Following the triumphant success of last year’s festival having relocated from the historic dockyard, Victorious returned to our beloved seafront and continues to grow even bigger whilst maintaining its believe in supporting both acts from the local scene alongside those of the wider market.
Last year saw the event headlined by Seasick Steve and Dizzee Rascal, however there were also several indie artists returning from the 90’s – not a bad thing at all, but 2015 has certainly seen the calibre of acts stepped up a level to compete with the more established festivals based up and down the country.
There’s also something else rather special about Victorious… not just the fact it’s by the sea but how many other festivals can you take time out from the music to visit an aquatics centre, a museum about the second world war D-Day landings or drink champagne in Henry VIII’s castle built back in the 1500’s?
Gates had been open a couple of hours by the time we arrived so first stop was a much needed beer at the real ale tent where the Smiley Campbell Band were already on stage, they make no qualms about being a function band so if you want covers of anything from the Jackson Five to Daft Punk then you can’t go far wrong than to book them.
Victorious Festival also saw the addition of the Common Stage this year, making the grounds (and presumably attendance) considerably bigger and a mid-afternoon performance by Laura Mvula was soon to be one of the weekends many highlights.
Combining elements of soul, jazz and R&B, Laura Mvula had her debut album reach top ten in the album charts with her voice on stage sounding as cool as it is on record, performing among others the single “Green Garden” and album title track “Sing to the Moon” the live strings floated across the field whilst African percussion subtly rounded things off nicely.
So from one of the bigger names of the weekend to one I knew nothing about Basement83, musically they were quite funky and whilst the female vocals were smooth, polished and fairly non-descript these were off -set by the more hip hop MCing of the secondary front-man who I have to say I was rather impressed with and he certainly got the busy Beats and Swings tent jumping.
At this point the traditional British festival weather had kicked in – grey, miserable and particularly wet resulting in Beats and Swings regular DJ Tom Mayhem having those who had opted for the undercover stage at his mercy. Although to be fair Tom always pulls a crowd as his tunes introduce cleverly selected samples over the top of some phat beats, switching through various music styles with ease and todays set was no exception.
The weather didn’t however stop the Magic Numbers taking to the main stage in front of a decent sized audience, made up of two sets of brothers/sisters the four piece are a family affair with tight musicianship and looking around the crowd both young and old were soaking up the summer sounds, the Magic Numbers being perfect for a late afternoon slot despite the rain.
Next it was off to the Seaside Stage, aptly titled for being the closest to the sea, certainly the best setting out of all the stages and the sound (as it was last year) was immense for local act Tricorn who decided to use Victorious Festival as their final show before splitting. The stoner rock outfit have a stage presence well suited to a stage of this potential so a shame the weather deterred newcomers from witnessing the rockers final show and their quality songs inspired by whisky and women.
I had recently revisited the Mystery Jets 2006 “Making Dens” album and was looking forward to seeing these guys again after a number of years, to hear how they had developed from a strong debut, however when it came to it they were just all a bit bland – nothing exciting to write home about and so it was a dash to catch the remainder of Primal Scream, a band who always deliver.
Singer and band owner Bobby Gillespie was already singing the indie classic “Movin’ on up” before strutting around the stage to another hit in “Rocks” ending what had been a greatest hits set and it was obvious checking out the Mystery Jets was unfortunately the wrong choice on this occasion.
What wasn’t the wrong move though was getting a good spot to witness the Flaming Lips over Tinie Tempah, watching the roadies get the stage ready is entertaining itself, an intriguing look into what was to follow along with Lips frontman Wayne Coyne appearing to get the crowd even more excited.
Coming on stage to a huge explosion of confetti cannons and a stage draped in ribbons the Flaming Lips provide a spectacle like no other, lucky fans and festival workers are lead onto the stage in various giant inflatable outfits, the video screen shines brightly with images as psychedelic as the music itself and Wayne Coyne carries aloft a giant “Fuck Yeah Portsmouth” balloon.
It’s not all about the stage show with nothing to back it up though, for the Flaming Lips musically are equally mesmerizing as they perform tracks from across their back catalogue opening with “The Abandoned Hospital Ship” from Clouds Taste Metallic through to “Do you Realize??” from the more critically acclaimed Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
With time for more showboating (and more confetti) Wayne Coyne rolled through the crowd within a huge inflatable hamster ball before standing up inside to sing via his wire-free microphone and as the show ended with the words “Love” flashing upon the screen the Flaming Lips hadn’t just played a gig, they had presented an experience like no other.
So as the crowds dispersed from the main stage I managed to catch the end of Feeder’s Grant Nicholas headlining one of the much smaller arenas, performing tracks from his recent solo album, it was a more laid back and fitting contrast to the surreal moments that had just been witnessed and with that it really was time to call it a night before returning the following day and the next instalment of a festival to be proud of.
