V Festival wrapped up in Perth on Sunday and not only were the bands showing signs of wear, but the sound guys clearly napped throughout the entire day. Coming at the end of a long and impressive festival season, this year’s line up had a touch of the barrel scrapings about it, and the ‘skills shortage’ in Perth was ear splittingly evident from all vantage points and across all stages.

Torrential rain from the day before had turned the normally resilient lawn of the Perth Esplanade into a muddy pit, through which be-thonged punters squelched and slipped, despite the best efforts of organisers with wood chips to stabilise the paths. The two main stages were side by side, with bands playing one after the other. The very small audience meant that everyone who wanted a good view could have one.

Hot Hot Heat got people in the mood for dancing, thanks to the energetic antics of singer Steve Bays, who was drenched in sweat by the third song. So was the increasingly frustrated roadie, who kept rushing in to restore the mic stand to its proper place, only to have Bays knock it over again. By the time they got to their hit Bandages, everyone was ready to shout along, leaving a pumped audience for the next in line, Cut Copy.

Best loved for Hearts on Fire, Melbourne electro-clash trio Cut Copy might have been better suited to a smaller, darker stage. At least there would have been some pretty lights to hold the interest of the crowd. Cut Copy arrived, performed heads down for the most part, barely interacted with the audience at all, played their hour set, and left.

The Jesus and Mary Chain may have been shit-stirrers in their day, but not this day. The crowd was prepared to give them a good shot at it though, but 30 minutes in, it was clear that the sound tech was deaf, and we weren’t going to hear much more than feedback with a stock-rock beat. A shame, because having influenced so many lives and bands, 80s psychedelic garage rock is seeing something of a revival, and the set had the potential to go off.

The audience had swelled to a more respectable size in time for the Modest Mouse set, and it began to get nicely intimate at the front of the mosh. Having lost his voice, Isaac Brock was working hard to get his vocals out, and succeeded, no thanks once again to the mixing desk. Luckily, a good chunk of the audience already knew what he was going to sing, and helped him out. By the time they got to Float On, the front rows of the crowd were in a frenzy of kindness and fellow feeling, introducing themselves to strangers, sharing hugs and holding hands with their neighbours while they sang along like a congregation at a cult.

At least one Queens of the Stone Age fan left the show heartbroken and confused after their lacklustre performance caused him to question his faith in the band’s musical supremacy. It would be easy to lay the blame, once again at the feet of the sound desk, except that Duran Duran’s sound in the very next set, was measurably better. About the only thing that saved the Queens of the Stone Age set was the fact that the band played all of their hits, and the entire audience was able to sing-along. Surrounded by drunken fans singing their lungs out it was difficult to distinguish any subtle nuances of style or skill from the band, and despite the fact that the bass wasn’t anywhere near loud enough, those who stayed in the audience had a great time.

Duran Duran was the only act not let down by the sound technicians, and despite the glaring generation gap, entertained the audience immensely. Unlike some other acts, Duran Duran know that a festival is going to be filled with all sorts of people, and chances are, about half of them would be lucky to be able to even name one of your songs. But if you play all of your hit songs, the punters will be surprised at the songs they do know. If you interact with your audience, and entertain them, it doesn’t matter if they were fans before the show or not. Most of those dancing and waving their hands exuberantly in the crowd weren’t even born when the songs were released, but it didn’t stop them, singing along to Hungry Like the Wolf and Girls on Film, Planet Earth and Wild Boys.

They peaked too early however, and the crescendo came 45 minutes into the set when the band was introduced and Simon Le Bon did his best to pimp the rest of his band out to the crowd. “Hey ladies, how about a ride on this Mercedes? Everybody loves his big shiny horn,” was one of the more nauseating introductions. Although, at least one lady was sold, for when Le Bon told the crowd that it would be okay, just for tonight, to flash the band, she did just that, and the poor old pop stars didn’t regain their focus for the rest of the set.

Billy Corgan either thinks the man-skirt is a good look, or he wants to be a dalek. Floor-length silver ruffled skirt aside, The Smashing Pumpkins might have been the most disappointing act of the day, if it weren’t for someone getting married in Kings Park and setting off a spectacular fireworks display. At least it kept the Presets audience entertained while they waited for the set to begin, and provided cover for those who had decided they need not relive their teen-angst memories with the Pumpkins any longer, particularly since they didn’t look like playing too many of the memories.

After the slagging off they received from Corgan at the Gold Coast V Festival, The Presets delayed their set by 15 minutes so as not to distract the Pumpkins. Meanwhile, the good natured sardines in the tiny ‘Other’ stage, chatted excitedly among themselves as they waited, and their patience was rewarded by an awesome set, fun lights and smoke, and a crowd having the best dance of the whole day. Even the sound mixers got it together in the end.