Isle Of Wight Festival 2010 (June 11th-13th)

Posted by David Hayter on 06.16.2010

Jay-Z, The Strokes and Paul McCartney headline the historic festival on the 40th Anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's legendary performance.


Isle Of Wight Festival 2010

Now before I get down to reviewing the acts I should give a quick explanation as to why I saw so few acts. The Isle Of Wight Festival is more like a summer holiday than a hardcore music festival, it has some amazing and diverse acts that appeal across multiple age groups; but the point of the festival is not to dart between tents from 12pm to 12am attempting to see every act and find the next big thing. The point of the Isle Of Wight Festival is to have fun at your own pace, whether that’s chilling in the sun and coming in for the headliners, or getting blind drunk and crashing out in front of the acoustic stage. Got the picture? Don’t worry I saw all of the “Huge” names, and don’t worry when Reading, Sonisphere and Wireless roll around I will be hitting every act and stage imaginable to keep you up to date.

History

For those of you that don’t know, and as we’re a US based site I’m guessing that’s a lot of you; The Isle Of Wight Festival is legendary. It ran for three years in between 1968-1970 and played host to some of the biggest names in music history including headliners Bob Dylan in ’68 and Jimmy Hendrix in 1970. Hendrix played to a crowd of over 500,000 people, a unprecedented number, to see what many consider to be his greatest performance. In 2002 the festival was revived with Headliner Robert Plant and has grown from a humble festival with 10,000 attendees to a commercial megalodon with 65,000 punters being ushered onto the Island’s hallowed turf.

Atomosphere

The most immediately noticeable difference between Isle Of Wight and all the other world wide festivals is the ambience. When you arrive you realize just how chilled and diverse the festival is. It really does feel like the whole family is there to appreciate the music and soak up the sun. You see thousands of 50+ year olds, thousands of teenagers and tens of thousand of people aged somewhere in between. The festival caters for a diverse range with everyone from Paul McCartney and Steve Harley to The Strokes and Vampire Weekend via Jay-Z and Calvin Harris. There’s an act from almost every generation of music fan and it really helps to give the festival a cosmopolitan and unpretentious feel. No one is there to look cool, Strokes fans will happily watch Pink and N-Dubz fans gleefully sit alongside Spandau Ballet die hards. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it really does, and the 2010 line up manages to capture that crossover-intergenerational appeal better than any previous year, with the exception of 2006 (Rolling Stones, Muse, Snow Patrol)). I cannot say enough about the atmosphere, it’s still the only festival I can attend with my mum, my dad, my sister and ten or twelve of my mates, with everyone having a great collective experience.

Friday

The Friday night at the Isle Of Wight is traditionally known as the “dance day” or just the “party day”; basically a day of music designed to get you dancing, and get you ready for the weekend. In the past it’s been headlined by: Faithless, Kaiser Chiefs and The Prodigy (twice) and has seen sets from; Groove Armada, Goldfrapp and N*E*R*D. So you get the picture right? Right.

Doves (The Main Stage)


After getting the ferry and arriving on site we were greeted by the melodic melancholy of Doves. Putting their lengthy back catalogue to good use the Doves employed a shrewd setlist to keep the surprisingly large crowd enthralled. Doves may not be the flashiest showmen, or even the most energetic band, but they write good affecting intelligent pop songs and they deliver a tight no thrills live show. In many ways they are the perfect lower card act, they don’t show up the acts above them, but for the intrigued new comer they lay down a hit laden set that’s guaranteed to win over a raft of new fans. Of course Doves rounded off their set with hits “Pounding”, “Kingdom Of Rust” and “Hear Comes The Fear”, making sure they made the most of this opportunity to play in front of a mammoth crowd.


Calvin Harris

Calvin Harris' brand on inane dance music, while totally bereft of intelligence or creativity, is perfect “party starting” fodder. As a live performer, Calvin Harris leaves a lot to be desired, he’s certainly not a great live singer, and without the comfort of the studio his lack of natural talent is clearly apparent. Yet despite these short comings, Harris surrounds himself with a collection of hard working and talented session musicians and he was playing in front of a crowd who were determined to have a good time. So he could never really fail, and when hits “Acceptable In The ‘80s”, “Girls”, “Ready For The Weekend” and an anthemic “I’m Not Alone” were unleashed the crowd went absolutely bananas, and rightly so. Overall, Calvin’s performance was comfortably better than at V festival the previous year, but he should enjoy his moment in the sun, as his fame will be fleetingly.

