Having already secured tickets to the festival and headliners’ Pixies sideshow I felt it necessary to put down the feeble sum of $45 to see Jarvis and band in a more intimate location, at least one more intimate than a large field in the middle of Centennial Park in Sydney. I was somewhat last minute in my approach to ticket purchasing and found myself on ebay buying tickets from at a modest, below purchase price (sometimes you can stumble upon genuine people on ebay).

I showed up early as I had to organise the exchange of money and tickets with my ebay pal (who I later found out was a fellow music forumer at on a site we both frequent and had an extra ticket as he was given a press pass, genuine), once I had my ticket I entered Sydney’s Metro theatre and made my way to the front of the main theatre. I was early and in my haste had neglected to find out who the support act was going to be. Would it be a fellow V Festival artist, perhaps a local band who appeared lower down the bill at the festival? Ghostwood or The Valentinos (aka Lost Valentinos)? The lights dimmed over the intimate theatre and I was soon to find out the answer to my questioning.

As I remember it she was wearing a long, black sequined dress and plain black leggings to match her black shoes, yes, all mono tonal in appearance but that was that was to become irrelevant from the moment she, and her band, started playing the first chords of the first song of their support slot. With raw intensity they ripped through a balanced mix of honest rock songs and on the other side was the mellow, slow songs which complimented each other very well. Forty five minutes had passed and the audience was lapping it up yet it was time for the act to leave the Metro stage, for the very last time on that evening the lead-singer informed us that she was “Bertie Blackman…” and with that left the stage.

At the time I remember thinking to myself that I would research this previously unknown to me, Bertie Blackman but for whatever reason nothing ever came of that thought. I would be another 2 years until I heard Bertie’s voice again…

Only a few weeks ago I received a call from my girlfriend who told me that a couple of songs that we liked which were playing on high rotation on both triple j and fbi radio stations, was none other than Bertie Blackman. My face lit up at this and I told her that I had seen Bertie (and band) a couple of years ago when she supported Jarvis Cocker and had not seen her since. It turned out that her new album “Secrets and Lies” was coming out in a few days and she was going to be playing a show (in support of the album release) in Sydney in a just over a week’s time and we were going.

It was a cold and terribly wet mess outside on Oxford Street, the night of the Secrets and Lies album launch. Yet once downstairs in warm haven that was the (very intimate) Oxford Art Factory it was a completely different story. Over the next hour the main room would fill to capacity at this sold out show and I knew we were in for a great performance.  Little did I know that Sydney was in fact Bertie’s hometown and I would like to think that this fact contributed nothing to the show selling out and would rather believe that all of the people waiting eagerly for her and her band to arrive on stage were there simply because they liked her new album as much as me.

The black curtain that surrounded the stage was finally thrown back at 10.30 and Bertie started the set with opening lyrics to the somber and solo performance of “Valentine”, it was a raw and honest introduction to a set that would be anything but downbeat. The songs that followed were all from her new album and it seems that she has possibly left her stripped-back rock and roll for a more modern and complex guitar, synth and drums, (with the use of pads) driven sound. The now electronically based Bertie was here and possibly staying this way and as the set continued I was not complaining.

“Thump” (or Th-a-u- a-uum-p) followed “Valentine” in a great musical juxtaposition between the slow, honest almost spoken word form of the first to the fast bpm of the odd time signature of the chorus drums. The combination of the two got the crowd going and siging along to “C’monnn! YEAH! C’mon!” of the chorus. Before the encore Bertie played most of the songs from the album and clevery left out the slower songs which lie at the end as this may have been a bad remedy for the Friday night crowd who were there to hear her faster songs and with good reason too.  With the hard hitting, string featured “White Owl” to follow was a more mellow interval before the tempo rose on songs such as the radio favourite, tribal sounding “Heart” which had punters clapping along to Berties’ actions. Sexy, dark and mysterious was the nature of the “Black Cats” which was pulled off with album like perfection and precision.

