There needs to be more festivals like the V festival. Or, there needs to be more 18+ festivals. Despite slow ticket sales and its share of line-up criticism, Richard Branson and co. know how to pull off one hell of a festival. As we took the long, long walk from the closest park to the venue, the sun is out and so are the Ray Ban wayfarers and it looks like it’s going to be a picturesque Gold Coast day despite some rain in the morning.

This must be a corporate event, seeing as the priority line for guests is longer than the ticket holders’. After a short entrance line, we arrive to catch the second half of pint-sized pop star Duffy ’s set. The crowd are still making their way through the entrance, many of them throwing out the incorrect timetable given upon entry. Duffy is tiny, and has 2 matching backup dancers doing their best Andrews Sisters impressions. The small crowd is relatively still, with Mercy being the only song to strike movement.

So, everyone is holding the wrong timetable, and the stages are titled This Stage, That Stage and The Other Stage. Bars are plentiful, lines are short and drinks are festival prices but are full strength, which is one up on the Soundwave bars. Louis XIV are a perfect band for their timeslot, kicking off to next to no one crowd, they seem to win over a lot of passer-by’s as a crowd starts to form around This Stage. Their blues infused rock comes through great, and is matched with perfect vocals from singer/guitarist Jason Hill, closing with There’s a traitor in this room.
Apologies to The DØ, apparently they were great.

After searching far and wide for a copy of the updated timetable, we find that Elbow are about to start. V Festival crowds are very easy to handle, making it easy to get up nice and close at That Stage for Elbow. Opening with all members playing a four part trumpet fanfare, accompanied by two female violinists, their stage setup sees each member surrounded by an array of instruments. Vocalist sings beautifully with a strong Manchester accent, this band can really recreate the ambience and atmosphere of their recorded work without using samples or overdubs. The only downside was seeing them so early in the day when the lighting couldn’t do justice to the music.

Walking past, Jenny Lewis was playing something that sounds very country. Moving on…

Avica Resort is huge, and has a lot of room between the 3 main stages. Strange, that they would put The Other Stage and The Virgin Mobile stage practically next to each other. Heading to the Other Stage after some dodgy Indian food, M83 has the indie crowd dancing up a storm. Finally there are enough people here for it to feel like a festival. Main man Anthony Gonzalez is joined on stage by a drummer in a sound booth and a few other musicians all with the reverb turned to 11 on their selection of synths and keyboards. They do very well to create an atmosphere, but it is slightly ruined by The Temper Trap, who are playing very close by on the Virgin Mobile Stage.

The Louder Lounge was apparently where it was all happening, sort of like a more sensible version of Big Day Out’s Lilyworld. Peeking in, Vanilla Ice is hanging out, rumour has it he is doing a DJ set later in the day. It’s almost appealing. Almost. There is also a hairdressing stage which gets the award for most pointless promotion of the day. No celebrities though, just a lot of lounges and cocktails.

Facing up against some of the biggest international touring bands of today, Aussie heroes Children Collide sure know how to hold their own at a festival. Hell, they’ve done every festival this summer anyway. They make great time with only a half hour set, and deliver an absolutely stellar set of songs from The Long Now, with the somewhat drunken crowd singing every word to Farewell Rocketship and Social Currency. Look out Craig Nichols, Children Collide are on fire.

Madness are the coolest band ever. 10 guys in suits and sunglasses skanking and busting out the hits that pioneered ska, they are by far the best band of the day in this reviewer’s opinion. Singer Suggs reminds us in his strong cockney accent, that it has been 23 years since Madness have graced our shores, and it seems they haven’t lost anything in that time. As the sun goes down behind That Stage, and the impressive lighting rigs finally come to use, Madness play a greatest hits style set list that gets the huge crowd dancing for the whole duration of their set. Bass player declared it was “showtime” before dropping House of Fun, going into Our House and a cover of Max Romeo’s _I Chase The Devi_l. Suggs comments that_It Must Be Love_ is now used on ads for baby nappies, and the strong emotional connection he had with the song is now overshadowed by baby shit. They leave the stage before returning for an improvised encore, leaving everyone within earshot skanking and begging for more.

The sun has gone down, the punters are boozed up and it feels like this festival just can’t get any better. That is until Kaiser Chiefs hit the stage. Every song they play is a drunken sing along with the best of all three albums coming out. They have the biggest crowd, and an unbelievable light show. Set highlights include Na Na Na Na Na, Ruby, Angry Mob, The Modern Way and Everyday I Love You Less and Less. The young Leeds boys have so much energy, between running back and forth across the stage, climbing up the side of the stage with the microphone in set closer I Predict a Riot and throwing themselves into the crowd for some rockstar style crowd surfing.

In the distance, The Human League are rocking out on keytars, performing their Dare album in entirety. After the disastrous Duran Duran performance last year, I decide to give the cheesy electronica a miss, suck it up, and give Snow Patrol a chance.

And good thing I did. Snow Patrol are awesome. They have won over at least one new fan after their headline worthy performance. Huge screens behind the band and to the sides of That Stage play amazing visuals and film clips creating a great atmosphere while they pull out a few songs early from their latest release A Hundred Million Suns. Singer Gary Lightbody cracks out jokes in his Scottish accent, winning over the females in the crowd, and it was lighters in the air for sing-along to Chasing Cars and Open Your Eyes. The sound is incredible, and judging by the huge applause after You’re All I Have, Snow Patrol have the live show to back their huge reputation.

Everyone has finished their respective sets and now all eyes and ears are on The Killers. The punters from The Other Stage and That Stage start heading towards This Stage (confused yet?), and from the top of the hill it looks reminiscent of a European style festival with the 20,000 crowd losing their shit to the opening notes of Spaceman. They have a lot bigger stage production since the last time they were here, including lit-up palm trees on stage, a keyboard in the shape of a “K” at the front of the stage, and a few extra muso’s in the back. Brandon Flowers struts back and forth across the stage in his feathered jacket, capturing most of the crowd in a sing along to Somebody Told Me and Smile Like You Mean It. But, it is in the opening notes of ballad Sam’s Town when the heavens open and Avica Resort and all the punters are hit with heavy rain, putting forth the question whether to stick around for the last few songs after a long day. The punters that decided to endure the weather or don a poncho are treated to Mr Brightside and set closer When You Were Young complete with pyrotechnics, fireworks and other fancy visual effects. Musically, The Killers are no more amazing then their 2007 Big Day Out slot, but prove that they now have the show and the chops to headline a great festival, even whilst their crowd is getting rained out.

All in all, V Festival is one cracker of a festival, with every band being on top of their game, and the organization being next to perfect even with the timetable confusion at the start of the day, and Vanilla Ice.