V2000 - a 2 day festival in Chelmsford, Essex. 3 of my favourite live bands are playing today (Manchild, Bloodhound Gang and Underworld) so I can hardly wait. Manchild are one of the first bands playing so we have to be there early. Getting to Chelmsford isn't very difficult if you live in walking distance from London Liverpool Street Station and also from the train station to the festival site are frequent and free buses running. But then the chaos starts, there is many queues, and many entrances, some are for day passes, some are for weekend tickets with camping, some for weekend without camping. Unfortunately no one can tell you which queue is the right one and as the security personnel on site dont seem to know much more than we do, there is quite a chaos around, and people (ie. me) end up standing in line 3 times instead of just once. I'm not such an impatient person, but when I'm about to miss a Manchild gig then, well, I am!

We end up getting in in time and Manchild are due to be on at 2pm in the JJB Arena, which is the 3rd stage, later tonight to be headlined by Underworld. Although it's still early in the day and this is the small stage, it is actually quite crowded already as Manchild go on stage. Max and Brett on the keyboards start the gig with some beats and are soon joined by the rest of their live band for the first track Rockin' The Place. They get the audience buzzing from the very first minute and down at the front you can hardly resist to dance. Rockin' the Place fades out but without a break they continue with Hard Wax followed by The Bitch.

The music itself is an experience, but the fact that it is performed by an 8 piece live band just makes it even more exciting. Their sound seems to be as full of energy as you can get, and with dancer Kwam and MC Nathan keeping contact to the crowd you just have to get into it! They of course also play Rehab, their collaboration with Therapy? front man Andy Cairns (who I have had the luck to see live just one week earlier at Bulldog Bash with Janus Stark) and then their current single and Kelly Jones collaboration The Clichs Are True, which already gets some airplay on various Radio stations here in England. Anyone remember my review from the Manchild gig at Imperial College in February where I predicted that they are not too unlikely to become quite successfull? Well, looking at the hundreds of people in this crowded tent singing along to The Clichs Are True tells me that I really wasn't THAT wrong!

The last track of the set is also my current favourite Manchild live track: Bring the Tune Down. And while dancer Kwam climbes almost to the top of the tent from the side of the stage the audience is cheering and we all want more! But the gig is finished, not a bad start for a festival at all!

Next on in the JJB Arena is RnB starlet Jamelia, so time to wander around a bit! No need to get close to the main stage today, the line up there is : Travis, Macy Gray, Ocean Colour Scene, All Saints, Semisonic .. haven't got any particular interest in any of them.

The other 2 stages have a lot to offer though and we catch a bit of Soulwax set now before trying to get to the front now for the Bloodhound Gang. I get a front row space but first on are now Saint Etienne. Slow songs without any real kick or significant melodies and a singer that smiles at you like a nice grandmother make this the probably most boring performance I have endured for a while. Someone come and wake me up!

Ah, my rescue! Bloodhound Gang are next, one of the most entertaining bunch of guys I have come across lately (not too sure about their qualities as musicians though) and as always with their gigs I am prepapred for an hour of pure entertainment. But, somehow it doesn't work that well this time. Already they start with the 'wrong song', Fire Water Burn instead of Boom, as usual, and it just isn't as good. Also the stage is just too far away from the audience so keeping the contact is very difficult. As always they do the 'Pepsi contest', this time with "24 cans of piss warm Diet Virgin Coke", that somene has to drink in order to win 100.

This is my 10th BHG gig in a year and somehow the jokes are starting to wear thin. Also the band just seem a bit tired today, the guy drinking the 24 cans just gets forgotten on stage and the joke never gets finished. Donna Air and Natalie from All Saints temporarily join the guys on stage and dance around for them, giggling and acting like 13 year old teenagers.

The only really new element in their show, that actually makes me laugh, is in the end during The Bad Touch where they used to dress up as N'Sync, they have now replaced their dresses with Slipoknot style overalls and each member is wearing a pig mask! Ridiculous!

Leaving the 2nd stage again after BHG and going towards the JJB Arena again where Moloko have just finished their set. I catch some of the set of the Flaming Lips who are on afterwards and then the big highlight follows: Underworld.

