Don't Panic' and 'Yellow', which was apparently "bigger than Bohemian Rhapsody". Chris even phoned his mum halfway through the set, later climbed the side of the stage, and was generally very appreciative of the fans in the crowd. We also got to hear a few new songs, one of which Chris claimed would be available in Woolworth's bargain bin next year for 99p!

It was time for some more over-priced food, so we headed off to grab some pizza and a drink before the Charlatans started, although we ended up missing the beginning of their set due to them starting early. Still, we did hear a few of their classics, including 'North Country Boy', as well as recent song 'Impossible' and their new single, 'Love Is The Key'.

-- Dimming light, warm weather with a cool breeze

Rather than shooting off to see Muse with my friends, I decided to stay and see Texas on the main stage. With over a half-hour wait following the Charlatans' early finish, I managed to get right to the front to see Texas open with their first song,
'I Don't Want a Lover'. This was then followed up with a string of other well-known numbers, including 'Summer Son', 'Black Eyed Boy', 'When We Are Together' and 'Inner Smile'. In an excellent finish to the weekend, the encore saw Sharleen emerge in leathers for a spirited cover of 'Suspicious Minds' that had the whole crowd singing along for a good ten minutes. After that, everyone went home happy.

This being my first festival experience, I have to say I was extremely impressed, and would definitely recommend going to next year's event. Admittedly, I don't really have anything to compare it with, but in the end the superb music and atmosphere more than made up for the wretched weather and extortionate prices. A few tips for anyone considering going next year though:

1) Take plenty of money with you! I made the mistake of reading "cash machine on site" and not taking enough with me. The queue for the four ATMs was enormous for pretty much the whole time, and I ended up waiting for nearly two hours in the pouring rain on Sunday morning. Not a pleasant experience.

2) If at all possible, try to use the toilets in the actual arena rather than those around the campsites - there was a noticeable difference between the two, although to be truthful, the ones in the arena were still only the better of two evils. Definitely don't forget to take some loo roll with you!

3) Remember to have some kind of waterproof clothing to put on if necessary. It might seem inconvenient carrying it around with you but believe me, you'll be glad you did if you get the sort of weather experienced this year.

4) Enjoy yourself!

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