“There’s a drama in the streets…” set the perfect setting for the pre-encore “Byrds of Prey”‘s synth-driven beauty. This was a great song to leave Art Factory audience in suspense for the next batch of songs from the band. It was a stand-out and this was the faster of the songs of the night which finally really did get everyone dancing. It was full of synth sounds yet was pulled-off in such a way that it didn’t sound cheap or over produced as it sometimes sound with bands who use it all the time such as Cut Copy and The Presets.

Seconds passed from the end of “Byrds of Prey” until they (Bertie and band) strolled everso confidently back onto the stage. A familiar drum beat was struck and I realised that the first beats of U2′s “Sunday Blooday Sunday” was being played. As much as I don’t like Bono and his ridiculous bunch of alias band members, I really did enjoy hearing this song being performed by a female songstress and being played in a more stripped back way in an intimate venue just sounded very appropriate. No $300 ticket stadium bullshit. Just Bertie, her band, the audience and a great rendition of the song was all that was needed.

Almost as if Kate Bush was being channeled by Bertie herself through vocals in the song “Sky is Falling”. Although complete with strings and deep syths and catchy guitar hooks and her staccato style of singing in the verses, Bertie manages to make this song all her own and it is a fantastic result. Live it sounds even better as you feel like the transition of the song from the recording to live performance would be no mean feat, especially in a venue as intimate as the OAF but it was done so seamlessly and when something like this can be accomplished with all components in play it is a great asset to the band and sounds even better to the audience. This was evident at the rapturous applause Bertie and the guys in her band received at the end of “Sky is Falling”.

Bertie’s new album Secrets and Lies is out now through iTunes and in stores in Australia
Check http://www.mypspace.com/bertieblackman for international release dates.

Entering the big white marquee gates was a breeze and once I was wristbanded and ready to go I headed over to “This Stage” to see the recently reformed Scottish rock veterans, The Jesus and Mary Chain. Starting to what seemed like an extremely timid crowd was very much to the displeasure of the leadsinger Jim Reid saying “Am I just singing to myself here?” but once they played their more widely recognisable songs from their seminal “Psycho Candy” album, the crowd responded to each song with rapturous applause. Luckily a certain Ms Johanssen was nowhere to be seen and “Just Like Honey” went off without a hitch!

I then journeyed around to the other side of the hill to “That Stage” to see long-time running French electro duo AIR. Unfortunately the crowd and the impending feeling of fatigue sent me walking away from seeing what I would have thought to have been one of the most interesting sets of the day, but that was not to be.

Traveling back to over the hill to “This Stage” and whilst waiting for the return of Queens of The Stone Age to Sydney after a 2 year absence, I contemplated whether or not I would bother seeing Duran Duran in the break between QOTSA and the much anticipated headliners; The Smashing Pumpkins. But my thought process was completely abolished as soon as the men of Queens of The Stone Age, complete with the most loveable red-head in music, leadsinger/guitarist Josh Homme rushed on stage! Even back up on the hill opposite “This Stage” I could clearly hear every word and instrument as they ripped through a highly energetic set which would put The Smashing Pumpkins to the test! Playing a set consisting of songs from albums “Songs for The Deaf” to last year’s “Era Vulgaris” it was a sight to behold as the video-screens showed every moment of songs which included “3’s & 7’s”, “Make It Wit Chu”, “Burn The Witch”, “No One Knows”, “Little Sister”, “Go With The Flow” and the finale of “A Song for The Dead”, which tore on through an extended rip-roaring outro, whilst quite perfectly a distant lightening storm struck violently over the stage.

