Last weekend saw the 50th anniversary of the Isle Of Wight Festival in Seaclose Park, and we were lucky enough to be invited along to attend!
This year’s main stage headliners were among some of the latest and greatest acts of the music sphere, including The Killers, Kasabian, Depeche Mode and Liam Gallagher.
Friday started with a bang, literally, with Bang Bang Romeo on the main stage. We managed to catch their set and were so impressed with the vocals of Anastasia and the excitement and performance her band projected.
A Friday highlight for us has to be Irish alternative-rock band Walking On Cars. We can really see this band taking off in the near future, especially with their emotive lyrics and perfectly accompanied sound. Later in the evening we saw Nile Rogers & CHIC who got the crowd dancing with their classic disco songs.
Next were The Script, one of our festival highlights! The band put on a fantastic performance and engaged the crowd, with thousands singing along to ‘Hall of Fame’ as confetti canons popped.Following on from The Script were headliners Kasabian, ending the night in a typical festival way with their rock-out song ‘Fire’ making sure everyone was jumping along- with even Peter Crouch in the mosh-pit!
Saturday started with the gloriously hot sun awakening us festival goers. We started our day off with circulating around the festival’s smaller tents in search of both shade and new talent! Stopping by Kashmir Cafe, a boho-feel tent run by a passionate team of Island volunteers and all profits going directly to Quay Arts, the Island’s charitable Arts Centre. Here we caught the end of acoustic songstress Annabelle Spencer with her wonderful guitar skills.
We also visited the Platform One Stage, showcasing the Isle of Wight’s very own independent, not for profit Music College. Here we saw Tink showcasing her ethereal ukulele playing and vocals, and Butterfly Culture with his seemingly Passenger inspired music and lyrics.
After stopping of to grab a bite to eat from one of the huge number of stalls (with everything available, from pizza to halloumi fries, paella, to vegan delicacies) we headed to the Big Top tent. The shade was a great plus for us and we found cover from the sun. Here we saw London based trio Paradisia combining their wonderful harmonies with angelic keyboards and harp- a new favourite for us! Following up was the amazing Catherine McGrath, rising Irish singer-songwriter, who blew the crowd away with her country toned voice- reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s older works. Saturday afternoon we popped by to see Youth Killed It at the This Feeling stage, and Jessie J at the main stage. And we even got free ice cream at the Strongbow area!
The night really began when James Bay took to the stage performing his songs with passion, including the fantastic sing-along song ‘Hold Back The River’. Soon headliner Liam Gallagher took to the stage with his characteristic humour, performing timeless Oasis songs as well as his solo songs. A real highlight of the entire festival weekend has to be the huge crowd singing along to the classic ‘Wonderwall’, it was enough to send a shiver down your spine. Following on was the second headliner Depeche Mode who performed a setlist mainly comprised of their newer songs, but remembering to add in a few classics.
Sunday was a blur of chilling between the smaller tents, popping into see the likes of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. and Jeph. As the afternoon settled in, we made our way to the BT Sport Field of Dreams to watch England play Panama and win 6-1 with an incredible atmosphere. Soon after, Camila Cabello took to the stage, singing ‘Havana’ in the gorgeous island sun. The festival headliners The Killers ended the day with a fantastic set, with not a single person not singing to be seen, particularly as the set drew to a close with ‘When You Were Young’, ‘Human’, and all-time favourite ‘Mr Brightside’. The band made for a perfect end to a fantastic festival.
We had a great time at the Isle Of Wight Festival this year- thank you for having us! Stay tuned to CelebMix to keep up to date with more festival news, and videos from the night.
Stay tuned! More to come from CelebMix at the Isle Of Wight Festival!
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