‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ – VICTORIOUS FESTIVAL, SOUTHSEA 22-24.8.25
UK Live Awards 2024 ‘Major Festival Of The Year Winner’ ‘Victorious Festival’, returned to the stunning seaside location of Southsea overlooking the Solent, near Portsmouth during the Bank Holiday weekend of 22nd, 23rd and 24th August 2025.
The UK’s biggest metropolitan festival is held annually and is billed as “the ultimate family-friendly festival experience”. This is reflected by the expansive selection of varying music artists across many genres plus an incredible collection of other artists and comedians. The Bank Holiday extravaganza event was held across 12 stages on the three days.
This year’s big hitting acts included Queens Of The Stone Age, Vampire Weekend, Kings Of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, Madness, Gabrielle, Wunderhorse, Travis, Reytones and many more. There were also a few Sussex based acts on the bill including Lime Garden, HotWax, Rizzle Kicks, Young Sector and Kid Kapichi.
Although ‘Victorious’ is a wonderful event, it’s quite possible that this year’s festival may be remembered for its fair amount of controversies that hit the national headlines. We aim to cover as many acts for your pleasure and our team have worked tirelessly to bring these to you. We will therefore be reporting on what we encountered across the three days, and these will be addressed in the order that they happened. So without further ado, we get down to business…………
DAY ONE – FRIDAY 22ND AUGUST
This is article one of three and concentrates on the happenings on Day One. Day Two’s and Day Three’s accounts will follow in due course.
MAN/WOMAN/CHAINSAW – Castle Stage (12:05pm – 12:40pm)
Man/Woman/Chainsaw played the first performance of this year’s festival on the Castle Stage. They are a London-based six-piece formed of school friends. I’ve seen them once before when they headlined Brighton’s Green Door Store’s birthday celebrations back in January. They have been described as art-punk, which I would say sums them up well. As well as guitars, they have a violin player and keys/synths to add variety to their sound. They are a very entertaining band and arrived on stage full of enthusiasm, which was good to see with keys/synths player Emmie-Mae Avery performing a cartwheel. Vocals throughout the set are shared between bass player Vera Leppanen, lead guitarist Billy Ward, and Emmie. They play an 8-song set that extends five minutes beyond their scheduled 30-minute slot. The set starts with ‘The Boss’ from their 2024 EP ‘Eazy Peazy’ and includes 2025 singles ‘Adam & Steve’ and the very good ‘Mad Dog’ and closes with ‘Ode To Clio’.
(Ian Homan)
HOTWAX – Common Stage (12:15pm – 12:45pm)
My intention for this year’s Victorious Festival was to chiefly review artists that I had neither seen or reviewed before. However, when a band as good as HotWax are opening on the Common Stage they’re very difficult to ignore. Also, as they have a new album out entitled ‘Hot Shock’ then I really ought to review them. There, I’ve convinced myself! They take the stage looking very cool in shades. They own the big stage, and cover every inch of it. Nerves? I don’t think they exist in HotWax world. To be fair HotWax have been playing many of the songs on the album for a while, especially opener ‘She’s Got A Problem’. Having said that, it doesn’t sound any less fresh and vital. ‘Rip It Out’ from the ‘A Thousand Times’ EP is probably the closest that HotWax get to a ‘golden oldie’. I’m pretty sure that HotWax have played it every time that I’ve seen them, and it still sounds brilliant! There’s lots of feedback at the beginning and Lola Sam’s bass riff is awesome. One of the key things about HotWax is their musicianship. Sure they rock hard, but their playing is superb, and like many good musicians, they make it look really easy! Tallulah Sim-Savage sings and plays lead as if she was born to it. This band are rock stars. In fact they always have been. Their ticket sales may not yet reflect that, but they will. Every song that they play today is an absolute banger. A particular standout is ‘Strange To Be Here’, which features a cool Lola Sam bass solo. They’re not too precious to not play new songs. They don’t tell us the name of the unreleased song that they play today, but it has a powerful and fairly funky bass riff. Before closing song ‘One More Reason’ they tell us what an honour it is to be opening for Queens Of The Stone Age. They’re well matched. They’d make good touring mates for Queens. ‘One More Reason’ has a cataclysmic opening, and an equally cataclysmic ending. It’s a cracker, as indeed is the whole way too short set!
