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“This is the first time I’ve played here, and it’s an honour,” says Rod Stewart with sincerity. He’s addressing a crowd that are lined up as far back as the fast food trucks around the perimeter. It’s testament to Isle Of Wight festival’s prolific history that someone as iconic and as famous as the festival itself can feel humbled by being here. Making the most of the limelight, the band - whose sound partly draws on honky-tonk, rhythm & blues, gospel and Celtic music - dazzle.
As dynamic as the eclectic influences that feed into his distinct brand of pop is the visual theatre. Costume changes are frequent as the change of song, and the first of many costumes for the evening the smoky voiced crooner is wearing is a sparkly gold blazer. It shows him having taken ques from Sinatra, Tom Jones and Elvis in terms of delivering a flamboyant stage show, and no one backing him gets away with looking anything but their best either.
The crowd are less concerned with image, and leave it to those on stage to dress up extravagantly. A few working on their ‘top banter’ wear Rod wigs and tacky leopard skin costumes, and nothing says British summer more than those wearing bucket hats sitting on the Argos bought camp chairs whilst nursing cheap lager.
It’s also quite noticeable that the crowd is bigger and older for Rod Stewart than any other event of the weekend. And whilst the grandparents may have planted the seed to come – since knowing Stewart since his days with Faces in the late 60s – Stewart has a cross-generational appeal that will give credibility to Grandad’s taste. Judging by the immediately positive reaction, many ‘I told you so’ remarks will be due in the car ride home.
The absolute crème de la crème of his back-catalogue is the unarguably good ‘Maggie May’. Watching 50,000 people gently sway and smiles break out is joyous to watch. It's immediately obvious from this song alone that Stewart's a singer worthy of his knighthood and deservedly sits alonside many, many artists coming from the late 60s, early 70s hailed as being part of a golden era of songwriting.
Montreal's Arcade Fire touch on this rich rock ‘n’ roll history the UK has when they have the privilege of headlining IOW the night before. Singer, Win Butler, who fronts this band with his wife Refine Chassagne takes time in between songs to commend this country's history as one of the hotbeds of rock ‘n’ roll.
Butler specifically remarks upon how Bowie, who has played this festival previously, changed his life. He talks about how Bowie turned him on to music, helped him embrace his personality as an outsider, and use his eccentricity it to his advantage. And as weird art school kids Arcade Fire have gone from little-known indie hopes to internationally acclaimed superstars in the space of just over a decade, mainly thanks to their flawless and breathtaking ability live, an ability we're fortunate enough to witness tonight.
What makes going to see Arcade Fire such a privilege is their awesome back-catalogue. No matter what Arcade Fire album you listen to there’s a handful of songs on each album that knock you sideways, and hearing them put all the best songs in a set is a mind-blowing experience. Arcade Fire are one of the bands that will be remembered 100 years down the line and sit firmly as one of the best bands to have ever played on UK soil.
Key to them being this highly regarded is how they weave in disparate influences whilst having choruses that sound best belted out to tens of thousands of people. They go on intrepid journeys with their instruments that keep you on the edge of your seat. At one moment sound like Ian Curtis reborn, and at others they draw in Haitian rhythmic influence. Regine Chassagne brings this to the band thanks to her roots in that Carribean country and after hearing countless 4/4 floor to the floor indie pop bands, having something to shake your ass to is the most fun of the weekend.
Earlier in the festival, it’s RUN DMC that are impressive. They draw a huge crowd and ambling through green fields hearing ‘It's Tricky’ it’s hard not to get starstruck. This is the most iconic hip-hop act of all time and they’re here, on Friday night, making their only UK headline festival appearance of the year as Rev. Run and DMC spit on top of beats played by the son of Jam Master Jay, TJ Mizzell, the original beatmaster, who was murdered in 2002.
As Rev. Run does quite lengthy, humorous, and deeply emotional speeches in between jams, he pays tribute to Jam Master Jay’s legacy, and is proud to be able to bring his son into the fold as well as two other young DJ’s.
The two generations coming together is the most profound thing as it bridges gaps not only between people of disparate ages, but also of disparate tastes and influences. When Stormzy’s ‘Big For Your Boots’ gets blasted out of the rig it notes the shift of influence and for the first time it feels the UK is a heavyweight in the rap world.