Florence + The Machine

Setlist:
1. “Howl”
2. “My Boy Builds Coffins
3. “Between Two Lungs”
4. “Drumming Song”
5. “Cosmic Love”
6. “Strangeness & Charm”
7. “Dog Days Are Over”
8. “Kiss With A Fist”
9. “You Got The Love”
10. “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)”


I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Marina and The Diamonds on the other stage before Florence + The Machine, but when I saw the ridiculous scale of the crowd which Florence had drawn I decided to settle in and get myself a good spot. After hearing of her legendary live shows I was intrigued to see Florence in the flesh and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. She glided onto the stage in a gorgeous flowing dress that gave her a ghostly spectral quality as she span her way across stage. Her voice was ear shreddingly crisp. It blazed from the speakers and was louder than any guitar, drum kit or even any firework you’d hear all weekend. It was incredible, albeit a little painful when she let out a blood curdling shriek in between tracks.

Florence just seemed happy to be there, and that really added to her charm. She told the crowd that just a couple of years ago she was hear dejaying to five guys in a tent and now she’s warming up 65,000 people for Jay-Z. She was utterly taken a back and it was hard not to warm to Florence. Of course it’s helps when you can launch into the brilliant “Drumming Song” at will, and induce mass sing alongss with “Dog Days”. It didn’t all go swimmingly though, if Florence was as loud as a jet plane, The Machine were as quiet as a whisper and the instrumentation was often lost behind the crowd noise let alone Florence herself. But truth be told few cared as “Kiss With A Fist” prompted some of the worst/best dancing I’ve ever seen, and even her new track was greeted with copious applause. My friend who is a huge Florence fan commented that for a song he’s never heard before in his life, it was pretty impressive, and we all know new materiel and festival don’t always mix so well. To round of the set list Florence opted for two big sing alongs. Her cover of “You’ve Got The Love” never fails to sense thousands of people into a collective state of ecstasy and “Rabbit Heart” is the perfect track to encapsulate everything that makes Florence unique and special. It was a tall ask to sub headline for an hour with just one album and four singles, but Florence pulled it off with ease and grace, she wasn’t the best of the weekend, but she certainly rose to the occasion.


Jay-Z

Setlist:
1. Intro
2. On To The Next One
3. D.O.A (Death Of Auto-Tune)
4. U Don’t Know
5. 99 Problems
6. Is That Yo Bitch?
7. Can I Get A ....
8. Beware Of The Boys
9. Public Service Announcement
10. Heart Of The City
11. Empire State Of Mind
12. A Dream
13. Dirt Of My Shoulder
14. Hovi Baby
15. Jigga What, Jigga Who
16. Jockin’
17. Thank You
18. Bonnie & Clyde ‘03
19. Fiesta
20. H To The Izzo
21. Big Pimpin’
22. Forever Young (w/Mr. Hudson)
23. Run This Town (w/KanYe West)
24. Encore

So Florence set the stage for the man who just two years ago was the most controversial man in British music. It all seems so silly now; those small minded pedants saying how can “rap music” headline a “rock” festival, most people just wondered what kind of warped brain considered Glastonbury to be “rock” festival and others asked who could possible be so ignorant. After all if you don’t like Jay-Z and his music, don’t buy a ticket to see him, or watch one of the other six or seven headliners. Well that’s ancient history now, as the Isle Of Wight not only liked Jay-Z and his music they absolutely loved it. As Jigga drew the biggest crowd on a Friday night that I have ever seen, even surpassing the epicness of Prodigy. It’s credit to the man himself that he has triumphed over the criticism and has become full fledge festival headliner, just as established and just as popular as Muse, The Arctic Monkeys or even Paul McCartney.

It was a glorious visual when Jay-Z strolled onto the stage to a sea of diamonds and against a huge New York city shaped wall of graphics. Jay stood alone and fired of a few bars before launching into a bombastic version of “On To The Next One” which is transformed live into a huge sing along anthem live. This soon became a theme on the night, those bland tracks on The Blueprint III, that felt like such a let down and a step back creatively become monstrous anthems on a stage of this size. Perhaps that was Jay-Z intention, maybe he has come to terms with the fact that he’s a rock star now, and like U2 and he has to write stadium sized anthems. Whatever the case, Jay-Z was in the mood to please and he had a hit laden set in store for the waiting crowd.