(Mark Kelly)
OCTOBER DRIFT – Castle Stage (13:05pm – 13:35pm)
Whilst on the one hand I was surprised to hear that October Drift are celebrating their tenth anniversary, I was simultaneously saddened to discover that this winter they will be playing their final shows, the last one being at Highbury Garage on 2nd December. Whilst I have no idea what the reasoning is behind this decision, I can’t help suspecting that it’s a reflection of how bloody difficult it is to make a living from playing music in the 21st century. Still, I’m not going to focus on that. Instead I shall concentrate on what was a bloody good gig. The set opens emphatically. Even with the rather slower second song the power is still in situ. The band are putting absolutely everything into this performance. Unfortunately the crowd is relatively sparse, but it is only just after 1pm that the band take the stage. By the third song singer Kiran Roy is in the crowd. He abandons his guitar and sings from within the audience, effectively doing a circuit. It’s a good way to meet your public! As well as singing, Kiran also plays a great deal of the lead guitar. For the final song guitarist Dan Young is in the crowd playing a solo. It’s not exactly Hendrix (who is?) but it’s good enough. Dan creates a circular mosh pit whilst still playing, which is pretty impressive! October Drift’s music is an explosion of modern rock, with great tunes and excellent lyrics. It’s a terrible shame that we now only have very limited opportunities to hear it played live again.
(Mark Kelly)
THE CHARLATANS – Common Stage (13:26pm – 14:10pm)
Although The Beatles are my favourite band of all time, The Charlatans are next on the list and were the band that got me into exploring indie and alternative music back in 1990. I’ve loved them since I first heard ‘The Only One I Know’ and I’ve gone on to see them play more times than any other band. Each day at the Victorious Festival, the schedule included one big afternoon attraction on the Common Stage to get the people to arrive early and for day one, The Charlatans. I made my way from the Castle Stage in time to find a position down near the front. The band arrived on stage nine minutes later than scheduled due to technical issues with the keyboards. Frontman, Tim Burgess, was wearing a long-sleeve white shirt and cream-coloured jeans. He immediately got his phone out to take a photo of the vast crowd and said, “Pompey, how’s it going? Good to see ya.” Someone in the crowd shouted, “What time do you call this?” To which Tim grinned and responded calmly with, “Yeah, I know, early afternoon.” The opening keys from Tony Rogers’ keyboards of the 1992 top 20 single ‘Weirdo’ rang out and Tim said, “This one’s for the weirdo’s.” There wasn’t much more chat from Tim during most of the set due to time restraints. Following the opening number, we get to hear eight further tracks; seven of those are from the band’s three number one albums: ‘Some Friendly’ (1990), ‘The Charlatans’ (1995), and ‘Tellin’ Stories’ (1997). The songs that were belted out were ‘North Country Boy’, ‘Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over’, non-single track ‘Toothache’, ‘One to Another’, ‘The Only One I Know’, ‘How High’, and ‘Sproston Green’. Mid-set, they also played their new single ‘We Are Love’ and prior to closing with ‘Sproston Green’, Tim said, “This is the last song, early afternoon set, early afternoon Victorious set, we’re going to raise the roof, sort of – imagine the sky is the roof, you love us, we love you. This is Sproston Green. It’s beautiful”. A great set that flew by in no time. Look out for The Charlatans’ new album ‘We Are Love’, which is set for release on 31st October.
