V Festival 2008

Get ready for next year, ahead of the crowd!

Llia — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:17:58 +0100

You've not yet finished wiping your mud from your ears and you still haven't figured out how to get your tent back in that tiny little bag, but it's time to think about V2009 already!

On 19 August at 10am, you can get your early-bird tickets for V2009. And they'll be the same price as this year's tickets! But be quick, there's only limited amount available. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Buy your V2009 early bird tickets, here!

V Festival Rockumentary

john — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:45:38 +0100

Paul brings you sex, cider and backstage celebrity gossip. People waking up in cans of Stella, Duffy's opinion on festivals and other celeb tit-bits.

And then it was over...

john — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:02:35 +0100

So it's late on Sunday night everyones leaving the festival site at Hylands Park. It's all over and all there is to do now is to stumble along the muddy paths to find your bus/taxi/tent/hedge. Here's the final wrap-up by Tania Snuggs:

Final headliners reviews and photos

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:47:02 +0100

Well it's very nearly the end of the festival and we have the final headliner reviews and photos for everyone. The Verve, Kaiser Chiefs, Guillemots and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Scouting for Girls are GOLD!

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:17:58 +0100

Scouting for Girls played in our VIP tent just hours ago and Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet fame joined them on stage to cover "Suspicious minds".

Audio / Video content en-masse

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:36:26 +0100

Alright, in about 30 mins we'll have photos and reviews for The Verve, The Kaiser Chiefs and Guillemots. But until then here are some of the recently uploaded audio / video content straight from the backstage VIP area at the V Festival 2008.

The Zutons,The Charlatans and Hot Chip

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:09:16 +0100

We have reviews for The Zutons on the 4music stage, Hot Chip who played in the Virgin Mobile Union Tent and The Charlatans in the JJB Arena.

Squeeze show us how it's done...

Llia — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:52:22 +0100

Squeeze really delivered the goods with their exclusive VIP session, have a watch here!

Travis live video session

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:39:34 +0100

We have a live session of Travis in the VIP Tent for you guys.

The house is not a mouse

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:54:55 +0100

Photos and a review from Amy Winehouse live set on the V Stage.

Music All The Way

adambowie — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:43:35 +0100

What a lot to catch up on from the VIP marquee!

First off there was One Republic who played a medley of their hits to a packed tent. But before I was able to leave we had a very special guest in the form of James Walsh from Starsailor.

The more astute may have noticed that Starsailor aren't actually playing the V Festival this year, so the VIP tent was literally the only place to see them.

Then came station favourites, Scouting For Girls, who entertained a, by now, very refreshed crowd. But the best was yet to come. Who should come on for an encore but our very own Tony Hadley. And together they performed an awesome rendition of everyone's favourite Suspicious Minds.

You absolutely have to check the video out when we upload it. We're going as fast as we can so keep checking out the Audio and Video section.

Finally, I have an exclusive photo which you simply won't find anywhere else in the world. I've been notably poor at celebrity spotting. I think I spotted a former Apprentice winner, Noah and the Wales were definitely around following their late night antics yesterday, and I hear that Girls Aloud were "in the house." But I think I can trump all of these.

Who was in the VIP with our very own Russ Williams but the six times World Championship snooker winner Steve Davis. Check out the photo!

Gabriella charms us all

Llia — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:42:36 +0100

Yes, Gabriella Cilmi is 16. Yes, her music is catchy, but what did our reviewers think? Check out the review of her set, as well as on-stage and backstage photographs, here.

Travis in the VIP area and in the JJB arena

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:15:18 +0100

Travis content galore! Live video session, interview, VIP tent review and live JJB arena review.

OneRepublic

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:37:06 +0100

We have a live review and photos for OneRepublic for you guys plus an interview below!

Lenny Kravitz set goes his way

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:51:41 +0100

The crowd applauded as Lenny Kravitz made a welcome return to the UK festival scene. Read the live review and browse the photos of his set here.

The Zutons sit down for a chat

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:45:36 +0100

The Zutons popped by for a chat in our VIP area after their Session in our tent.

We will have a video and pictures of their session up shortly, and a live review of their set later this evening.

