by Lewis Maclean. Image: George Ezra by Adam Scarborough.
The legendary Isle of Wight festival is returning to grace our presence this weekend (June 15th-18th) at Seaclose Park, Newport. The usual star-studded line up all weekend and a chance to ease into the festivities with a Groove Armada DJ set on Thursday night. For those there on the Thursday night I would highly recommend catching festival heavyweights Little Thief (at the Cirque de la Quirk about 6pm.)
Friday offers a chance to see Sugababes, Sophie Ellis Bextor with mainstage headliners Pulp who will likely be bringing us back to the year 2000. Personally, I can’t wait to catch up with The Human League at the Big Top and I always relish another chance for Peter Hook & the Light Brigade to take me down memory lane with some Joy Division and New Order classics.
I am also curious to see Denise Van Outen’s DJ set at Electro Love.
Saturday is going to be a lengthy one with Example at the Big Top but the mainstage will be dominated by the likes of Gabrielle, N-Dubz, British Eurovision legend Sam Ryder all leading up to a Saturday evening finale dominated by George Ezra with The Chemical Brothers likely to play us out until the early hours.
Sunday is usually supposed to be the quiet day but it doesn’t look like there will be much chance to recharge, especially for anyone who grew up on the 1980s because the line- up is going to be hitting it hard all day with; Echo and the Bunnymen, Manic Street Preachers, Blondie! (who I saw at Glastonbury 1999 and still unforgettable). It looks like they have chucked in Robbie Williams as a headliner, for good measure no doubt.
There will also be a chance to catch the up and coming artists at the Platform One Stage so save some time in between the legends on the mainstage to invest in the next musical generation; the Optimists and the Manatees will be a must see on Saturday.
These are simply the acts that I know and love – there are bound to be all sorts of upcoming and unknown musical discoveries popping up here and there.
Keep an eye out for the Kashmir Café. Rumour has it that Southampton favourite Love Always, SKM will be playing the Kashmir Café on Saturday afternoon and I will likely be returning there on Sunday to catch the soothing south coast soul of Jazz Morley.
History
The Isle of Wight festival actually started all the way back in 1968 in a location called Fords Farm, closer to Godshill on the island. It was a historic counter culture event and was the British equivalent of Woodstock. The first few festivals made history featuring musical legends the likes of the Doors, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and many more. This included Bob Dylan, who in 1969 was actually living in Woodstock but travelled all the way over to play the Isle of Wight festival instead.
The festival was revived at its current location in 2002 where it has been held to this day and continues to play host to musical legend of the past, present and future.
Festival camping has come a long way since the 1970s and so have the toilets. You can enjoy the hippy spirit without having to wallow in muddy fields for days on end. See the Extras section on the IOW website for more: isleofwightfestival.com/extras
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