(Ian Homan)
LIME GARDEN – Castle Stage (14:05pm – 14:35pm)
I must confess that when it comes to Lime Garden I’m a tad biased. With their classy art rock they’re one of the more interesting bands around. Their lyrics are thought-provoking, and in Leila Deeley they have one inventive guitarist. Then there’s the tunes – top tunes! They really should be more successful, and I find it frustrating that they’re not! Still, life isn’t always fair I suppose. They commence with what I presume is a new song, ‘The Story’, which I certainly haven’t heard before. Today is apparently the first time that they’ve played it to their public. Singer Chloe Howard’s vocals are too low in the mix. At least Annabel Whittle’s drum sound is nice and crisp. When Chloe’s vocals are finally audible it’s clear that she’s on top form. ‘Pop Star’ is from the band’s ‘One More Thing’ album which was released last year. It’s an absolute beauty and should have sold more. ‘23’ is another new song. It’s electro-dance with guitar, together with synth possibly triggered by the Roland pads on Annabel’s drum kit. Another new song is about the dating app Hinge, although we don’t have a title for this one. There’s a sweet tremolo assisted guitar solo from Leila too. ‘Love Song’ from the ‘One More Thing’ album is dedicated by Chloe to someone in the crowd called Ryan, which is nice. ‘Clockwork’ is a familiar oldie, and the set closes with ‘Maybe Not Tonight’ which is another newbie. There’s an impressive amount of new material being road tested today. Hopefully that means there’s a new album on the way. As always, it’s an excellent set. I look forward to seeing them play a headlining set again before too long. An hour or more of Lime Garden is more than worth waiting for.
(Mark Kelly)
SPRINTS – Common Stage (14:31pm – 15:04pm)
I stay at the Common Stage to make sure I’ve got a good position to see high-energy Dublin-based four-piece band Sprints. They are another band that I have seen once previously when they played Patterns in Brighton in April 2024 to support their debut album ‘Letter To Self’. Today they play an eight-track set starting with ‘Descartes’ from their new (second) album ‘All That Is Over’, which is set for release on 26th September. I notice the style of this song is similar to that of up-and-coming Irish band Jock. Following this, they play the 2024 single ‘Feast’. Lead vocalist Karla Chubb says, “We’re Sprints from Dublin in Ireland,” and they play the excellent ‘Heavy’ from their debut album. This resorts into the first mosh pit of the afternoon. Karla then says, “Free Palestine,” and follows with, “We’ve been supporting Fontaines and only left Vienna at 4 a.m. this morning to play for you. We’re going to play some new songs for you. This one’s called ‘Rage’”. This one features on the new album, as does the next track ‘Beg’. We then hear the only other song of the set from ‘Letter To Self’, which is another excellent one. It is ‘Up And Comer’, there’s more moshing. The last two songs of the set are another new one titled ‘Pieces’ and an old one ‘Little Fix’ from the 2022 EP ‘A Modern Job’. Towards the end of this one, Karla is off the stage and in with the mosh pit before being lifted back over the barrier. A decent quick-fire set leaving fans happy.
(Ian Homan)
ORCHARDS – Seaside Stage (15:30pm – 16:00pm)
I first saw Orchards supporting Pom Poko at Liverpool Phase One in 2019, and I must confess that three albums into their career I would have expected them to be on one of the two larger stages at Victorious. Still they are where they are, and to be honest it doesn’t matter because they have a cracking album out entitled ‘Bicker’ which came out in March, and from which most of today’s set is drawn. Opener ‘Say It’ begins in an unusual time signature before settling into something a little less discombobulating. ‘Sweetie Pie’ has an interesting slidey sounding guitar part which isn’t actually played with a slide. ‘Be Here’ from 2018’s ‘Losers / Lovers’ album is the punchiest song so far, featuring bassist Dan Fain on backing vocals whilst vocalist Lucy Evers sings from atop the bass speakers. ‘Mug Song’ from ‘Bicker’ includes the wonderful line: “Mostly I miss drinking with you”! It also features an unusual synth-like guitar line which you really wouldn’t expect. Inventive stuff. Final song ‘Bicker’, the title song of the album, is the punchiest of the set. Singer Lucy drapes herself in a rainbow flag that is actually in the style of a Palestinian flag, whilst guitarist Sam Rushton holds up a Liverpool FC flag. If you’re not aware of Orchards, they’re well worth investigating. ‘Bicker’ in particular is varied and interesting. Check it out.
