V Festival 2011 – Preview

Tickets are sold out!

What an exciting festival this is going to be, If you were lucky enough to get a ticket there are so many great acts to see live. The festival for the more mainstream fans of music, V has really booked some of the best to perform at the Hylands and Weston parks this August 2011. New features this year include the Comedy stage which is bound to provide a nice break from the music and also ‘V Style’ Luxury accommodation which (at a cost) is for those wishing to skip the possible muddy camping experience.

Starting on the Saturday 20th at Weston park (Sunday 21st at Hylands park) American rapper and international megastar Eminem will headline alongside special guest Rihanna and between them their hit single ‘Love The Way You Lie’ is certain to be a highlight of the weekend. Special guest Rihanna will be hoping her show is a spectacular affair especially after Beyonce’s magical closer at Glastonbury last weekend, Rihanna will have a lot to live up to as a female artist headlining a festival. But with her back catalog of hits including ‘Umbrella’, ‘Disturbia’ and ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ she will certainly have the support of the crowd. Eminem on the other hand has little to prove and is able to choose from a vast array of songs for his set list and fans can be expecting a mixture of classics such as ‘Loose Yourself’, ‘Stan’ and even a possible collaboration with D12 to perform there 2004 hit ‘My Band’. The crowd can also expect performances off his latest album ‘Recovery’ where hit singles include ‘No Love’ and ‘Not Afraid’.. It’s sure to be a passionate show by the US rapper.

As we move to Sunday 21st at Weston park (Saturday 20th at Hylands park) V organizers have pulled out all the stops to book the Arctic Monkeys as main headliners, with their recent album ‘Suck It And See’ only out a few weeks ago fans can expect some new music this year as well as crowd sing a longs such as ‘When The Sun Goes Down’. Joining the indie band on the top bill is Plan B who has really risen out of the underground scene and become a well-respected pop icon this year. He will for sure be taking inspiration from Eminem on how to single handily manage the crowd at V Festival and there are no question marks as to whether he can sing live.

Of course there are many many more acts across the weekend to enjoy, some of the well-known names include:

• Dizzee Rascal
• Pendulum
• Kaiser Chiefs
• Duran Duran
• Chase & Status
• Youmeatsix
• Tinie Tempah
• Example

All of these acts have previous festival experience and there’s a lot of variety to look forward to.. something for all music fans.

I’ll see you there!

By Matthew Trevett

Eminem and Rihanna are sure to make V Festival one to remember

Reading Festival 2011 – Preview

What to look forward to this year!

After last years Reading festival its difficult to see how 2011 could get any better, we had punk rockers Blink 182 who had recently got back together, the reformation of The Libertines and or course rock legends Guns ‘N’ Roses who all performed big in their headline slots. The main stage also played host to a collection of well known and mainstream bands including Lostprophets, Paramore, Limp Bizkit, Youmeatsix and Dizzee Rascal, So its no wonder fans where left slightly underwhelmed when the line-up announcement was made earlier this March.

Though bands don’t get much bigger than Muse, The Strokes and My Chemical Romance so what are people complaining about?

Although perhaps not as an all round popular line-up as last year 2011 has some BIG names to offer with some exciting performances across the whole weekend. On the Friday My Chemical Romance return to headline and since their torrid expereince at Reading 2006 where they were bottled on stage they have become an exciting live act with a lot more fans under their belt. For me though the real performance on the Friday will come from 30 Seconds To Mars. Since the release of their latest album – This Is War, they have come an alternative rock sensation, bringing their ‘Into The Wild’ tour to the whole world and creating an amazing live experience in the process.  Led by the ever confident Jared Leto, there’s no doubt they will be as enthusiastic as ever in the first ever appearance at Reading Festival. The rest of the line up on the Friday fits in with the headliners and includes well known rock bands ‘The Offspring’, ‘Deftones’, ‘Rise Against’ and Bring Me The Horizon, who are a must see band for any hardcore rock fan.

If rock isn’t your interest on the Friday then the dance tent will be open for those looking to get away from the weather, get a change of atmosphere or quite clearly enjoy some classic dance anthems/new rave. Headliners Simian Mobile Disco have countless classics such as ‘Cruel Intentions’ and ‘It’s The Beat’  to get the crowd going and in the holiday mood. Readings very own Does It Offend You, Yeah? have grown dramatically since their last appearance at the festival and now having supported Linkin Park on their A Thousand Suns world tour they have a wealth of Live performing experience.. a must see for any Enter Shikari or Pendulum fan.

