V is for Victory! V-Festival, Sydney, March 2008

Perhaps a little late - but still important, after all V-Fest has only just left the country. I was looking forward to this quite a lot because I was going to see a few bands I hadn't seen before (even though they were so well known it's not funny). The morning was simply a case of futzing about and getting ready, you know the drill, then having Jared, Alicia, Barbara and Gill arrive for all of us to leave and get to Centennial park about 2pm (although Jared and Kate were running a tad late and turned up after us). Getting to the location (Centennial Park) was a joy, apart from traffic, of course. The area was fenced intelligently, with many crowd controllers to direct people toward the large open entrance. Now this was the way to get people into a large Festival. Good lines, easy to get to, large entry gates with enough intelligent security staff, no 'overbearing' police presence, programmes handed out as you go through, easy signage, water and food easy to find and not overpriced, Gosh! Soundwave can learn a lot (and no quips about Richard Bransen's money backing it - the things I have mentioned are all common sense and generally written up in the Terms and Conditions of people/vendors wanting to take part in Festivals). The bands were very easy to find, 3 stages all far enough apart to have sound distortion at an absolute minimum. Though, I must admit that it was a trek between This Stage, That Stage and The Other Stage (yes those were the names which amused me no end). The only problem I found, was at the end of the day where you had to leave one area early to get to Duran Duran, and then with some having to leave that early to get back to The Smashing Pumkins (which in hindsight was a BIG mistake). Still, it's tough to program multiple international acts (of similar though diverse popularity) and if I had one complaint of the Festival overall, I would have that as my only one - the overlap of bands which I wanted to see. Still, I did get to see who I wanted to, and to me that was what was important.We got in easily, walked about, found where everything was, ran into people we knew (in one case being almost rugby-tackled by Lisa and Earley Curley (of 2RRR fame). Found the food, found the demountable toilets and found the bars. Nothing was hidesouly overpriced and there seemed to be plenty of stock. not to mention a plethora of merchandies was available, though (again) I say... NO CDs/DVDs. Again a missed opportunity. I would have expected that Mr Branson would seize that opportunity by the horns, but there were only shirts and hats to be seen. Thence on to the bands... I think Modest Mouse was playing when we got in - but not paying much attention whuilst looking about and orienting ourselves means that unfortunately I have nothing to say about them, save that they didn't sound bad.Jesus And Mary Chain - had a rocky start to their set with some technical hitches and foldback issues. One could tell by the scathing glances of both Reid brothers toward the mixing enclosure, followed a song later by a snappish "I can't hear anything up here!" A fair cop, and to be frank a few fans (knowing William's penchant for leaving a gig if something's not right) expected the set to stop very soon... but lo and behold technical hitches evaporated (showing that unlike others I could name, when V Festival see a problem they solve it right then and there). Still, the best thing was seeing people who were not born when 'The Chain' formed in their post-punk heyday, seriously getting into them. Of course there were the 'old-timers' like me who were there to see if they still had the edge after their reformation. They did - and handed it out in spades. I think the only criticism I would have it that the Reid brothers are so in sync with the band and the numbers, that they almost stroll their way through the set. It doesn't come off as boredom and 'business as usual'... yet. However, it does come across as comfortable in their skins and in what they are doing - no less enjoyable, just comfortable. As others have noted earlier, it's always funny seeing british bands come 'down under' and have them cringe at the sun. Nicely, though, the band took the light and the crowd and the minor glitches in their stride. A sign of professionalism, and experience. All too soon the set was over :(... Queens Of The Stone Age - I can't even recall one number they played. Why? It was all SO good. A blistering set... I think that's all I can really say about them. They attacked the stage with a fierceness rarely seen in this country. Now, fierceness is not meaning the same as violence, but more of a focussed fury directed through arrthymic chord blasting, frentic drum and vocals sharpened so as to make you look behind you. Very intense and very worthwhile. Definitely one of the reasons I was at the Festival in the first place, and I was not dissappointed in their performance one iota. The only disappointing thing was needing to leave about halfway through the set to get to the next stage (across the fields and far away) to check out Duran Duran.Duran Duran - I've heard reports that the set by Duran Duran was lacklustre and camp. Strangely enough 'camp' tends to be about things 20 years ago, 60's was camp in the 80's, so 80's is camp now. 90's will be camp in 2010, get the drift? Anyway, I'm not sure what those people were watching, but the Duran Duran I saw was breathtaking. I was apprehensive, as the last time they were here it was a case of 'How large has Simon gotten now?'. Thankfully Mr LeBon and company seem to have gone to the same dietician as The Cure, they were up, about, mobile, dancey, and had a big stage presence. 'Hungry Like The Wolf', 'Planet Earth', 'Rio', 'Girls On Film' the boys hit all the marks with a pretty damned flawless performance, marred only (for me) by the absence of 'The Reflex'. The crowd I was in seriously got off on the show, and didn't want it to end. It was a nice touch to have the lights dim out and go off in-between songs (as that's when Earth Hour had struck, and even though the ticket included paying a carbon footprint off-set, it was a nice gesture regardless). The set ended they came back for an encore and still the fans wated more. However, in a Festival environment you can't really be that self-indulgent. It was also a nice touch to have Simon tell everyone to get on over and see the end of The Pumpkins as well, which was what we all did as soon as the Duran's set had definitely finished.Smashing Pumpkins - I only got to hear the last bit of the Pumkins' set, as I took the trek across the field. What I saw was a seething mass of people obviously having a great time... backlit with some great lightning in amongst the clouds. What I heard was... er... self-indulgent rubbish. I was expecting spotless and manic grunge, a reflection of the Pumkins of old. What I heard was a 20 minute (although it seemed like hours in a dentist's chair) warbling feedback-laden wanking ode to a guitar hero. I THINK this was 'United States', but I could be wrong. Can someone please enlighten me as to what Corgan and company were thinking with this. Granted, perhaps they were expecting that people would just suck it up because (after all) it IS The Smashing Pumpkins. However, many (including ourselves) weren't so forgiving. I think we suffered through about 15-20 minutes and then elected to walk off (with the other masses) out of the Festival. Well, it was the final band (except for The Presets, but they were all the way over the other side of the grounds. To be frank, the only good thing about the Pumkins' set (for us) was the lightning show in the background, others may disagree. I have heard they they hit the stage running and that their earlier numbers (of the set) were great and right on the mark. Pity I didn't get to hear the greatness and all I (and those of us coming in from other stages) got was the guitar masturbation show. Back it up Billy, you're supposed to get better toward the end of the set and 'leave the crowd wanting more', not 'have more of the crowd wanting to leave'.At the end of the night, people streamed out of the grounds to the FREE busses (provided by the Festival) back to the city/central transport hubs. We elected to walk as it really wasn't too far. All In All it was a great Festival, and very professionally run. Roll on next year.