(Mark Kelly)
OLLY SIMMONS – Showcase Stage (15:33pm – 16:03pm)
After watching Sprints, I made my way to what I assume is the smallest stage of the festival, the Showcase Stage. Although the stage looks quite small out in the open, it’s definitely bigger than some of Brighton’s smaller grassroots venues. The size of the stage didn’t really matter for the performer I saw, though, as it was Olly Simmons who was only accompanied by her electric guitar. Olly is a young Portsmouth-based musician who draws influences from artists such as Simon and Garfunkel and Jeff Buckley. Olly has a psychedelic flower-power appearance, sporting a beret with pin badges attached and the US motto ‘In God We Trust’ emblazoned on it. From the opening song ‘Jewels And Pearls’, it is clear that Olly has a strong voice, and her guitar playing is good. She does look a bit nervous and not totally confident. She continues with songs titled ‘Daphne And The Laurel’ and ‘After Hours’, then tells us that her brother is here. She points him out and mentions they had a falling out about a year ago, and she wrote a song about him. She plays the song. It’s called ‘Righteous Brother’. Olly finishes her set with ‘Wasted Time’ and ‘Yes, You Did It’, which she wrote about a relationship break-up. Overall, I thought the performance was quite good. There was quite a range in Olly’s vocal style, which did sound a bit shouty at times. Her guitar playing was the highlight for me.
www.instagram.com/thelatenightclub
(Ian Holman)
ASH – Castle Stage (16:05pm – 16:35pm)
Quite how the superlative Ash are playing a half hour set on the second stage at any festival is quite frankly, somewhat beyond me, but that’s what they’re doing at Victorious. They’re one of the best power trios that you’ll ever see, with a diamond studded back catalogue, and are worth an hour of anyone’s time on the main stage at any festival. Still, we get half an hour of their greatest music so I guess I shouldn’t complain. Besides, the area in front of the Castle stage is absolutely rammed. The Downpatrick lads are not known for their lack of a sense of humour, and come onstage to a recording of ‘Flash’ by Queen. However, the lyric on the recording has been changed to “Ash”! Saviours of the universe indeed. Opener ‘A Life Less Ordinary’ shows them to be as energetic and powerful as ever. The crowd sing along to ‘Oh Yeah’, whilst ‘Shining Light’ features an incandescent guitar solo from Tim Wheeler. Tim changes guitar from his Flying V to a blue Gibson SG for what he describes as “a mix of calypso and punk rock”. He’s not kidding!!! It’s a cover of ‘Jump In The Line’ by Harry Belafonte! They released it as a single in April, but I must confess that I was completely unaware of it. Tim’s back to his Flying V for ‘Kung Fu’, during which he solos with his guitar above his head. For ‘Girl From Mars’ there’s a well deserved mosh pit, and Tim swigs a beer during the coda. Cool or what? We get a blast through ‘Burn Baby Burn’ and then they’re gone. I strongly believe that Ash are one of the most underrated and unappreciated bands in the UK. Should you wish to show your appreciation they play Kings Cross Scala on 9th and 10th September, and have an in-store show at Brighton’s Resident Records on 3rd October, to celebrate the release of their ‘Ad Astra’ album.
