Seeing a band you’ve seen before? The Festival Feeling that can be a huge delight or a major disappointment

You’re on your way to the festival of the year with all of your mates chatting about the line-up. “Aaah I saw them last year, they were incredible!” you might say, in response to that artist who topped the bill for you. However, their upcoming set can either remind you of their excellence and why you celebrated them so greatly, or it can completely tarnish your prior experience.

Take Madness as an example. ‘Suggs’ and his reggae pop group are a common occurrence on the line-up of many summer festivals, including V Festival in Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire. I was fortunate enough to see these old favourites in 2010, when they appeared on the Main Stage. Playing all of their classic tracks such ‘Our House’, ‘Baggy Trousers’ and ‘House of Fun’, they graced the stage to a booming reception from the crowd, before starting the biggest party the park had seen all weekend. Standing at the barrier, I was surrounded by a range of age groups – teenagers like myself who have grown up listening to their parents playing Madness, as well as those who had been to see Madness in their hey-day.

Two years on and my excitement to relive this moment was one of my predicted highlights of the weekend. On the contrary, I was left disenchanted. Perhaps expectations were a little too high as a result of their performance the week before at the Olympics Closing Ceremony, or had the band prepared so much for the gig of their life and not so much for a standard festival performance? The band failed to get the crowd pumped and alive with many just nodding their heads and swaying instead of the party atmosphere I’d experienced in 2010.

Madness' Suggs in 2010

I had a similar encounter with the V Festival Main Stage crowd in 2010, where we all stood in anticipation of Paolo Nutini – an act I had praised to no end in 2009. After an electrifying and buoyant set from Katy Perry, the soulful Scottish singer had the audience in the palm of his hands, with everybody singing along to the hit tracks from his then new ‘Sunny Side Up’ album, as well as popular songs from his debut album ‘New Shoes’ and ‘Jenny Don’t Be Hasty’.

A year on and Paolo’s easy listening set had gone from bluesy to boring. He was missing a certain spark and his voice was under par in comparison to the previous year.

Paolo Nutini: From bluesy to boring

In the same year, it looked like V Festival was set for even more disappointments with the cancellation of Oasis’s headlining appearance. Instead, Snow Patrol slid up the line up to play the festival out on the Sunday night, with a performance that blew the crowd away. The set was nothing but mesmerising. Having seen the band in 2007 at the festival, I was already impressed with their ability to perform live tracks that sound so incredible that they outclass the recorded version. Their headline slot did not disappoint but instead, astounded the crowd with the sheer talent of frontman Gary Lightbody and his band. With rapturous glances at one another throughout, it was clear the band were euphoric at the crowd’s reaction, and have since praised the gig in interviews as the greatest of their life.

Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody headlining the Main Stage in 2009

Snow Patrol continued to impress me this year at the 2012 V Festival, where they appeared on the bill just before The Killers. The Las Vegas band last appeared at the festival in 2009, shortly after the release of their ‘Day & Age’ album. Every band that performs at a festival runs the risk of falling into the category of being one of those bands who perform their personal favourite unknown tracks or album tracks instead of the crowd favourites. However, Brandon Flowers and the rest of his group seem to strike up the perfect balance, playing the festival anthems ‘Mr Brightside’, ‘Somebody Told Me’ and ‘When We Were Young’, as well as simultaneously introducing you to their latest album. 

This could be relayed once again to their appearance this year, whereby the band avoided playing too many tracks from their new but unreleased album, instead playing just one new track, ‘Runaways’, which had already received some airplay on radio stations.

Brandon Flowers whips the V Festival crowd into a frenzy

Another name on this year’s V Festival line-up was Tinie Tempah, who completed a hat-trick of consecutive appearances at the festival, with each set being full to the brim with Tinie’s chart-topping tracks. Never failing to get the crowd dancing and swept up into mosh-pits, you can also guarantee that this set will be fuelled with energy and exuberance, whether you have seen him once, twice or ten times!

Keep it bouncing: Tinie Tempah's brings energy to V Festival

Although there can be that fear of tainting a previous memory of a certain artist, more often than not, you’ll find those festival gems who continue to leave a lasting impression on sell-out crowds year after year.

Have you had a similar experience to those described above? Have you ever been left disheartened by a lacklustre performance from an artist you loved? Or have you been continuously charmed by a festival favourite? Leave a comment and let us know.