Photo Credit: Alia Thomas
With Download Festival in the pouring rain a week prior, it was hard to believe that the following weekend we’d have a scorcher for those lucky people heading over to the island for one of the oldest and largest British festivals of the Summer. If you’ve never been to Isle of Wight festival before, in a nutshell, it’s a festival for all ages with something for everyone. With artists ranging from girly pop, to 80s dance, to punk rock and the likes of the Cirque de la Quirk tent giving circus-like performers a chance to shine in amongst the music, it’s unlikely that there’ll be a point when there’s not something of interest happening to occupy your time.
This weekend started a little differently from how you’d expect such a festival to start, with the Peter Crouch live podcast kicking things off (excuse the pun) with the England vs Denmark Euros game on Thursday afternoon. The Big Top tent and beyond was packed out to watch the game on the big screens. Following on was music from the son of late Status Quo guitarist, Rick Parfitt, Rick Parfitt Jnr, as well as Norwegian singer-songwriter, Dagny, and ending the night with Scouting For Girls. Friday saw a little more action with music starting late afternoon. With highlights from the female Manchester duo, Dirty Blonde, ‘good bi’ Beth McCarthy, The Darkness and Wunderhorse and of course, not to forget, The Prodigy headlining Main Stage. Having not seen the band for fifteen years, it was odd to see them without the late Keith Flint who was of course quite the character, a big presence. However, The Prodigy still live up to their iconic nature, and continue to show a lot of artists up with the light show they display. Like something you’ve never seen before.
Saturday seemed to be a day for the older crowd with the likes of Crowded House, Suede, and Pet Shop Boys, with a few artists in between to get the Gen Z kids involved like Bradley Simpson of The Vamps, and TikTok star, Henry Moodie. Special mentions for those we caught go to Ugly Ozo and Eurovision star, Loreen, doing it for the girls, and Feeder, Blossoms and Jake Shears putting on great shows on the larger stages.
Finally, with Sunday coming round far too quickly, we find ourselves at the last day of the festival with quite a line-up for the day. This by far being the most exciting day for most, with young rising stars, NOAHFINNCE, Caity Baser and Venus Grrrls, and rocking up the Main Stage, you’ve got Picture This, McFly, Nothing But Thieves, and the main event… The punk rock legends hailing all the way from the USA… Green Day. It’s not just Green Day either. It’s Green Day playing the majority of Dookie and all of American Idiot with a few songs from their latest album, Saviours, mixed in. You couldn’t have asked for a better end to the weekend.
Words: Alia Thomas
Photo gallery featuring Rick Parfitt Jnr, Dagny, Dirty Blonde, Beth McCarthy, The Darkness, James Marriott, The Streets, Wunderhorse, Bradley Simpson, Henry Moodie, Jake Shears, S Club, Blossoms, Feeder, Ugly Ozo, Loreen, Picture This, McFly, Venus Grrrls, NOAHFINNCE, Nothing But Thieves, Caity Baiser, Cian Ducrot and Green Day.