(Mark Kelly)
THE MARY WALLOPERS – Common Stage (17:00pm – 17:45pm)
The Mary Wallopers are an awesome live band, and I must confess that they are one of my ‘must see’ bands of the festival. As they take the stage, bassist Roisin ‘Mary’ Barrett is carrying a Palestinian flag which she drapes over her bass speaker. As the band tear into ‘Bould O’Donoghue’ (“a nice ditty about the Queen of England”) a member of the Victorious crew has words with Roisin and removes the Palestinian flag. At this point the singer yelled “Free Palestine!” and the sound to the PA was cut. The sound onstage clearly wasn’t cut as the band carried on playing for a few seconds before the stage sound was also cut. The band then retrieved the flag and stood at the front of the stage. The audience were chanting “let them play” and “Free Palestine”. A crew member was heard to tell the band that they wouldn’t be allowed to play “until that flag’s gone”. The crew then started roughly removing the band’s equipment from the stage. This act of censorship would have further ramifications as The Last Dinner Party pulled out of the festival on Saturday saying that they were “outraged” at the treatment of The Mary Wallopers. Cliffords and The Academic also declined to play on Saturday as a result of The Mary Wallopers’ treatment. On Sunday morning, doubtless after consultation with their lawyers, and also in an effort to prevent any holes appearing in Sunday’s bill, Victorious Festival issued an apology to The Mary Wallopers, admitting that the festival didn’t handle the explanation of their policies sensitively or far enough in advance. As far as I am aware, all bands scheduled to play on Sunday did so. The Mary Wallopers play five nights at Glasgow Barrowlands just before Christmas.
(Mark Kelly)
YOUTH SECTOR – Seaside Stage (17:20pm – 17:46pm)
The next stage I visited was the Seaside Stage, which is situated just a stone’s throw from Portsmouth Harbour. I was here to see jazzy art-rock five-piece Brighton band Youth Sector. Although I’ve seen many Brighton-based bands over the past few years, Youth Sector are not one I’ve seen previously. All five band members are dressed in matching colourful outfits with yellow/pink halved shirts and green trousers with pink turn-ups. Following a 10-minute delay due to technical issues, we get underway. After the opening song ‘Primetime’, we hear the energetic ‘Spitting Image’, then frontman Neil Tompkins sees a few of the crowd walking away and jokingly remarks, “If you are walking to another stage, you are wasting your time” and asks those sitting down to stand up. He then teaches the crowd a few lines of the next song, ‘God’s Work’, so they can join in. Later in the set, Neil asks the crowd if they are aware they have an album coming out. He also says, “For the value, it’s very, very cheap and very, very good,” then says, “As you are aware, I’ve done my job.” I was impressed with their seven-song set. Their debut album, ‘Pop Culture’, is released on 19th September. If you want to check them out, they play Alphabet in Brighton on 4th October.
artist.dancetotheradio.com/youthsector
(Ian Holman)
GRADE 2 – Under The Trees (17:45pm – 18:15pm)
A few people saw Grade 2 at Rebellion Festival and raved about them. I missed them so made damn sure that I saw them at Victorious! Grade 2 are a punk three-piece comprising bassist and vocalist Sid Ryan, guitarist Jack Chatfield and drummer Jacob Hull. They’re from Ryde on the Isle of Wight so this is almost a home-town gig for them! Sid asks for “more chaos!” I think that I’ve already had enough chaos for one day thanks Sid! Their songs are generally short, sharp and very fast. You just about get the hang of them and they’re gone! They’ve just finished recording a new album and play a song from it that sounds a lot like ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ by The Only Ones. Well, if you’re going to have obvious influences, nothing wrong with choosing the best! Apparently when they saw the hay bales in front of the stage (they’re playing at the Under The Trees stage) they were worried! As an off the cuff comment, Sid says that he wants to see three hay bales onstage. Two bales start their journey and do indeed end up on the stage! Be careful what you wish for Sid! Now Sid’s worried that they won’t be invited to play next year! They have a sign language interpreter onstage with them which is pretty cool. During their song ‘Midnight Ferry’ (about getting the last ferry back to the Island) a mosh pit erupts dahn the front. During ‘Tired of It’ Sid and Jack share lead vocals, which works really well. They get crowd surfers too! They have two minutes left, but aren’t allowed to play another song. Were they worth the wait? Hell yeah!
