Victorious Festival 2019 Sunday Review
Review: Victorious Festival 2019 Sunday
This time last year and Victorious Festival 2019 would have been a washout. Which is quite literally what happened in 2018 as the organisers did well to keep things afloat. Several stages may have been closed due to the weather, but with Prodigy closing a stormy Sunday with a monumental set, the memories of Keith Flint (RIP) live on.
However, in 2019, the sun was shining all weekend. As for honouring those that have passed, an early afternoon slot from the son of reggae legend Bob Marley got Sunday underway.
Ziggy Marley – Victorious Festival 2019
Ziggy Marley and the Bog Rolling Stones
Due to play Notting Hill Carnival later that day, Ziggy Marley certainly gave Portsmouth a taste of just what London were to expect.
Featuring iconic songs “Jammin” and “One Love” Ziggy Marley at Victorious wasn’t merely a glorified tribute to his father, instead it was one that truly came from the heart. In fact, Ziggy’s own tunes such as “Love is my Religion” went on to show Bob’s legacy truly is in his blood.
In contrast, the Bog Rolling Stones understandably have never claimed to be anything other than a tribute act. Which, although I feel covers bands are a bit of an oddity at a festival, the Bog Rolling Stones are always highly entertaining.
Wit – Victorious Festival 2019
Wit, Tuba Libres, Peppa Pig and Holiday Oscar
Next up it was a trip to one of the smaller stages and a moderate gathering next to the real ale bar. Featuring one of the many local acts supported by Victorious Festival, Wit (formerly of B and the Bang) has played at every incarnation of the festival since 2012. Only these days, the songwriting of Wit takes on a slightly more melancholy direction.
Festival line-ups are a thing of diversity, so from moody to joyful, Tuba Libres were entertaining another full house at the ever-popular Beats & Swings Tent. Funk-filled and brass-lead, Tuba Libres are much more than colourful outfits.
As the line-up took a bit of a mid-way dip, it was the chance to embrace the children’s area with Peppa Pig, grab some food and take a wander. Which sometimes brings new discoveries, other times those that are easy to forget.
One of which being Holiday Oscar on the acoustic stage, who seemingly had no problem bemoaning the lack of interest from the audience. Something that didn’t particularly do him any favours, so I’m hoping it was nothing more than an off day…
Ash – Photo by Sam Taylor
Ash and Zion Train
Northern Ireland’s Ash, however, owned the Castle Stage. Along with 2 oddly disco-influenced newer songs, Ash pulled out all the hits, complete with blinding guitar solos from frontman Tim Wheeler.
Starting with “A Life Less Ordinary” and ending with “Girl From Mars” and “Burn Baby Burn”, you couldn’t have asked Ash for anything more.
As for the World Music Stage, it has a festival vibe all of its own, one which suited headliner Zion Train. While their brand of dub-reggae may have been missing any live horns, musically this was still fantastic music to bounce to. Eventually descending into that of a more pumping electro-dance club.
New Order – Victorious Festival 2019
New Order and Basement Jaxx
While Clean Bandit no doubt performed to a younger audience, the rest of us were all about New Order. This one seemed to create a divided opinion, personally I thought the renditions of old Joy Division numbers were sounding great. Only in part, this was probably down to Bernard Sumner sounding just as flat the rest of the time.
In general, although I enjoyed in the most part, I still wasn’t blown away by New Order so took some time out to soak up the festival atmosphere one last time. Including the DJ set from Basement Jaxx, proving a rather fitting way to end the weekend sat by the seaside stage, overlooking the moon-lit Solent.
Victorious Festival 2019 Friday and Saturday Reviews by Mr Teeth are also available.
Victorious Festival 2019 Review
