What do N-Dubz and the Royal Family have in common? Both were in the Isle of Wight this weekend as Mike and Zara Tindall skipped the King’s birthday to attend the annual festival on the outskirts of Newport.
Nostalgia was en vogue as crowds descended in their thousands to see the likes of Blondie and The Human League, while parents and teenagers gathered for late night revelry under Seventies-themed marquees and in tea barns turned to silent discos.
In a landscape of increasingly gentrified festivals, the Isle of Wight sought to retain the democratic ethos of its Sixties’ origins. It’s not a place for morning yoga classes or podcast recordings in tents named after roman landmarks. It’s a good old boozy affair with fairground rides and fancy dress: great fun, no fuss, but still – at £225 a ticket it’s not exactly cheap.
As is a perennial problem with festivals, the food and drinks were overpriced and often quite average, with a shortage of tap water behind bars and food carts charging £12 for gyros without fries and a whopping £13 for tiddly, six-inch margheritas.
The site is sprawling, as was the range of music on offer. From folk to pop to big beat, the main stage hosted one of the most eclectic rosters in the festival’s history. Pulp dazzled on Friday night as Jarvis Cocker donned tailored flares and leather boots for high octane renditions of Babies and Disco 2000, before paying tribute to the band’s late bassist Steve Mackey and bringing the house down with Common People.
Among other highlights was a charming gig by Elton John protégé and vocal marvel, Joesef, at the Big Top; a secret set by James Bay who brought grown men to the verge of tears; a short but joyful show from an exceptionally toned Mika; and a killer performance from the Sugababes, who’ve gone from strength to strength since reuniting last year.
Though this year’s shortage of female artists (all headliners were men) is undeniable, two standouts came in the shape of the ‘Babes and the indomitable Debbie Harry, who stunned on the main stage ahead of her performance at Glastonbury this weekend. Robbie Williams, meanwhile, emerged as the Isle of Wight’s ultimate crowd pleaser. After pausing his headline set at Netherlands festival Pinkpop the previous night – citing exhustion from long Covid – Williams seemed back on top form, covering Oasis’ Dont Look Back in Anger, and closing out the festival with Angels.
Organising such an orgy of talent is difficult, and this weekend proved occasionally disorienting. Putting The Chemical Brothers back to back with George Ezra on the main stage was a tad miscalculated. The crowd, still riding high on a Budapest singalong ten-thousand voices strong, was then plunged into a rave with strobe lighting and intense video graphics accompanying the duo’s live set. It felt jarring and confused.
In a festival too big to showcase just one style of music, but which currently has too few stages to reflect its diversity across the grounds, a clash of cultures is bound to happen. But it’s also an easy fix – if sponsor Barclaycard are willing to foot the bill for it.