(Mark Kelly)
WUNDERHORSE – Common Stage (18:15pm – 19:00pm)
I was back over at a packed Common Stage to see Cornish rock band Wunderhorse. I was looking forward to the set as I’ve not previously seen them play live. They didn’t let me down and they were very impressive despite not playing ‘Purple’. What they did play was a 10-track set consisting of four songs from their debut 2022 album ‘Cub’ and six songs from their follow-up 2024 album ‘Midas’. They started with the title track from ‘Midas’ and followed with ‘Butterflies’, ‘Cathedrals’, ‘Girl Behind The Glass’, and the excellent ‘Arizona’. Next was ‘Leader Of The Pack’, which sounds punkier and is full of screeching guitars and vocals. Frontman Jacob Slater, wearing black sunglasses, then addressed the crowd for the first time, asking, “Are you alright out there?”. On the next song, ‘Silver’, it is apparent that Jacob is struggling a bit with his voice. For the heavy pounding eighth track, ‘July’, Jacob’s vocals have similarities to Kurt Cobain. They follow this with ‘Teal’, and Jacob asks, “Who’s seeing Queens of the Stone Age later?” and follows it with “We Are”. The final song of the very good set is ‘Rain’. Mid-song, Jacob stands with guitar in hand aloft the drum bass. He then asks if we like surf music before the song closes out with the repeated words “Do you feel the rain?”, we don’t as there’s not a drop of it in sight. The band leave the stage with pedal effects ringing out.
(Ian Homan)
FLORENCE ROAD – Under The Trees (18:45pm – 19:15pm)
Florence Road hail from Bray in County Wicklow, Ireland. They’re a punchy four piece indie band. In Lily Aron they have a very strong vocalist and guitarist Emma Brandon produces some sweet lead. Their opening song ‘Figure It Out’ is from this year’s ‘Fall Back’ EP. Bassist Ailbhe Barry contributes some nice backing vocals. Some of the material has a very definite 1990s 4AD feel. Their third song features the rather worrying line “Why does he have my head on a stake?” Why indeed??? There’s an interesting tempo change midway through the song which takes it up a gear in terms of intensity. That’s some very interesting songwriting there. There’s a bubble machine that blows across the Under The Trees stage. The band are very amused by it, and are trying not to swallow the bubbles. Some of Emma Brandon’s lead playing is wonderfully fluid. ‘Heavy’ from the EP features a gloriously screaming guitar solo. Lily’s shades fall off her head and over her face at one point, which is quite comical. They play a new song which is being released on Thursday 28th. We don’t get a title though. Perhaps that’s secret. Lily does get the crowd to sing along on the background “la-la-las” however. The last song is slower with a nice finger-picked intro. A lot of the crowd know Florence Road’s material. Apparently they supported Olivia Rodrigo at Dublin Marlay Park and also at Hyde Park in London. I’ve clearly haven’t been keeping my ear to the ground as much as I should!!!
(Mark Kelly)
KAISER CHIEFS – Common Stage (19:45pm – 20:35pm)
I stayed at the Common Stage to see Leeds outfit Kaiser Chiefs and I’m glad I did as they were great entertainment. They walked on to ‘Walk The Dinosaur’ by Was (Not Was) with lead vocalist Ricky Wilson immediately saying “We are Kaiser Chiefs” and they go straight into ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’ which is one of five tracks we get to hear from their debut number one album ‘Employment’ which had its 20th anniversary in March. Before the second song ‘Na Na Na Na Naa’ Ricky says “We are here to entertain and make you scream. We haven’t got long, we gotta crack on”. There is crowd participation for the third song ‘Modern Way’ then we hear 2008’s ‘Never Miss A Beat’ followed by their number one single ‘Ruby’ from 2007. The crowd go wild for this one. Things calm down a little for 2016’s ‘Hole In My Soul’ but then we get ‘I Predict A Riot’ which sees mosh pits to the left of me and mosh pits to the right. During this song Ricky climbs the scaffolding at the side of the stage to get a good view of the thousands watching. Next up is the newest song of the set. This is ‘Reasons To Stay Alive’ from last year’s ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album’. Following that one it’s time for ‘The Angry Mob’ which now sees a large mosh pit in front of me. During the penultimate song ‘Take My Temperature’ Ricky is off the stage and greeting fans down the front. The set that was packed full of bangers closes with the crowd singing along to ‘Oh My God’. That was entertaining and great to see.