Although Darren Emerson has left, Rick Smith and Karl Hyde seem tighter than ever, playing a slightly different setlist from their performance a few weeks ago at the London Astoria. Most well-known of course their 'Born Slippy' and a tent full of people is shouting 'Lager, Lager, Lager'. Amazing!

Sunday 20th August 2000 - review and pics by neko

Today the bands I need to see start a bit later and the first ones are Cypress Hill at 5pm on the main stage, our first and only visit to the main stage anyway.

Cypress Hill usually are a cool live band, but this definitely wasn't my favourite gig I've seen. Partly cause the stage was very far away and it was very hard for them to get any crowd contact.

But still, they get the masses jumping and that's all that counts. Recent hit single Rap Superstar obviously goes down very well and my only dissapointent is that Dr Greenthumb doesn't get played.

After Cypress Hill rushing over to the second stage where Feeder have started their set already a while ago. With their catchy rock songs and  nice melodies Feeder have got a quite nice following nowadays, loads of people there in Feeder shirts singing along to every song. Nice atmosphere, but as soon as I am getting into it their gig is finished.

As Feeder are finished we're heading towards the JJB Arena for Groove Armada. I so want to see them, I somehow had managed to miss all my recent chances to see them, so today I finally would catch them again. But seems I have no luck. Arriving at the JJB Arena there is a huge queue at the entrance to the tent. I cant believe this, the tent seems to be full and they wont let anyone get in anymore! Damn!

I manage to look through a hole in the tent and listen and At the River gets played now by Groove Armada's live crew. Eventuelly the securities let more people into the tent again, but soon the gig is finished. In there you notice that it wasn't that crowded after all anyway. Now I manage to sneak to the front in anticipation of the next live act : Death in Vegas.

Definitely one of my favourite Death in Vegas gigs, Richard Fealess' crew play an amazing set of old and new tracks including the instrumental live version of Aisha and Dirge, for once without an appearance of Dot Allison, sadly.

After Death in Vegas not much time to rest as we're heading straight to the second stage again, where Moby will be on shortly. Starting the set with Machete from his latest album Play, Moby's peformance is just highlight after highlight. But not only new stuff gets played, Moby also has a little speech how great 'cheesy rave tracks' still are and his classics Go and Feeling so real also get played, the latter being a personal favourite of mine. woohoo!

All in all the V2000 has been good because of some good acts playing. When it comes to 'festival vibe' the V Festival has to be the least favourite though, the whole event is just a real marketing thing. While you might attend Glastonbury just for the event, then V is a festival you only go to see a certain band.

review and pics by neko

Guest Review : V2000 Staffordshire by Billy Bates

"V2000 is not the best festival on the Uk festival circuit. Its basically a commerical rubbish dump but how ever it does have some good bands playing. I decided to pop up for the day to see some of the good bands on the Sunday at Weston Park, staffordshire.

I get in the festival at 12 noon, I walk around a bit, its very easy to get around, with no idea about the times I have to rely on asking the security about what times the bands are on. "Manchild" are first at 2pm in the JJB arena. Quite a few people gather in the tent for them and they start with "Rockin the Place", people slowly get up the feet and starting to dance, they move to "let me tell you something" and by the time "Rehab" comes on people cheer, it gets a big reception a lot of people in the tent today know it. Manchild are impressive live, the beats just hit you in the face like hitting a Brickwall. With Nathan the Mc calling out the crowd and as I look back everyone is raising their hands to him, the tent is half full by now and really get into it, they really have a lot of energy, especially watching dancer Kwam Chang doing some really niffty breakdowning. They end the set with the new single the Kelly Jones "The Clichis Are True", an excellent track that ends an excellent set, just the start to  a great day.

