Tuesday’s Financial Times has a review of the Isle of Wight Festival by Jim Pickard and Robert Orr on page 21 in the arts section.
It’s a positive piece that opens with some pop trivia about The Stones – that the last time they played a UK festival was Knebworth, way back in 1976.
Mick Jagger opened with “We’re the 24th act of the weekend, so we hope you’ve still got a bit left in the tank,” and left the reviews thinking that the “band didn’t disappoint.”
What about the others?
Beyond praising The Stones performance, the review touches on a number of the other bands. The writers clearly like Keane who gave “a rousing, vocally perfect performance,” which “will have reaffirmed Keane’s reputation as a safe festival bet.”
Saturday headliners Muse gain adulation for putting on “an awesome display,” continuing that “Amid a futuristic light show and a battery of sound, it was hard to believe only three people creating this powerful edifice.”
The observation that “the weekend lacked Glastonbury’s eclecticism,” is soon glossed over, but they did pick up on the point that Jagger (he of extraordinary wealth) bemoaned that burgers costing four quid a pop.
Snow Patrol on Friday moved them the least, with phrases like “drifting dreary.” The only up comment was that they were popular with ‘young crowd’.
Amy Winehouse came in for a lot of praise too.
The closing paragraph summarises that it “was a good weekend … on the whole for [the] festival audience.”
With praise like this in the FT, perhaps the Island can expect to be over run by merchant bankers and fund managers next year, who won’t think twice at paying £4 or more. [cartoon image courtesy of Graphical Wonder]