Moving on to the Saturday and we have indie legends The Strokes headlining along side old timers Pulp who will between them create some spectacular festival moments for sure and in turn set a lighter tone for the rest of the weekend. One band who are guaranteed to go a step further and make the whole crowd dance are the classic outfit known as ‘Madness’. With such hits as ‘Our House’ and ‘It Must Be Love’ whether your into hard rock or spend your time in the dance tent you have to appreciate the fantastic festival atmosphere the ‘Madness’ can create wherever they go. Completing the set up for the Saturday the organizers have booked crowd pleases ‘Jimmy Eat World’ and up and coming indie act ‘Two Door Cinema Club’ some might argue not as big as last years bands but both have performed big sets at this years Glastonbury festival with fantastic responses.

As always the best is saved till last and we haven’t been let down this year, the UK’s very own Muse are set to close the festival on the Sunday and having been named as one of the most sensational live bands in the world, up there and possibly even above the likes of Linkin Park and 30 Seconds To Mars we are in for a massive treat on Sunday night. There back catalog of songs is enough to please any festival in the world and with tracks like ‘Undisclosed Desires’, ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ and ‘The Resistance’ the whole crowd is sure to be a sea of festival spirit. There are a few big names and even possible headliners backing up Muse of the Sunday, the likes of Elbow and Enter Shikari would of been worthy contenders and seeing Enter Shikari step on to the main stage this year having seen them perform on the NME/Radio 1 stage last year will be a exciting prospect for any raver in the crowd.

So despite the initial reaction there is tons to look forward to this August 2011 and whether the bands aren’t of your taste or you disagree with the headline choices there’s no denying the great atmosphere a festival provides for you and your mates.

Have a good one!

By Matthew Trevett

Muse are the big headliners that make this Festival a special one

Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns Album Review

If ever there was an unbelievably fan dividing album, this is the one!

Old time Linkin Park rockers looking for the screaming, nu metal riffs and rap interchanging lyrical sounds that made Hybrid Theory and Meteora the genre busting must have albums of the new Melina read no further.. The crushing guitars, powerful vocals and unique scratching that made Linkin Park the popularly rebellious rock band at the start of the decade are long gone.

The dust has settled and now from the slightly tamer sound that was ‘Minutes to Midnight’ has emerged – A Thousand Suns.

Raging synths, haunting piano riffs and electronically enhanced vocals are all apparent on this album; this is like nothing you’ve ever heard before. The first two ‘songs’ open up the gateway almost as if the beginning of a journey through this new genre of sound and musical direction. This is where we hear the vocal’s familiar to us from The Catalyst that introduce us to ‘A Thousand Suns’

When we get to ‘When they come for me’ the mellow vocals that begin the album get twisted around and we get the recognizable sound of Mike Shinoda’s rapping, as always the lyrics are clever and deliver a message to the critics – ‘Everybody wants the next thing to be just like the last’ indicating that this is a new direction they are taking and any fans hopes of them producing music like there nu metal past are not going to happen. There is a hint however of some of that raging energy from the past in the song ‘Blackout’ where we hear Chester screaming/raping some explicit lyrics, this is somewhat an energy boost to the journey of A Thousand Suns and when we get to ‘Wretches and Kings’ there is clearly something different yet familiar about the way Mike and Chester interchange lyrics over the thumping baseline and scratching of Joe Hahn.

The Catalyst is played near the end of the album and is clearly the most commercially friendly track of them all, after this, the last song ‘The Messenger’ feels a little bit lost; an acoustic guitar riff sung over by Chester is warming to the ear but doesn’t find a musical connection to everything we have just heard. A disappointing ending to their fourth record but perhaps instead of an ending, it’s a sign of things to come?

This album has received criticism because there are no more than nine what you would call ‘full length songs’ but from the start Mike Shinoda stated that this was a concept album, the idea behind A Thousand Suns was creating a unique genre of music, mixing the energy of previous albums with a completely re-generated and un-heard of sound, leaving behind the past and taking a new direction. It’s clear to say that in most parts they have achieved this, with the exception of a few tracks that appear to be a carry on from Minutes to Midnight; this is like nothing you would have heard of before on a record. Linkin Park have become a sound in their own right, a band not satisfied with what they are used to but a band that has stepped into the unknown and perhaps opened up a new avenue of music for the future.

By Matthew Trevett

Music or Art?