Click here for Part 1 of the review.

CHECK OUT THE STUNNING PHOTO GALLERY FROM MELBOURNE V FESTIVAL HERE.

From one extreme to another – back at This Stage, Queens of the Stone Age had just appeared and the biggest crowd of the day so far was ready to go crazy. Misfit Love rumbled through the Showgrounds as Josh Homme and co. stood in all their glory. Homme showed his dominance as a massive name rock star, but without the pretentiousness some might expect, as he greeted his favourite Australian city to a gigantic roar of approval.

As soon as Little Sister kicked in, the lawn produced the mosh pit – and one hell of a mosh pit it was. From there on in QOTSA rammed through all the favourites – mosh heavy Go With The Flow and Do It Again, metal favourite Mexicola, dance infused Sick, Sick, Sick and Australia’s favourite No One Knows. At one stage, Homme expressed his appreciation for the crowd, adding “Melbourne love” to the list of drugs in Feel Good Hit of Summer. Clearly the crowd was doing something for him. QOTSA owned the day at V Festival, at least in the way of exciting the crowd to oblivion.

Then to an even greater change in genre – running to the Other Stage to catch the final few numbers from CSS proved to be worthy of the rush. Their stage adorned in vibrant balloons, confetti and streamers, CSS were as frantic as a dance act can be. Dressed in a black jumpsuit covered in multi-coloured stars, singer Lovefoxxx ran relentlessly around the stage as she belted out Alala and Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above. The others were just as energetic, all laughing at each other’s antics and showing how much they were enjoying themselves – which only in turn excited the crowd. Lovefoxxx also exclaimed very excitedly that their new record was completed but they were unsure of the release date.

Later on the Other Stage, Sydney’s Presets stirred up even more of a party vibe with their electronic love. Never failing to entertain, the Presets were the first act of the day to draw a reasonable sized crowd to the shed that was the Other Stage. Previously, the emptiness (perhaps due to the stage’s almost hidden nature) had resulted in poor sound quality for acts like The Rakes, whose crowd had been dismal. With a fuller shed, the sound picked up for Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes as they ran through their usual set list of mainly Beams tracks, with the new additions from Apocalypto.

The excitement had been building long enough, and by the time The Smashing Pumpkins came out, everyone was expecting something pretty darn special. Whilst the first few minutes were amazing (likely due to the presence of the act, who haven’t been to our shores in over a decade), the Pumpkins soon withdrew from any greatest hits set that would have been loved. Today, Tarantula and Tonight Tonight were all that excited in the first half hour, leading many to head back to different stages.

Bullet With Butterfly Wings had made an appearance as had 1979 whilst this reviewer was away. However, returning after a half hour interlude with The Presets, Billy Corgan was finishing up his epic rendition of Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, which, along with another ten minute metal jam later on, seemed a little like Corgan was intentionally avoiding many other hits. Finally the encore hit, and the beginning of Zero’s riff was stopped before it had a chance to begin. “I don’t wanna play that one,” Corgan joked before starting again and having the crowd finally aptly psyched. Thanking the audience took even more time away from playing, as did Corgan’s reminiscing of Men At Work’s introduction of Australia to the States, before Cherub Rock finally finished up.

By the end of the day, V Festival punters had been witness to some damn big names from all around the globe in a fashion that only V could deliver. Despite initial concerns that three separate stages spread over Melbourne Showgrounds might prove a difficult maneuvering exercise for festival-goers, the congestion was minimal and everyone by the end had had ample opportunity to see everyone they wanted. Tell us again why Melbourne didn’t get this festival last year? Here’s to 2009.

Photos courtesy of Anthony Smith