The 405 Festival Preview Week Part 2

Today we continue our look at some of the larger festivals Britain has to offer. V Fest Dates: Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd August 2009 Place: Hylands Park Chelmsford or Weston Park Staffordshire. Website: V festival returns for the umpteenth time to Chelmsford and Staffordshire, this time boasting a bigger, badder (Pete Doherty!) and better line-up than the past generations of V. Obviously the two titans of this festival will be Oasis and The Killers, however many of the other acts are expected to steal great portions of the crowd; MGMT, Fatboy Slim, The Streets, Keane, Elbow, Snow Patrol, Pendulum and Calvin Harris to name but a few. As a V festival veteran myself I’d recommend turning up early on Friday to grab your camping spot, bringing your sun tan lotion (and using it, as I found out last year it is in fact possible to be sun burnt in the UK) and the customary crates of beer as queuing for bar tokens proves to be both expensive and intensely frustrating. Although generally the weather around V festival time is sunny as always, you must be prepared for the worst. Last year saw downpours in Staffordshire to rival Glastonbury, so bring the wellies, just in case. The majority of bands at V festival, I am sure you will have heard of. However little gems are still yet to be announced popping up in the smaller tents nearer the time of the festival, so definitely check your lineups on the days paying extra attention to the smaller tents such as the Virgin Mobile Union. As far the main acts, I’ll be at MGMT, Fatboy Slim, Ocean Colour Scene and Dizzee Rascal for sure. If you haven’t seen these live, I’d recommend them. P.S – For the males out there, Lady GaGa and Katy Perry! Chris Frankland T In The Park Dates: Friday 10th - Sunday 12th July Place: Kinross, Scotland Website: http://www.tinthepark.com Scotland’s largest festival returns for it’s 16th outing, and features an as usual stellar line-up for it’s 85,000 crowd. One of only two festivals in which Blur are playing in the UK, T in the Park regularly exchanges headliners with it’s sister festival across the Irish Sea, in Oxegen. This year sees a hit and miss range of bands on the Main Stage – Razorlight and The Killers the double bill on the Saturday night? Ergh. Really, ergh. But look beyond that, and a smorges board of artists are on available for your musical consumption. Nom nom nom. Acts such as Of Montreal, M83 and The Horrors help even the balance out – and of course featuring Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – is their any festival they’re not playing? Same could be aid of Metronomy, also here. Other attractions and stages are dotted about, not by Glastonbury/Latitude standards sure, but a fairly healthy range of activities to keep the drunk and the bored occupied; such as s Silent Disco, Comedy Tent and large fun fair. Also boasts an impressive dance line-up for fans of dirty electro, in Simian Mobile Disco, 2 Many DJ’s, Boys Noise, Crystal Castles and more. Main Picks: Blur, Kings of Leon, Bloc Party, Snow Patrol, Elbow, Franz Ferdinand, Manic Street Preachers, Nine Inch Nails, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 405 Picks: M83, Friendly Fires, Regina Spektor, Crystal Castles, Of Montreal, Fight Like Apes, Hockey, Passion Pit, Tv on the Radio Download Dates: 12-14 June 2009 Place: Donington Park, East Midlands Website: www.downloadfestival.co.uk Whilst the true Metal Connoisseurs might well cross the channel and journey over to Wacken, and those who don’t do all that commercial Kerrang endorsed shit will head to Bloodstock. There is still plenty to look forward to at this years Download, mainly because the organizers have took a Time Machine back to the nineties, gloriously reliving the halcyon days of Nu-Metal. Friday sees the reformed Faith No More headlining over every band they unfortunately spawned. On Sunday the Time Machine goes back further, to a time where men were men, and they wore denim and some of them had bloody great beards! A stacked Main Stage line-up closes with the unholy trio of Def Leppard, Whitesnake and ZZ Top. Don’t pack food; just get a few crates of beer in, and a few bottles of Jägermeister. Don’t be scared of the hairy and the unwashed, Download is usually a friendly festival full of fun and camaraderie. Picks: Friday Main Stage: Faith No More 2nd Stage: Dir En Grey Tuborg Stage: Middle Class Rut Wildcard: You’re hung-over after a wild first night, but you’re eager for the festival to begin so you want to get into the Arena early and check out some bands. How about checking out the sobering spectacle of Hollywood Undead? Think Slipknot mixed with Good Charlotte. Saturday Main Stage: Down 2nd Stage: The Prodigy Tuborg Stage: Architects Wildcard: You’ve seen Spinal Tap, chances are you checked out last year’s superb film Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Anvil are Saturday’s Tuborg Stage Headliners), but have you heard of Lawnmower Deth, the World’s Number One Parody Thrash Band? Sunday Main Stage: ZZ Top 2nd Stage: Clutch Tuborg Stage: Pulled Apart By Horses Wildcard: Journey. By Sunday you’ll be so out of your mind that ‘Anyway You Want It’ will be the perfect pick me up. Journey are an unbelievable festival signing, probably the best act to be signed up to play any festival this summer.