V festival Chelmsford — A proper scorcher..

A proper scorcher..

What you’re coming into is a music festival, with a line-up comprised of popular musical artists; music otherwise known as ‘Pop’. Now, people give this supposed ‘Pop’, conformist culture a bad rep – but this music is popular for a reason right? If you’re the kind of person who’d prefer the avant-garde feel a Glastonbury provides – this may not be your thing. For the rest of us, V Festival is a celebration of mainstream music.

V Festival’s 20th anniversary just so happened to fall on one on the hottest days of the year – which was handy. After this long, it was no surprise that the festival was well organised, and cleaner than your average one. The palpable energy around the festival stemmed from the younger crowd, seemingly just off the plane from Magaluf, with the shortest of shorts, tans Dale Winton would be proud of and evidently extensive and meticulous grooming routines.

Mark Ronson put on a superb set on the MTV Stage, no fanciness or frills – this was all about the music. A mix of Hip Hop, UK Chart and hits from his very own back catalogue gave the stage the hype only he can provide. Annie Mac attracted a relatively smaller crowd on the Main Stage, the colourful beach scene set up on the stage, prevalent with many of her festival performances this year, gave the music even more of a wonderfully summery feel.

It wasn’t just music on offer at V Festival; this year the comedy tent provided some great talent. The tongue-in-cheek stylings of Frankie Boyle gave a nice variety to the day, and some respite from the otherwise lively stages. The food selection was similar to that of many festivals, but it was good quality and plentiful. No complaints.

Sam Smith provided a gradual integration back into the festival atmosphere with a soulful performance. The scene was apt, as the sun set big hitting crowd pleasers such as ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Latch – Acoustic’ were belted out to the ever receptive crowd. It was very ‘Las Vegas’ but not at all disappointing.

It was then time to ramp it up a little – or a lot – with DJ EZ in the Dance Tent. It was packed, it was hot and it was past sweaty, with crowds flooding out into the main festival area. The set started out with some grime and 90’s nostalgia which got the crowd frenzied, the ever present garage hits were mixed in with current hits. There were some parts where he should’ve adapted to the crowd rather than play his planned set. But this was only a minor drawback.

After Sam Smith on the Main Stage came Kasabian – a real contrast. The enigmatic festival pros gave an expectantly rambunctious show. The swag was in abundance and the crowd lapped up every lyric and sound – with the sensory stimuli adding value to an already headliner worthy performance.

It’s the big 21 next year for V Festival – get your ticketshere .