The Feeling liven up the crowd

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:48:53 +0100

The crowd was soon singing along to The Feeling. Read the live review of their set and check out the photos.

Squeeze Set The Marquee Alive

adambowie — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:25:16 +0100

If there's something that you can be absolutely sure will get a crowd going, I've decided it must a brief "best of" set by Squeeze. Starting with Up The Junction and finishing with Cool For Cats, they had everyone dancing, and the crowd calling out for an encore. So far, they've received the best reception in the VIP marquee of the weekend. Sometimes you really can't top a classic act like that.

Meanwhile The Zutons are giving us an interview which will be online sometime after they've actually spoken to us.

Normally one of our runners uses a golf-buggy to go and collect bands and drive them backstage into our area. But they just arrived driving the buggy themselves chauffering Hannah our runner instead.

Squeeze make a triumphant return

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:58:43 +0100

Squeeze played a great set on the V Stage, dressed to impress. Read the live review and check out the photos.

Gabriella Cilmi

adambowie — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:47:02 +0100

Australian Gabriella Cilmi is just 16 years old and has already had a number one in her homeland.

I know this because Sarah Champion told us so when she introduced her to the marquee audience. "Sweet About Me" is the song you'll probably know, even if the name doesn't mean a great deal to you.

She may be young, but she has a powerful voice, and it looked like she was really having fun performing for everybody inside the marquee.

She followed that up with a cover of "Echo Beach," originally by Martha and the Muffins. Wikipedia tells me that this was used as the soundtrack to the TV series of the same name broadcast earlier this year (you know - with Jason Donovan and Martine McCutcheon).

Plenty more exclusive marquee sessions still to come, and you'll be able to hear all of them right here.

Travis in the VIP Marquee

adambowie — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:21:00 +0100

Sunday is always a bit of a chilled affair in the VIP area. Pimms seems to be the drink of choice and since the weather's been terribly kind to us today, it seems like a very pleasant way of spending a Sunday afternoon, watching or listening to some great live music.

Travis kicked off procedings with a set with plenty of hits including, of course, Turn. Fran asked the audience who they were looking forward to seeing. "Travis" came the, perhaps obvious, answer. Or Girls Aloud. I think they probably meant Kings of Leon, or Verve - the latter of whom's set you can hear live on Virgin Radio this evening from 9pm. But it's not for me to put words into our guests' mouths. As Geoff mentioned on-air earlier, it's actually a hard decision to make going to see a live band on one of the big stages this evening, or watching your colleagues or guests playing RockBand after all the live sessions have finished.

As ever, the Travis session was recorded for broadcast and to go online very shortly.

Noah And The Whale keep the crowd smiling

Becky_Horsfall — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:26:13 +0100

Noah And The Whale have just finished performing in the Virgin Mobile Union tent, you can now check out a live review and pics.

The Stranglers kick things off on Sunday

john — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:01:05 +0100

The Stranglers got things started on day 2 of the V Festival on the V Stage.

Read our live review and check out photos.

A look back at sunny Saturday

ant — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:57:14 +0100

Those Muse boys don't do things by half do they? The mighty Muse machine rolled into Hylands Park with a stage show straight out of a science fiction movie. Great stuff. I'm not going to do a full review, because we already have a better one right here, with photos too.

Other highlights of the day include Ben Jones chatting to Stereophonics frontman, Kelly Jones - He was walking towards the main stage at the time, and moments later picked up his guitar and started performing to a crowd of thousands! Watch it here

Our VIP tent reviewer, Adam tells me that Duffy had a great time while playing an exclusive session for us. Her soulful voice went down a treat while guests and celebs sipped on their cocktails. We'll have the video session on the site for you to tomorrow, but for now, you can enjoy watching her interview with Geoff Lloyd, on the media player.

The final word of the day goes to festival news reporter, Adrian Hieatt, who's been out in the field to bring you highlights from the real music fans in the crowd. Take a listen below...

Ian Brown tames the crowds

john — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:28:08 +0100

Ian Brown really rocked the JJB Arena, and even managed to tame a few unruly members of the crowd.

Catch the live review and photos.