Dancing in the rain

Hello Journal reading peeps :o)  Hope you are ok xx

Firstly a personal note from Trina ~ to all those that commented and wished her a happy birthday to the last entry she would like to thank you very much, it was very appreciated!

Secondly it's Wednesday and that means travel writings...........Here we are at part 3 of V Festival..........if you remember I had been eating noodles whilst watching a band and felt uncomfortable about it coz of all the comments............

I couldn't eat all of mine ~ there was too much, so Trina finished both plates. When she was done eating we moved in a bit and waited for the next band. It was actually Mark Ronson. Trina and Wayne don't like him and what he's done with Lily Allen to the Kaiser's 'Oh My God', but I quite liked the album so thought it might be fun to see him. It was a choice between the big stages most of the weekend for us, we never ventured to see the 'little people' which I guess we should've done!! But the choice was either KT Tunstall or Mark Ronson, so we stayed where we were!! I actually enjoyed the set from Mark Ronson......if I remember rightly he played Stop Me, Toxic, Valerie, Just and some others. He had a few guest singers with him, one being the guy from a band called Phantom Planet. They are more known for their song 'California' from the hit series The OC. They played that one too and I think the guy was a bit touched coz we were all singing along , bless him. Trina didn't seem to be very happy at this point but she had told me that she wasn't feeling all that great. Wayne doesn't really like that type of music so he looked a bit miffed and Sarah was feeling a bit weary too!! I tried to get into it though and like I wrote before enjoyed the set, it was different from all the guitar bands you usually watch!! He didn't do his cover of the Kaiser Chiefs 'Oh My God', as Lily Allen was due to perform later I was surprised she didn't get up on stage, but alas she didn't!!

When Mark Ronson finished we took the decision to stay where we were as Trina wanted to see the Guillemots. The crowd dispersed a bit when Mark left the stage so Trina, Wayne and myself moved forward. I think Sarah went back to the tent for a lie-down! During this break they played S-Express which I hadn't heard for years. The adverts on the TV screens were getting on my nerves already and it was only day one!! The Guillemots came on, I have to say that I wasn't that impressed with them. They were okay but they didn't capture my full attention as I found myself watching the crowd around us rather than the band. I'm not sure what Trina thought of them!! Next on this stage was Mika. As none of us really wanted to see him and we only had a few minutes to kill before we went back to the main stage, we found somewhere to sit down. Wayne went to get us some donuts and drinks, bless him. We had to sit on our ponchos as the ground was getting rather muddy, it was still raining, but only in showers!! Wayne came back with the hot donuts and tea and coffee for me and Trina. It was rather nice!! Mika came on stage and said something about how it was his birthday and he was going to have a good time. To be honest I only wanted to hear him sing Grace Kelly for the Freddie mention but we didn't hear it. He started off with some song I've never heard off and then played 'Big Girls'. By this point I was fed up with him so we made our way to the main stage.

On the main stage was James. I only know a couple of songs by them but it was interesting to watch. At one point they had members of the audience on stage with them, dancing around and they looked completely stupid!! Especially one girl who was clearly trying to flirt with the singer, but he wasn't discouraging her or anything. They played 'Sit Down' and Wayne and I danced around like a couple of silly people. We weren't anywhere near the front, favouring to stand nearer the back, a) because of Wayne's back and b) because you had more room to manoeuvre. They played another one that I know but can't remember the title of and a new song which the singer actually had to read the words for. He dedicated it to Tony somebody or other (the guy who was very big on the Manchester music scene!!) who had passed away that week.

The next band on the main stage was Kasabian. Wayne and I wanted to watch them, but Trina was going to leave us halfway through to watch The Manic Street Preachers. The deal was that if we didn't like Kasabian we were going to join her and Sarah. That deal changed and we agreed that as long as we hear one of either two songs we would go with them. More videos on the big screen and adverts grrrrrrrr................ Kasabian came out after a while and played a song I didn't know but I was enjoying watching them, then they played 'Shoot The Runner' which was one of the two that Wayne and I wanted to hear. This song is great coz every now and then they sing or rather speak the word 'Bitch'. So there was Wayne and I singing along very loudly and loving every minute of it. After that song finished it was agreed that we would go and watch the Manics. As we were making our way through the crowd to get to the Channel 4 stage, I realised I recognised the next song and was slightly gutted we had to leave. I vowed that I would see them live properly at some point!!

It was getting very muddy between the stages and especially the entrance way into the channel 4 area. I nearly fell over lots of time and the rain was still coming down. It wasn't gonna get any better. The Manics came on stage and we decided not to risk going further into the crowd. We had a good time where we were, Trina and I were singing along and dancing around like mad. That was until a couple of quite tall blokes stood in front of us. Wayne tapped them on the shoulder and asked if they wouldn't mind moving as us two wanted to watch and enjoy the show. They did move, but I felt uncomfortable at that stage as neither Trina nor myself actually said anything about them being in our view. At some point the TV screen showed that Nicky (bass player) was wearing an incredibly short skirt. Trina loves this man and even more so when he's wearing eye make up and skirts. To see him in the shortest skirt possible almost floored her. She did not stop going on about it everytime he was shown on the screen. It was an absolutely brilliant set from the Manics, old and new songs entwined together, showing the band back to their normal, true selfs after a couple of dodgy albums. I couldn't believe how fantastic they were. The last time I saw them was Millenium Eve at Cardiff and I was so ill, I was glad I didn't feel ill today and made up for being ill last time by jumping around and making a bit of a prat of myself but I was having such a good time. That was until James (singer) started singing 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' coz before that it had actually stopped. As he was singing it started up again!! It was fate I tell ya! Unfortunately their set came to an end, so we made our way in the dark to watch the Killers on the mainstage. The headlining act and I was looking forward to this, plus the Manics had left me on a high, surely only the Killers could top that??!!

How wrong I was!!!!!! I have NEVER been so disappointed in a band as I was with the Killers. When we got to the main stage I was amazed at where the crowd had appeared from. There was never that many people around earlier!! We managed to find a gap on a slight hill to watch the band, again not venturing anywhere closer as Wayne was still dodgy with his back (how many times am I going to keep mentioning this lol)!! I was happy with where we were though as I could see, but when the band finally did arrive on stage, we could hear them, but we could also hear boom boom boom from the dance tent behind us!! It was so annoying!! Plus by now tiredness was kicking in from standing up pretty much ALL day!! We decided to move a little closer and they played my favourite song 'Jenny was a friend of mine'. They also played the classics such as, 'Smile like you mean it' 'Mr Brightside' and 'Somebody Told Me'. Unfortunately when they weren't playing any songs, there was just a gap and no-one was saying anything, we didn't get any sort off 'hello stafford how are you?' like you would from any other band!! I was getting more and more annoyed with them!! The big crowd they started off with had dispersed and they were left with just a small handful at the front, which is not really how it was, it was slightly bigger than a handful but you get my point!! Trina, Wayne and myself sat down and waited for 'All These Things That I've Done' which was actually played last. I have never been so more relieved that they had finished. It was funny and kind of ironic really that before we went to the festival, Trina and I came up with a chant 'Your s*** and your not the foo's'. Never did we think we would actually use it!! In my mind the Manics should've been headlining. Their set was much better put together with banter from the band, just couldn't get over the big gaps in the Killer's set.

Sorry for the long posts but I hope your enjoying reading it xx

p.s did anyone in the UK watch Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall's programme on Channel 4?  It was set in the town where I used to live LOL................

Till next time xx

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