V Festival @ Weston Park, Friday 18th August, 2017
Amidst the rain and smeared glitter V Festival kicked off on a chilly and wet Friday night. A steady downpour welcomed most festival goers, so setting up camp and figuring out the layout brought exciting challenges. Once settled in fans flooded, pun intended, into the arena to check out the nights sets.
Popular DJ and presenter Annie Mac kicked off the night. Swirling Ibiza style electro with familiar tunes, Annie pumped energy and enthusiasm into a rain drenched crowd. The perfect start to the festival weekend. MistaJam and Disciples followed next. Each set building with emphatic euphoria. With endless music streaming constantly, the dance party was clearly building night one.
Duke Dumont capitalized on the already electric atmosphere. Entering with thunderous applause the experienced DJ, Duke did 150 shows last year, blasted thunderous tunes. Pulling from new album Blas Boys Club Duke’s punchy mix dubstep drums base with psychohypnotic rock. The combination, while a tad different from the standard flow, ignited the audience. With elongated drops and movements each tune was an emotional exploration creating a ceaseless euphoria. Even security was not immune to Dukes ways. Bouncing around the security was drawn into the excitement alongside fans.
After a short respite Danny Howard took the stage, with headlines Chase and Status following closely behind. Heralded as the “Festival Kings,”
Chase and Status took to the stage in blazing glory. If there is one consistent in their set, it is the ear shattering use of base. The strong base tones blasted through the speakers, thudding through dies, leaving you breathless . With a muted start the artists slowly ramped up their song set by set, an emotional ploy. Like their tunes the light show also slowly ramped, with the end being a final blast of sound and lights, as well as some firework fun. Mixing in new album with old favorites, the boys masterfully crafted a high energy set. Everyone seemed to be ignited, even the dad with the GoPro next to me couldn’t help filming the majority of the set.
There is an undisputed art to sustaining fan energy and excitement throughout a set. This art is only more complicated when the weather is less than pleasant. Despite all the possible shortcomings and difficulties, each artists on Friday night delivered outstanding sets. It was the perfect opening to the weekend, a promise of an outstanding festival weekend.
Reviewer: Kylie McCormick
Photographer: Marc Osborne