“On To The Next One” gave way to “D.O.A” and the crowd erupted with a huge chorus of “na na na nas” as the guitar and sax solos elided into one. “99 Problems” was an adrenaline rush, “Is That Yo Bitch” was a blast from the past, “Can I Get A...” was a shrewd bit of fan participatory fun, and “Beware Of The Boy” is always a sure fire favourite in the UK with Punjabi MC having hit the number one here nearly a decade ago. After such quick fire flurry of fan favourites Jay-Z couldn’t fail and he seemed genuinely taken aback by the crowds enthusiasm and love. Jay true to form, was aware of his surroundings, and he threw in some samples that would win over the rock fans; Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up” blared out, “Heart In The City” was turned into a stadium giant thanks to U2’s riff from “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and he even found the time to sample Eminem. Perhaps the biggest crowd pleaser though was his nod to Jimmy Hendrix on the 50th anniversary of his original performance that was both well judged and respectful.

Despite all of Jay’s own brilliance, the night will be remember for its guest spots. After defiantly performing with just Memphis Bleak at Glastonbury, Jay-Z seemed happy to share the love and adoration tonight bringing out Mr. Hudson for a huge sing along to “Forever Young”, before delivering the shock of the night when Kanye West joined Jay onstage for a show stealing rendition of “Run This Town”. By the time Jay-Z had done his medley of “Bonnie & Cylde/Fiesta/H To The Izzo” and “Hustler”, “Big Pimpin “ and “Hard Knock Life” were simple incing on the cake before an emotional Jay-Z sent the crowd home happy with “Encore”. The crowd reaction was so overwhelming Jay-Z was visible moved to the point of having a tear in his eye, that Glastonbury controversy must have seemed like ancient history, as tonight, Jay-Z was king.

Saturday

Now Saturday is traditionally the Rock day at Isle Of Wight Festival when things get a little heavier and a little dirtier. Previous headliners include: Stereophonics, The Sex Pistols, Muse, Foo Fighters, Razorlight & The Who.

Crowded House

We snuck in just in time to catch the end of a crowd pleasing Crowded House set that had the crowd singing and seemed to a surprisingly good job of uniting both young and old fans a like. It may be bland, it may be MOR, but “Weather With You” certainly gets the crowd going. Ugh.

Vampire Weekend

Could there be a more perfect band for the blazing summer heat than Vampire Weekend? Of course not, and Vampire Weekend flew through a set of breezy crowd pleasers that got everybody dancing and singing without having to expend too much energy. The melodies were divine and Contra’s stand outs “Horchata”, “Giving Up The Gun” and “White Sky” sat alone side classics “Oxford Comma” and “Walcott” comfortably. Erza was a charming front man and he put a lot of effort into getting the crowd involved in the action. “A Punk” never fails to thrill festival fields and “Cousins” was equally rampant but the charming sing alongs of “M83” and “Holiday” were the order of the day, and were an absolute sun drench delight.

Biffy Clyro

So the unenviable task of playing against the England-U.S.A. world cup match fell to plucky Scott’s Biffy Clyro, and full credit to the Biff they drew a huge crowd all things considered. Biffy played an astute set mixing in mosh pit monsters “Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies” and “That Golden Rule” with softer summery sing alongs “The Captain”, “Machines” and “Bubbles”. It worked a treat and had old and young enthralled (I have to admit my mum was louder for Biffy than I was). It was great to hear some heavy riffage on the Isle Of Wight again, and it seemed fitting 50 years on from Hendrix to see “Mountains” and “Who’s Got A Match?” getting the whole field bouncing as one.

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Blondie

So who did The Strokes pick as their sub headliner? New Wave, New York Legends, Blondie of course? I don’t know why I say of course as few could have possibly predicted their announcement, but it certainly was a shrewd decision. Blondie are not in their prime, and Deborah Harry’s voice has not held up particularly well; the high notes of “Heart Of Glass” were strained and the speedy verses of “Hanging On The Telephone” had Deborah falling way of the beat, but it didn't matter though as the crowd were intent on having a good time and sang along with each and every line even if Ms. Harry couldn’t.

The new materiel was hardly thrilling, and felt completely retrospective, but the crowd were happy enough to endure it as the likes of “One Way Or Another” or the delicious “Maria” were waiting just around the corner. While the performance may have left a lot to be desired (especially when compared to a younger starlet like Florence Welsh), but the sheer sing along fun was undeniable, and after all it’s fun that the crowd was after. They were there to sing and dance and forget about the football, and with track as epic and brilliant as “Atomic” Ms. Harry could not fail, and was never in danger of disappointing. Blondie are legends for a reason, and it was great to see them in the flesh.