Now I head to the 2nd stage and "Hefner" are on, at the start they call to the crowd "Its alright you can all sit down this is going to be a sunday afternoon set" and its alright, very mellow, they play the new single "good fruit" which goes down well, there are alright but way too mellow for my liking. Next on are "Soulwax", who are excellent, with their electronic rock they really get the crowd going, they play the new single "Much Against Everyone's Advice" and  "Conversation Intercom" which are excellent but they finish with "too many Djs" which is their best song by far which starts a little mosh pit at the front of the stage, which the security try to calm down but failing misribly. I stay on the 2nd stage to see the "Dum Dums", I like this band a lot however the set don't start off to well as the lead single is late!, so he runs on the stage a couple of mins late out of breath but breaks into the first track with no problems. They the new single "You Do Something To Me" which gets the crowd bopping to their rock/pop sounds and "I can't get you out my thoughts" which is their biggest song to date more people gather around to see them and they finish off an excellent set with "everything I do" and the crowd just went mental, top song, top set. Now thinking bentley ryhthm ace are on in the JJB arena, I head there and get right at the front, but infact the next band on are "Moloko", they first play the last single "Pure pleasure seeker". I would have stayed but I needed to be back at the 2nd stage for the "Bloodhound Gang". Anyway I get trapped with all the people coming to see Moloko and the tent is packed out, I manage to get out and go and see "St Etienne" on the Senond stage who are Ok, just sitting on the grass conserving my energy.

They finish their set and the "Bloodhound Gang" come on. I'm just blown away on how entertaining  they really are with tongue in cheek houmour like "Them people behind the fence watching us for free must be from wales" and "hey this is not Roskilde none of you here are going to die" I guess you either love or hate these guys. They start the set with Jimmy starting a massive conga around the stage, where he is gone for a good five mins. Then someone took the typical cola challange, where a lucky person from the crowd gets to drink 24 cans of warm virgin cola and they get $100 and this time a guy manages it, brave man. Some guy throws a bottle of piss at Jimmy, he not a happy man, he calls the Bloke on the stage and blackmails the guy "You either get naked on stage or you'll be thrown out of the festival, we'll give you 20 quid if you do"
So the Bloke gets naked much to delight of the ladies standing around me. With all these pranks  they did'nt have much time for many songs. They would start a song and then stop and muck about. However they did play the latest single "The Ballad of Chasey lain" and "Kiss me where it smells funny" and they finish  crowd favourite and well known track "the bad touch" things just go crazy, the security having trouble keeping up with the crowd surfers, they stop it half way through to dress up like Nysnc meets Slipknot with pig masks ;P its very tongue in cheek. An excellent gig, never been so much entertained by a band in ages.

Hmmm now "Mansun" are on the second stage now, I really like them a lot but I decide to head to head back to the JJB Arena enroute I get some food and drink, I watch a bit of "Macy Gray" as she sings "I try" from the main stage it makes me cringe. I get in the tent and the "Flaming Lips" are concluding their set. They finish off with two brilliant songs "Waiting for superman" and "Over the Rainbow" it is a magical momment with all the ballons in the air. They finish to a huge reception.

Now I'm getting excited, in Half an hour Underworld are coming on, one of my all time favourite bands. I get a place on the front row, to see Karl Hyde in action. When they come on its just amazing, the tent is totally crammed. They start with "Juanita" and play many tracks off the last two albums "second toughest on the infants and "Beacoupfish" Classic dance tracks like Pearls Girl, King of Snake, Jumbo, Push Upstairs, Dark Train, Confusion The Waitress, Rowla and the ever popular Underworld's anthem "Born Slippy", lager, lager lager chants the crowd along with Karl. Its an amazing gig, people are really going crazy for Underworld, Karl hyde shows amazing dancing skills ,guitar playing and so much passion in his vocals, with rick smith controlling the sounds. If there was any doubts, about Underworld being finished after Darren Emmerson is put down as they showed how good they really are. They finish off the amazing gig with Rez mixed in with the most outstanding track, the track the crowd most wanted "cow girl". Karl Hyde shouts "you all like to party don't you". Its the end of the gig. The crowd all sweaty but happy, I leave the JJB arena and its raining hard, supergrass are still playing on the second stage but I elect to get the bus to the train station. It was a excellent day out at V2000."

Many thanks to Billy Bates for this guest review!

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