linktr.ee/kaiserchiefsofficial
(Ian Homan)
SHE’S IN PARTIES – Under The Trees (19:45pm – 20:15pm)
The band come onstage to a taped synth intro (or it could perhaps be pre-programmed). They’re a standard four piece band except for the fact that vocalist Katie Dillon has a guitar and a synth. Katie dances a bit like a young Madonna, but apart from that there’s an over-riding post-punk vibe. There’s some great guitar from Herbie Wiseman, and ace bass from Charlie Johnson too. They weren’t expecting so many people to be watching them! It might be something that they’ll have to get used to. There’s some cool motorik drumming from Matt Carman. The band are very tight. They’ve got excellent material and they’re a sh*t hot live band. There really is nothing here not to like. ‘Ritual’ is eminently danceable – and people do dance! There’s some nice jangly lead guitar, and the crowd clap along. Here’s another discovery from this year’s festival. She’s In Parties support CQ Wrestling at London Omeara on 2nd September.
(Mark Kelly)
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – Common Stage (21:20pm – 22:50pm)
Queens Of The Stone Age are one of the biggest rock bands in the world, so for Victorious Festival to secure them as their Friday night headliner is something of a coup. Certainly the area in front of the Common Stage is rammed as far as the eye can see, and the audience’s anticipation is palpable. The band walk onstage to an orchestral introduction and go straight into ‘You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire’ from the classic ‘Songs For The Deaf’ album. Josh Homme is playing what looks like a Gretsch. He’s singing and simultaneously playing lead guitar apparently effortlessly. This man is probably close to being the ultimate rock star. There’s a lot of Elvis Presley about him, both in terms of looks and personality (he’s very polite). Indeed, he’s known as the “ginger Elvis”. ‘No One Knows’ is also from ‘Songs For The Deaf’, which as opening one-twos go is pretty damn awesome. It is clear from the off that the band are incredibly well-drilled. ‘No One Knows’ features a brief bass solo from Michael Shuman, who is wearing a pinstriped suit. Is that allowed? Is it sufficiently rock ‘n’ roll? Well, Joe Bonamassa wears one so I guess it’s okay.
Dean Fertida plays the intro effects for ‘Burn The Witch’ from ‘Lullabies To Paralyze’, before playing his guitar like a lap steel. There’s always lots of interesting things going on with Queens. Dean is on maracas for the beginning of ‘My God Is The Sun’, before returning to his guitar. Josh asks us “Are we going to give each other a night we’ll never remember?” It’s already happening Josh, although I’ll remember as I’m taking notes. Perhaps that’s cheating. ‘Smooth Sailing’ has one gloriously funky riff, and features Dean on slide before Josh takes over on coruscating lead. Josh’s mic partially falls off its stand, and Josh sings into it as it dangles, which doesn’t look easy! For ‘The Vampyre Of Time And Memory’ Josh is on piano whilst Dean plays the synth intro and then plays a lead guitar solo. Keyboard player Troy Van Leeuwen also plays a lead guitar solo. In case there were any doubts, these guys can play more or less anything! Josh likes to communicate with the audience, so asks for the lights to be turned off him and onto the audience, so he can read the signs that they’re holding up. One girl is holding up a sign that reads “Can I swap shirts with you Joshua?” Josh doesn’t respond to that one (I told you he was polite) but there’s another one requesting that the band play ‘Little Sister’, another song from the ‘Lullabies To Paralyze’ album. They duly oblige. During ‘Make It Wit Chu’ Josh smokes a fag. Smoking in the workplace! Is that allowed??? Don’t let anyone tell you that rock ‘n’ roll rebellion is dead!!! ‘Sick Sick Sick’ indicates that we’re getting close to the end of the show. However, at Victorious the headline slot ain’t over till the fireworks are lit, so we get two more from ‘Songs For The Deaf’: ‘Go With The Flow’ and ‘A Song For The Dead’ and then BOOM!!! Show’s over. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a gig that is completely perfect, but this has been pretty damn close!