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The Strokes

Setlist:
1. New York City Cops
2. The Modern Age
3. Hard To Explain
4. Reptilia
5. Whatever Happened?
6. You Only Live Once
7. Soma
8. Visions Of Division
9. I Can’t Win
10. Is This It?
11. Someday
12. Red Light
13. Last Nite

Encore:
14. Juicebox
15. Under Control
16. Heart In A Cage
17. Take It Or Leave It

It’s been four years since The Strokes last headlined a festival, and perhaps it’s fitting that after winning countless album of the decade awards they make their return in 2010. The Strokes were perhaps the oddest booking for the MOR crazed Isle Of Wight Festival, but the Strokes drew a large crowd not as big as Jay-Z or McCartney but more than Kaiser Chiefs or Neil Young had in the past. They eased on stage to Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and launched into a dirty gritty no thrills rock and roll show, reminding everyone why they made such a big splash all those years ago.

There was no silly over top solos, no games of who can’t chant the loudest, no pyro and no “helloooo Isle Of Wight” this was straight quick fire rock. “New York City Cops” was a bustling opener that set the tone with Julian firing out each and every syllable with hazy venom, and it was immediately followed up by “The Modern Age” and a sleek rendition of “Hard To Explain”. The Strokes were back, the guitar work was tight, Fab’s drumming was sublime and groovy as all hell and Julian was, well he was Julian. Drunk or stoned? It was anybodies guess but he was thrilled to be onstage cracking silly jokes and providing some cool laid back, if slightly inane banter. It was such a contrast to the super showmen Jay-Z and Paul McCartney; Julian was just a regular guy who like rock, and it was refreshing to see such a laid back headliner.

The set soon turned into a greatest hits showcase with “Reptilia” blurring into “Whatever Happened?” before “You Only Live Once” induced a mass shout along. Most impressively of all at the usually quaint and quiet Isle Of Wight Festival, The Strokes managed to spark a series of circle pits with “Visions Of Division” and “Last Night”, I can honestly say I never thought I’d see such scenes at this festival. Ultimately The Strokes were minimal and impressive, a tightly knit unit firing out some of the last decade's greatest and most influential pop songs. As you listened you could hear and see the origins of a thousand imitators and more importantly you could understand, as the carefree bounce of “Someday” set in, just why The Strokes were always a notch above the rest of the indie crowd.

The Strokes were also kind enough to throw in a few rarely aired fans favourites, like gorgeously ironic “Is This It”, the heart breaking frustration of “I Can’t Win” and of course the strained submission and soulful beauty of “Under Control”, which saw Julian in the best voice of his career. However for most fans the true joy came in the final twenty minutes when the Strokes blew threw there biggest party starters “Last Night”, “Juicebox”, “Heart In A Cage” and a heart stoppingly brilliant version of “Take It Or Leave It” that sent the crowd home happy. Some of the huge crowd may not have been familiar with Strokes when they arrived, but if the banter on the way home was anything to judge by they left mightily impressed. Julian joked "next time we want this" pointing at the crowd "we should take just take another four years off, I'm joking, no I'm not, oh yes I am", well after this performance I'm pretty sure 50,000 people are hoping The Strokes are here to stay.

Sunday

Sunday is traditional the MOR pop day normally combined with a legendary headliner of unquestionable quality. Former headliners include: Neil Young & The Pixies, The Police, The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, R.E.M. and David Bowie.


P!nk

Setlist:
1. Get This Party Started
2. Funhouse
3. Ave Mary A
4. Who Knew
5. Just Like A Pill
6. Sober
7. I’m Not Dead
8. I Don’t Believe You
9. Dear Mr President
10. Mean
11. My Generation vs. Basket Case
12. Roxanne
13. Try Too Hard
14. Leave Me Alone (I’m Lonely)
15. So What

P!nk brought her Funhouse tour to the Isle Of Wight and she raised the showmanship stakes to a whole new level. After being shot at by a cannon Pink fell 100 feet from the sky out of a box to land on the stage, and that was just the start. In front of a huge, largely female crowd, Pink fired her way through a mix of classic hits, shrewd covers and some fun album tracks. Surprisingly deciding to stay away from a greatest hits show, she risked her lesser known materiel in front of a diverse festival crowd. “Funhouse” was a delight, “Just Like A Pill” was epic, “Dear Mr President” showed off a serious albeit naive side, and “Sober” was a unifying sing along.

