Isle of Wight 2008 - Rated!

United Kingdom | | 15 June 2008

Overall - 8/10
Beautiful forecast-shattering blue skies throughout, happy people, seamless organisation and superb headline sets from no less than two legendary rock acts. Isle of Wight 2008 might well even have reached the impossible heights of last year's perfect festival had it not been for some 'good' mid-afternoon sets diluting the 'brilliant' standard of everything else.

Getting There and Back - 8/10
Despite having to pick and mix between various forms of transport - trains, cars, ferries, hovercrafts, busses and taxis to cross The Solent and get to the festival, we found that all services operated extremely efficiently with no queues at either end, and travelling by boat adds to the whole holiday feel. The icing on our cake was a taxi driver giving each of us a complimentary bottle of water on our way to the ferry home.

The Site - 8/10
Unlike other major festivals, the Isle of Wight sits in a small, compact venue with just one major arena leading onto smaller areas with shops and the usual fast food vans, fairy wing stalls and our favourite festival innovation so far this summer - a massive Guitar Hero 3 tent. The Strongbow Bowtime Bar was a big hit with an impressive line-up of DJs and bands combined with a cold drink that isn't weak lager; a partnership appreciated by many during Saturday's hazy afternoon. It was easy to move about and the entire site could be crossed in 25 minutes. The new Big Top Tent offered an alternative choice of bands and a new outdoor bandstand gave local unsigned acts the chance to impress passers by.

The selection of food on display will be familiar to anyone who's been to a large event in the past decade - burgers, pies, chips, burritos and the greasiest hog roast you're every likely to find. A new and refreshing alternative to this fayre came courtesy of Taste of the Wight, a company that promotes local produce in the form of some amazing blue cheese and crackers, berry ice cream, pink sparkling wine and delicious strawberries. This was a really interesting attempt to offer a local flavour to the festival as well as giving people the chance to sample something they might not otherwise try.

Atmosphere - 8/10
Us Brits have been known to rally when the rain comes down, but it's rare. Festival-goers are always happy when they're in flip-flops, though, and suprise turned to elation day-after-day as the sun kept his hat on from start to finish. By the end of a particularly searing Saturday, however, the crowds were a little fazed, prompting Johnny Rotten's complaints of: "I can't f*****g hear you!". The crowd wasn't exactly high-octane, that's for sure, but a relaxed and uplifting vibe permeated throughout. There's always one, though, and by his own admission, Iggy Pop did "get a bit shouty" towards the end of The Stooges' set and sent the front half of the arena into a frenzy. Several people had to be hauled out of the crowd but this was due to over-excitement and exhuberance rather than aggression and no other problems were reported.

Music - 7.5/10
The Sex Pistols will emerge from the weekend with a restored reputation for having the music to back the band's anarchic swagger - their set was a masterclass in ripping punk riffs and impassioned yells from a very vocal John Lydon. The band provided the backbone to what could be considered a slightly 'soft' line up with the likes of One Night Only and Scouting For Girls dominating the daytime slots.

The Uppers:

Sex Pistols (main stage headliner, Saturday) - an encore consisting of 'Anarchy In The UK' and a cover of Hawkwind's Silver Machine ("We like all types of music," explained John Lydon) was our highlight of the weekend.

The Police (main stage headliner, Sunday) - Johnny Rotten had called them "bumholes" the night before but it was water off a duck's back as a bearded Sting & co. rocked the Isle of Wight like it was one of the last shows on their big re-union tour. Actually, it was. The kids at the front were singing along as loud as their parents as Sting prowled the length of the stage like a man in blissful ignorance of the fact that most people think he's quite an arse.

N.E.R.D (main stage, Friday) - showed the Kaiser Chiefs what to do with an arena full of people on a sunny early-evening. 'Lapdance' and Pharell's banter was enough to get the crowd jumping like nobody else managed the whole weekend.

Newton Faulkner - a superb mid-afternoon festival set from the solo strummer that included a host of quirky covers and some entertaining banter. A ditty done in the style of Kings of Leon was uncanny and the final song, an acoustic cover of 'Boheniam Rhapsody', was a huge hit with the crowd - who doesn't know the words? Faulkner's skill with a guitar is something to wonder at and if he didn't have you smiling by the end then you're clinically dead or Johnny Rotten.

Amy Macdonald (main stage, Saturday) - a cheeky manner, amazing voice and some nice songs - perfect for a sunny afternoon. Her cover of The Killers' 'When We Were Young' was magical.

Iggy and The Stooges - (main stage, Saturday) - Being old enough to be a pensioner did not come in the way of Mr. Pop hurling his top-naked torso through a blistering set of punk classics with such brutal abandon that by the end of the set he had turned one of the UK's most mellow festivals into a place where people were flowing over the barriers, every security guard on the island had been drafted in, amps were trashed and Iggy himself was limping. Exhausting to behold but thrilling nonetheless.

Ian Brown (main stage, Saturday) - despite a nasty head injury (was that 8 stitches or 9, Ian?) arising from an altercation with a piece of stage the night before, he turned up and played a huge set of solo material and treated the crowd to an a capella version of Rhianna's 'Umbrella' during a break to fix some technical problems.

The Downers:

Kaiser Chiefs - due to circumstances outside their control, admittedly (a fuel strike in Spain), the Chiefs were thrust in the unenviable predicament of having none of their own equipment available on which to perform their first ever UK festival headlining slot. To their credit, they soldiered on with borrowed gear. Sadly, aside from their two new songs, their ensuing performance never really got out of first gear and their festival set is now extremely familiar to many. Even Ricky's attempt to climb a speaker stack looked more kid-on-a-climbing-frame than rock god headlining a major festival; the band were simply blown out of the water by N.E.R.D before them, and co-headliners Sex Pistols and The Police after.

One Night Only - the cracker that came with the delicious local blue cheese being promoted on-site was more interesting and could probably write better songs.

Random Event:

Main stage security charging at two fellas dressed as Buzz Lightyear and Woody in the front of the crowd suspected of standing on objects to gain a better view. Even the guards let slip a smile as it became apparent that the characters were both on stilts.

We were also pleased to see Virgin Radio's Joel (from JK and Joel) preparing for Sunday's breakfast show by passing out cold on the grass backstage by 10.30pm on Saturday night and Abi Harding from The Zutons rocking out to The Stooges, who also had a sax player albeit not quite as pretty.