What a way to kick off the festival season. Isle of Wight may not have the reputation to match Glastonbury or Reading/Leeds, but this year it will be difficult for either festival to match the three brilliant headliners of Jay-Z, The Strokes, and Sir Paul McCartney. Granted, Glastonbury has had both Jay-Z and McCartney in recent years; however, to get both to appear in the same year, and add the seminal New Yorker’s is an achievement which should help increase the reputation of the festival.
The atmosphere was buzzing as expectant campers arrived for a weekend of fantastic music and by the time 4pm hit on Friday everyone was desperate for the music to begin.
The Doves who really got proceedings going with a set full of hits such as ‘Black and White Town’, ‘Caught By the River’ and ‘Pounding’. Whilst Doves provided a wonderful set, Calvin Harris livened up proceedings with a selection of his crowd-friendly and insanely catchy tunes such as ‘Girls’, ‘Flashback’, and ‘I’m Not Alone’. As Harris left the stage the crowd were in high spirits ready for Florence and the Machine, and they duly delivered. With such a popular album, Florence’s set was always going to go down well, and songs such as ‘Dog Days’ and ‘You Got the Love’ were belted out by the packed crowd.
It was then left to the king of rap, Jay-Z, to close out the Friday, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. Opening with new single, ‘On To the Next One’, Jay-Z proceeded to rip through songs from his career spanning eleven albums, including favourites such as ’99 Problems’, ‘Hard Knock Life’, and ‘Big Pimpin’. Barely stopping for breath, it was an incredible show which proceeded to get better when KANYE WEST joined Jay-Z for ‘Run This Town’. With time constraints tight and the set already running over there was time for one more song, and what could be more fitting than ‘Encore’.
The atmosphere was buzzing as expectant campers arrived for a weekend of fantastic music and by the time 4pm hit on Friday everyone was desperate for the music to begin.
The Doves who really got proceedings going with a set full of hits such as ‘Black and White Town’, ‘Caught By the River’ and ‘Pounding’. Whilst Doves provided a wonderful set, Calvin Harris livened up proceedings with a selection of his crowd-friendly and insanely catchy tunes such as ‘Girls’, ‘Flashback’, and ‘I’m Not Alone’. As Harris left the stage the crowd were in high spirits ready for Florence and the Machine, and they duly delivered. With such a popular album, Florence’s set was always going to go down well, and songs such as ‘Dog Days’ and ‘You Got the Love’ were belted out by the packed crowd.
It was then left to the king of rap, Jay-Z, to close out the Friday, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. Opening with new single, ‘On To the Next One’, Jay-Z proceeded to rip through songs from his career spanning eleven albums, including favourites such as ’99 Problems’, ‘Hard Knock Life’, and ‘Big Pimpin’. Barely stopping for breath, it was an incredible show which proceeded to get better when KANYE WEST joined Jay-Z for ‘Run This Town’. With time constraints tight and the set already running over there was time for one more song, and what could be more fitting than ‘Encore’.
Saturday day started with Bombay Bicycle Club in The Big Top tent, one of the best up and coming bands with a loyal following, as demonstrated by the crowds great reception to ‘Always Like This’. Then, it was time to head to the main stage for Vampire Weekend and Biffy Clyro, who had to contend with England’s opening World Cup match. Incidentally, England’s opponents U.S.A were well represented with three of the last four bands being American and the other, Biffy Clyro, Scottish. However, with the quality of acts on show nobody was worried about the football, especially when the closing acts were the iconic Blondie and The Strokes.
The anticipation was high for The Strokes after a four year wait, and they didn’t disappoint with Julian Casablancas in a comical mood. Starting with three songs off of their stunning debut album, Is This It? It was an incredible opening to the set, and they continued to knock of songs such as ‘Reptilia’ and ‘Someday’ with the precision that made them so respected when they broke onto the scene in 2001. Closing with ‘Take It Or Leave It’, it was a wonderful return performance from the Saturday night headliners.
Sunday brought great variety, with acts ranging from old favourites Spandau Ballet and Sir Paul McCartney, to up and coming indie bands such as The Courteeners, and the catchy pop of Pink. Friendly Fires really kicked things off with a typically energetic performance perfectly suited to the blazing sun. Spandau Ballet followed to a great reception with everybody singing in unison to favourites such as ‘Gold’ and ‘True’. However, it was left to a living legend, Sir Paul McCartney, formerly of The Beatles and Wings, to bring Isle of Wight 2010 to a close.
McCartney played for over two hours, with a set that included classic Beatles songs like ‘Back in the USSR’ and ‘Yesterday’. McCartney being the ultimate showman often stopped in between songs just to take in the atmosphere before proceeding to play the trio of songs ‘Let It Be’, ‘Live and Let Die’ and ‘Hey Jude’ to the biggest sing-along’s of the entire festival. ‘Hey Jude’ was belted out by thousands even after McCartney had left the stage, which was undoubtedly a fantastic end to a truly great festival.
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1 comments:
I thought the Strokes were good, but personally, compared to other artists such at Jay-Z, and Florence, I didnt think their stage presence was overly entertaining. You know? If I think about it, I'd be tempted to say that they're the least memorable performance-unlike Paul McCartney's epic firework display (he'd have still been memorable even without this though due to the generally fun atmosphere) and Florence's dramatic hand movements in time with the drum beats. Casablancas looked a bit miserable, almost like he couldnt quite be bothered. But they were still good!
On the Festival front, I felt really safe at the Isle of Wight, it's got a nice family vibe... speaking of which. you haven't mentioned Pinks acrobatic performance!
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