Of the acts lower down the bill, John Hassall and The April Rainers are the most impressive. The band formed in Aarhus, Denmark and the personnel are Libertines bassist John Hassall and three Danish musicians; two of whom play in Gigwise favourites The New Family.
The four-piece craft pastoral folk-pop with nods to the likes of Lal & Mike Waterson, and Donovan with a more expansive electric flourish. They opt to play from their newly released debut album, and singles such as ‘Intercity 125’ and ‘Sun In The Afternoon’ sound like timeless classics that are yet to be discovered.
It helps that the melodies are sung so well. The supremely gifted musician’s utislise their perfect pitch to create harmonies that add so much depth and to the bare bones of the song and help the listener feel whisked away by the narrative. Heavily effect-laden guitars and clean jangly parts are also a prominent aspect and thrilling to anyone who’s ever enjoyed the likes of Traffic or The Byrds.
Hassall and band are playing on the Jack Rocks x This Feeling stage that acts as a bit of a hangout for indie kids unconcerned with what was going on elsewhere. Everyone here is part of a scene dedicated to the new resurgence in guitar music that's leading to some breakout bands like Essex raised indie punks Blackwaters, stargazers White Room, and new Atlantic Records signees Yonaka - to name a few.
It feels like a festival within a festival and an indie club that's a defnite antithesis to the more chart-friendly pop going on around. It simply makes the festival more dynamic and appealing to a broader range of people, and without this tent it certainly wouldn't be as diverse, and pivotal in the future of many young musicians. Hassall echoes this opinion and despite spending most of his time playing to over 10,000 people with The Libertines every night, he praises the intimacy of the Jack Rocks tent saying, "it's the most interesting area of the festival to me."
Another tent that's very much doing its own thing regardless of what anyone thinks is the Cirque de la Quirk stage. Filled with steam punks and burlesque courtoure there's plenty of acrobatic dancing and fire juggling, and a musical line-up that brings about a bit of Secret Garden Party-esque weirdness to proceedings.
The best we see are Stanton Warriors who are making use of the on stage flamethrowers as they play a mix of UK garage, breakbeat and house at such a pace that the crowd go insanely wild. It's the latest party going in the main arena on Saturday night and when it’s finished people literally have to be peeled away it's so invigorating.
The Isle Of Wight festival's ability to provide these little pockets that suit different personalities is part of its strength. For instance, the Kashmir Cafe is a tent stage that's had so much love put into it with indoor plants climbing up the walls and brightly coloured cocktails creating a fun house party feel, that it becomes somewhere you just want to hang out all day regardless of what's going on elsewhere.
But unfortunately we don't get a huge amount of time to do so but are lucky enough to get into their most oversubscribed show of the weekend, Wheatus. The New York band have over 2,000 people to get into a tent that holds half that. A mid-afternoon sing-a-long of 'Teenage Dirtbag' is a welcome slice of turn of the millennium nostalgia.
Of the other nostalgic acts, Mel C is a surprise highlight. Her band sound immaculate and have shed the dated production sound on her chart hits last decade to make them sound updated for now. The band seem classically trained and play perfectly on-point, allowing Mel C to feel completely at ease, and focus on engaging her swelling audience. The likes of ‘I Turn To You’ and Spice Girls’ ‘Say You’ll Be There’, are bonafide bangers.
Following Mel C is Zara Larsson. She draws in a thousand more fans than Sporty Spice and it’s testament to how fantastically well her latest release with Clean Bandit has done that she’s become a superstar over the course of the last few months. She’s many kids' first favourite pop act and many school children come with their parents to enjoy her show.
She has a great way of communicating with the little ones, speaking on their level in between tunes. Fortunately for the parent Larsson's appeal isn't that entry-level, she has magnetic stage presence, flawless live vocals and Beyonce-level bangers.
But apart from spending time watching artists live, it becomes clear just how brilliant of a place the Isle Of Wight festival is to simply be, and stock of what's going on around. There are few more attractive parts of English countryside that this stunning island so the experience on site, and in and around it, make it an unforgettable weekend.
For instance, the journey over on the ferry, the charming back roads, and idyllic barely populated beaches, offer respite from city life that is difficult not to feel charmed by. This lush environment coupled with the festival organisers ability to bring in bands who are just on the verge of stardom as well as the world's biggest is great. Put that together with its naturally electric atmosphere, it makes it up there with the best festivals in the world encompassing of all ages and music tastes. Long live Isle Of Wight.
