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Last summer on Friday 17th
August I stepped into unknown 
territory. This was my first ever music festival. V2001 was held at
two different sites one at Weston Park, in the Midlands, the second at Hylands
Park in Chemlsford. The music acts were the same at both events with the bands
alternating on the Saturday and the Sunday. Obviously I was very excited at the
prospect of spending Friday to the Monday with my friends watching some of my
favourite music acts live. On the Friday there was no live music so all there
was to do was set up the tents and check out the site. At first sight the whole
area seemed huge and there was a staggering amount of people. A huge 60,000
people visited V2001 in Weston Park over the weekend. It was amazing sight to
see this many people wandering around with everyone coming together for the
same reason. The atmosphere was a feeling of intense excitement and
anticipation.
The Saturday live music started
at around two o’clock but didn’t really kick off until 
the main bands like Placebo, David Gray, Foo fighters and Red Hot
Chili Peppers began. Placebo came out at around four o’clock and Red Hot Chili
Peppers didn’t finish until around 10:00 PM. So this took up around 6 very
enjoyable hours. As the sun was setting there was an amazing atmosphere as Dave
Grohl the lead singer of the Foo Fighters really managed to connect with the
crowd. After their set there was a long wait for the headliners the Red Hot
Chili Peppers to come out. By this time my legs felt as though there were going
to give in. But what was coming next was what I had went there to witness. They
finally made their entrance and the crowd went wild. By this time the only
thing that was lit up was the stage, as the whole crowd was in complete
darkness. During their set they played their best songs from the various albums
and after they had left the stage they returned for two encores. The crowd
loved them so much they just wouldn’t let them leave. That night walking back
to our tents I was left reflecting on what an excellent day I had just
experienced and hoping the following day would make me feel the same way.
As we awoke on the Sunday we had
time to spare before the music started so decided to try out one of the stalls
that had caught my eye. We went in to a domed tent called the not knowing what
to expect. We were given a clear plastic tube with two nostril tubes. The O2 bar was set out surprisingly like
a bar, which seats where you sat and plugged your 
tubes into a canister containing 90% oxygen which when breathed in
was supposed to give you greater energy but I cant say had great effect on
myself. Once finished in the O2 bar it was time for the music. This started with Embrace then
followed onto Wheatus and Shed 7. By this time we had manage to push our way to
the second row so we had great views of the following acts which were JJ72 and
Muse. Again the final act held a great atmosphere as Muse were fantastic and
they received a huge response from the fans. Muse had to be one of the best
acts at V2001. At the end of the night I was again left thinking about how
amazing the day and the weekend had been.
Of course there were bad points to the festival in that it was
food and drink was hugely overpriced with bottles costing £1:50 and bacon
sandwiches costing £3:50 and the toilets by the Monday were completely
disgusting. But apart from that the staff and everyone involved did an
excellent job organising and carrying out the festival. This truly was one of
the best experiences of the summer of 2001 and one I will treasure for the rest
of my life.
Do you have festivals like this in your country?
By Phil Handley
If anyone has any comments about
this article, my e-mail is handleyphilip@hotmail.com