(Mark Kelly)
MADNESS – Castle Stage (21:30pm – 22:50pm)
To finish a great first day of the festival, I made my way back over to the Castle Stage to see Madness. Formed in Camden in 1976, they were one of the most prominent bands of the late 70s and early 80s two-tone ska revival and have grown in popularity ever since with their well-written, easy-to-listen-to style. Sixteen of their songs have reached the UK top ten, including one number one single, ‘House Of Fun’. As the stage lights dim, the three screens reveal a hit parade of their songs. Two minutes later, the 10-strong band arrive on stage to rapturous applause. Lead vocalist Suggs says, “Don’t watch that, watch this,” and they kick-off the first of those top ten hits, ‘One Step Beyond’. We then get ‘Embarrassment’, followed by Suggs saying, “Thank you, lovely to see you all. This is our third time at Victorious, and each time it gets better”. The next song they perform is their first top 20 single, ‘The Prince’, then we get the 2008 release, ‘NW5’. Suggs then informs us that the band were formed in pianist Mike Barson’s bedroom, and this next song is one of the first songs they wrote. They play ‘My Girl’. Following this, we get to hear ‘Driving In My Car’, and ‘The Sun And The Rain’. After this, Suggs is off stage as the rest of the band play the instrumental track, ‘The Return Of The Los Palmas 7’.
On his return, Suggs introduces a guest on stage. It is Henry Conlon, the current owner of the Dublin Castle pub in Camden. Suggs says, “If it weren’t for the Dublin Castle, we wouldn’t be where we are now, as they let us play there”. In 1979, Madness had a weekly residency at the Dublin Castle. Harry’s dad was the owner at the time, and the entry fee to see Madness was 75p. Henry approaches Suggs’ mic and says, “I love Madness, and you love Madness, give them a wave”. We then hear ‘Wings Of A Dove’, ‘Another Weary Day’, ‘There’s A Man I Know’, ‘Shut Up’, and ‘Mr. Apples’. Number one hit ‘House Of Fun’ is next, then Suggs says, “Thanks all for coming, people of all ages, especially the youngsters”. The phones in the crowd go up for the next song, which is ‘Baggy Trousers’, then following this, it’s ‘Our House’. Suggs then says, “Did you hear a band was kicked off a stage earlier today for displaying a Palestinian flag?”. There were a few boos from the crowd, then the frontman continued with “We need more peace, love, and understanding” to great applause. Fittingly, they then perform ‘It Must Be Love’. Suggs then says, “Thank you so much, Portsmouth, Pompey”. The band depart the stage and then return, “Are you still here”. The penultimate song is ‘Madness’. Suggs then puts a white towel over his head and says, “Can I buy your football club? How much?” They then end with ‘Night Boat To Cairo’. Suggs is back on the mic saying, “Have a blinding Halloween”. There is a reprise of the final song with young family members of the band dancing on stage. As the song ends, there’s a final comment from Suggs: “Thank you very much, almost 50 years, and we are still going”. As the crowd disperse and find their way to the exits, the Monty Python song ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’ is blasted out of the stage speakers.
(Ian Holman)
Tickets for next year’s ‘Victorious’ festival are on sale now and the various options can be viewed HERE.
