The weekend of the 16th & 17th August saw thousands of music fans descend upon Hylands Park Chelmsford and Weston Park Stafford for V Festival. The event sold out (though not in usual record timing) and as we speak, early bird tickets have already gone on sale for 2014. The main acts were spread across the main Virgin Media Stage, 4 Music stage, The Arena, Futures Stage and the Comedy Tent. 

Paloma Faith as always produced an eccentrically British set, dressed to perfection, tottering around the stage in her impressively huge heels and sipping on a flask of tea. Paloma’s set was as professional as ever and she even treated us to a new song despite being told to keep it under wraps. 

Next up on the Futures stage the indomitable Goldie looking Chain who had as massive a crowd outside the tent as in. They come across as just a bunch of lads enjoying themselves on stage without any pretention. This was reflected back by the crowd who looked like they were at a party. Check them out at their upcoming tour in Oct. 

Somehow our timing was out and instead of seeing Mark Owen (who we had heard positive comments about) we turned up at the Arena in time to see Travis. This was a long awaited return appearance from the band who told us they had taken time out to raise families. The lead singer even commented he was quite emotional to be back with such a great audience who sang along with hit after hit including ‘Why does it always rain on me’. One of my highlight sets of the day. 

The obvious appeal of Beyoncé to the V faithful meant that Ocean Colour Scene only attracted a small crowd to their headline appearance at The Arena. This however worked in their favour as their performance had that intimate feel which you don’t normally associate with large festivals. The set kicked off with a tight version of ‘Riverboat Song’ and instantly got the sing along started. They dedicated ‘This Day Should Last Forever’ to Beady Eye’s Gem Archer who suffered head trauma (causing Beady Eye to cancel their V appearance) and The Charlatans drummer Jon Brookes who died a few days earlier with a brain tumour.  The set concluded with a rousing rendition of ‘The Day We Caught The Train’ which went down a storm and had the crowd baying for more, but alas that was it. 

The headline act on the Main Stage would be Beyoncé's only British festival appearance this summer. She had been worried about performing with her new hair style which when she arrived on stage (25 minutes late) had been transformed into a blonde bombshell bob which could have graced any shampoo commercial. Just in time as well as the huge crowd stood waiting in the rain had just started booing. 

As always Beyonce appeared brimming with confidence as she strolled onto the stage opening with ‘Run The World (girls)’. Her powerful vocals were impressive as ever as she energetically danced her way through number after number. A true professional who will be around for a while to come; lets hope a Mr & Mrs Carter tour will not be that far off in the future. 

Sunday 

Arriving a little later on day 2 we made it just in time to see Seasick Steve with the usual serenade of a pretty girl who he then gave a signed copy of his album to. He commented that “he loved his job”…

Rudimental are a band hot on the lips of everyone at the moment, although they have been together 8 years. DJ Locksmith told us that being from Chelmsford meant it was probably the best day of his life, performing in front of a huge crowd in his hometown. They seem set to take America by storm, have a new album coming out and a newly announced 2014 tour as all their October dates have now sold out. Their set was tight, with exceptional vocals from all the band and they seem to have created a winning formula we’ll no doubt see a lot of in the future.  

The joy of watching The Vaccines is that you know exactly what you are going to get; great 3 minute songs by the bucket load. Their performance on the Main Stage did not disappoint. From the opening chords of ‘Blow It Up’ to the closing beat of ‘Niggard’ it was full of energy and brilliance with hardly a chance to catch a breath. The audience sang along with every track, bounced and made the occasional pit, the highlights of the set were ‘Post Break Up Sex’ and ‘If You Want to’. 

The Eels decided to perform in matching black track suits, sunglasses and beards perhaps their version of a boy band look. Their musicianship was of the highest quality and included a faithful cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’ and finished with ‘My Beloved Monster / Mar. E's Beautiful Blues’. 

Ellie Golding had a huge fan base to see her set arriving on the stage at 7pm just as the announcement was being made on the radio that she had first number one album.  

Wanting to see what all the hype was around Jaguar Skills we returned to the Arena - our favourite stage for atmosphere. His computer style graphic, skeleton visuals with white light eyes, lasers and fun fair style voice over added a great deal of the theatre to the set. The commentary fragmented in-between short bursts of songs never played out in full were just enough to hype the audience. “I say Jaguar, you say Skills”…! It was a fun filled set to watch regardless of age, thoroughly enjoyable and I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity to see him again in the next month. Bring it on. 

The question on everyone’s lips was Basement Jaxx or Calvin Harris for the Sunday headliner. Calvin Harris was always going to win, but we opted for Basement Jaxx. Their set always feels like you're at a carnival with bright costumes, robots and gorillas. Their twitter account hinted “Big Up to @Rudimental for gorilla duty on Saturday night @vfestival - it's hot inside those things”. 

Their set started with one of their new songs ‘Mermaid Of Salinas’ They also included their Metropole Orkes version of ‘Raindrops’ which was received well. The set culminated with ‘Where’s Your Head At’ and ‘Bingo Bango’ If you have not seen them before, get yourself off to one of their shows for a pure uplifting shot of adrenaline. If they don’t get you dancing then Riga mortis must have set in. Check out their new song here... 

After attending the festival for our 14th year in total it seems nothing much has changed. Even food vendor’s stalls stood in exactly the same place as previous years. While it would be nice to see the festival given a bit of a face lift it seems to be driven towards first time festival goers and those celebrating their GCSE or A-level results rather than the bigger family focus of the early years. While we would ideally like to see more themed stages and some non chart artists for the more mature members of the crowd, we still had a really enjoyable weekend, especially as Sunday saw the rain and wind replaced by sunshine. 

Lastly note to attendees, Perhaps next year you could pop your rubbish in the bins provided instead of leaving it languishing on the floor….