V96




							Good things about V96 • Cider • Sunshine • Sleep • Fantastic view of stage Bad things about V96 • Too sanitised • A festival for non-festival-goers Best Bands of V96 • Paul Weller • The Charlatans • The Lightning Seeds • Shed Seven Best quote of V96 "How can people so small make such a big noise?" Leonie's four-year old daughter Ella, while watching Paul Weller
			Look, I barely knew what day it was, let alone how to handle a camera. Not that I'd been clued-up enough to take one in the first place. So you'll have to make do with a scan of the ticket.
			Only went to the Sunday of this, the first V-festival, and then only because I got half price tickets through a mate who was working there. Went to an all-night party on the Saturday night before, so was pretty tired on arrival, but the healing power of cider sorted me out quickly and I had a damn good kip through the first few bands. Woke up in time for a splendid set by the Lightning Seeds. And more cider. The trouble with the V-festivals is that they're so sanitised. Two days isn't long enough to get really smelly and dirty, assuming you go for both days, and I reckon most people who do the V-festies only do one day. And the whole of the slope down to the main stage was covered by a gigantic plasticised sheet, presumably to protect the grass and to stop people getting too grubby. What happens, though is that discarded food and spilt lager doesn't get trodden into the soil, so the sheet gets extremely slippery and treacherous underfoot. Especially when you're drunk, trying to balance four pints of cider and find your way back to your mates at the foot of the slope. I never made it to the second stage, so have no idea who played on it. Show closer Paul Weller turned in a blinding set - this was his solo heyday, remember - despite the guest appearance of Noel Gallagher. On the way out I bought a £3 bootleg T-shirt that's so good, I still have it. Good work, bootlegger!
							Beats me, though I'm pretty sure that the main stage on Sunday was as follows: Paul Weller The Charlatans Lightning Seeds Shed Seven Sleeper Menswear Tricky As for the second stage, well, I never even found out where it was...