The most endearing part of the show was Pink herself, who played into her own silliness, and was happy to admit she’s no great singer, and she’s certainly not a model, she’s a just a girl who likes to rock who has the knack for writing catchy songs. It was unpretentious, and it was a hell of a lot of fun. The cover battle with her male guitars singing The Who’s “My Generation” and Pink singing “Basket Case” was an inspired idea to cater to the male contingent of the crowd. Pink brought plenty of crazy antics to the Isle Of Wight too; stealing Wayne Coyne’s gimmick and riding across the crowd in a hamster ball before flying over the entire crowd during a rambunctious rendition of “So What”. If Jay-Z proved that Hip-Hop an win over Festival Fields then P!nk showed that pop is just as worthy as rock of holding court on the world’s biggest stages.


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Sir Paul McCartney

Setlist:
1. Venus And Mars/Rock Show
2. Jet
3. All My Loving
4. Letting Go
5. Let Me Roll It
6. The Long And Winding Road
7. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
8. I’m Looking Through You
9. Blackbird
10. Here Today
11. Dance Tonight
12. Mrs Vendebilt
13. Eleanor Rigby
14. Something
15. Sing The Changes
16. Band On The Run
17. Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da
18. Back In The USSR
19. Paperback Writer
20. Let It Be
21. Live And Let Die
22. Hey Jude

Encore I:
23. Day Tripper
24. Get Back
25. Yesterday

Encore II:
26. Helter Skelter
27. Srg. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Reprise
28. The End

So after the circus atmosphere that Pink had created Paul McCartney actually had an improbably tough act to follow. He was greeted by deafening cheers but things got off to an inauspicious start as he opted for a Wings heavy opening with “Jet” and “Let Me Roll It” hardly inspiring the crowd. Thankfully every so often he kept the crowd attention with sprinkling in one his Beatles greats “All My Loving” and “Looking Through You” were surprise selections that got everyone from the front to the back dancing and singing. Unfortunately either side of the beautiful “Blackbird” were the dull “Here Today”, “Dance Tonight” and “Mrs Vandebilt”. It was starting to look bleak for McCartney as the heavens opened and the rain lashed down with unrelenting fury, but thankfully McCartney seemingly there and then decided he was going to kick it into another gear, and from that point on he never looked back.

A haunting airing of “Eleanor Rigby” turned the tide before a McCartney offered up a heart felt tribute to George Harrison performing a stunning rendition of “Something”. When the second hour of his set began he seemed to have decided to blow the festival's collective minds, warming us up with the sunshine silliness of “Band On The Run” and “Ob-Li-Di-Ob-La-Da” before the real classics were uncorked. “Back in The USSR” kicked the wholly hell out of the crowd, it rocked hard, it was wonderfully melodic, it was danceable, it was everything you could possibly ask for, it was the perfect festival anthem. “Paperback Writer” followed suit prompting even more dodgy dancing and “Let It Be” was as heartbreaking as ever and remains McCartney’s best ballad.

Then McCartney got the showstoppers out. “Live And Let Die” was monstrous it was the Godzilla of festival tracks, full of unbelievable pyro, huge sing alongs, crunching riffs and jaunty pianos, making it comfortable the most memorable track of the weekend. “Hey Jude” was an inevitability, but as a mammoth sing along, no song is finer, with 65, 000 people from the front to the back singing as one. In between the sing songs, McCartney found room to rock us with pounding renditions of “Bet Back”, “Day Tripper” and the blood curdling pounding that was “Helter Skelter”. McCartney then closed the show with two final euphoric sing alongs in the form of “Yesterday” and “Srg. Peppers Lonely hearts Club Band/The End”. It was the perfect end, to the best hour of music I’ve ever heard. The first hour may have been hit and miss, but by the end of his set, listening to forty minutes of Wings seemed like a small price to pay to be treated to an hour of the best music ever penned. You do have to ask yourself though, just how good could this set have been, had McCartney played a full two hours of The Beatles, but alas, we will never know.

The 411: After the mess that was 2009, the Isle Of Wight Festival needed a return to form, and 2010 delivered. Full of great sets, big names and even bigger spectacles; this years festival managed to blend the ice cool (The Strokes, The Big Pink & Jay-Z) with the cheesy (Spandau Ballet, N-Dubz & Spandau Ballet) and off the wall quirkiness (Pink, Florence + The Machine & Marina and The Diamonds). John Giddings really got the balance right, creating a festival that was welcoming, unpretentious and fun for every member of the family. In a year where festivals are a dime a dozen, the Isle of Wight is truly unique and utterly eclectic. A triumph, the best IOW since 2007!

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]