Earlier that day whilst reading through the V Festival mini-magazine I learned a “Festival Fact” I wasn’t previously aware of; Billy Corgan (of The Smashing Pumpkins) introduced his then girlfriend, Courtney Love to late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. Upon reading this I felt slight resentment towards the man, but as the Earth Hour presentation played on the video-screens either side of stage and the newly reformed Pumpkins filed onto the vast stage to play the opening blissfully simple notes of “Today”, who could have any resentment against such a man? Even moreso when he had the crowd singing the opening verse of the song, I couldn’t stop smiling and knew this was going to be an amazing performance. Obviously I opted to stay away from seeing Duran Duran and was pleased to have done so as few of my friends told me of the washed-up tragedy playing-out on “That Stage” as the Pumpkins lunged straight into “Tarantula” from their most recent record “Zeitgeist”. Upon previously hearing that “Tonight Tonight” was played early in their set I was adamant to stick around to hear it before heading over the hill for the final time to see Sydney’s very own; The Presets. Taking to the grandiose keyboard I knew that the opening orchestral notes of “Tonight Tonight” were close at hand, my suspicions were validated as they rang-out into a screaming crowd as more lightning played-out over the stage.

On a high after such an uplifting song I decided it was time for me to head over to the other side to see The Presets. Jule and Kim walked onstage right on time and dived straight into “Down Down Down” to boisterous shouting and applause, following up with a bevy of songs, old and new including; “Kitty In The Middle”, “Cookie”, the recent radio thrashed “This Boy’s In Love” as well as “Are You The One” to which the whole crowd sang along, “Bad Up Your Betterness” and “Steamworks” just to name a few!

Exiting early I was lucky enough to see the final two songs by The Smashing Pumpkins, a Church cover and “Siamese Dream” opener as a finale “Cherub Rock”! And that was it!

Having to stand up every so often as bums went numb on the steps of the opera house became somewhat of an obligatory exercise as we waited patiently for the blistering sun to disappear behind the closest building in proximity to Observatory Hill. Then came the MC telling us not to take photographs but that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits as NYC ‘s Shy Child appeared onstage. They were, well, interesting but not really my cup of tea.

The next half hour flew by as my girlfriend and I contemplated lining-up in the never-ending queue for food and drinks that seemed to disappear into those waiting infront of the stage for Bjork to appear. We timed how long it took a woman to get from the end of the queue to purchase her drinks and then decided very adamantly against it as she was still in-line as Bjork’s band procession marched on-stage and took their places to the right just as the very woman herself bounced across the stage to stop in the centre whilst the introduction for the catchy Volta opener; “Earth Intruders” rung-out across the forecourt!

Flares blazing and the crowd hypnotized by her singing I knew we were in for a very special night. A few quieter songs followed and “Hyper Ballad” exploded at the end with an almost remixed outro with green lasers flashing crazily about the stage and above the crowd into the beautifully temperate night.

Then came the aggressor “Army of Me” with confetti tape falling from the sky in front of the stage and the lighting going completely berserk it was a sight to behold and an emotional overload came over me.

Then came the closer “Declare Independence” with fan-blown confetti tape and in operatic finale style, we were treated to what Sydney does best in times of mass celebration; fireworks! The crowd erupted even moreso than during the aforementioned “Army of Me” and as it all came to close the band strolled casually offstage and the queen herself simply said “Thanks for tonight” and that was it.

Purely phenomenal!

That was THE BEST festival I have EVER been to!

The sound was amazing, so much better than the quality of BDO sound which kept dropping-out during Muse last year and any other festivals. All the bands sounded great even from the back I thought, but I only really watched Phoenix and PIXIES from the back coz I was front-centre for their sideshow…

Mercy Arms started what was to be a great day with their opener “Kilby” which caught me by surprise as I rushed to “This Stage” after hastily paying for my BBQ Pork Puffs… They continued with “Shot Right Down”, “Kept Low”, “Caroline”, “Firing Line”, “Half Right” and “Too Damn Long” just to name a few.

Nouvelle Vague also really surprised me, I knew they did Retro covers with a bluesy feel but I really liked their version of “Blue Monday” originally by New Order. As well as “Guns of Brixton” by The Clash. I couldn’t stop singing with a big grin on my face.

Ahhh, New York Dolls “This is a song called Pills!!!”, what a great buch of glam rockers! So old yet still sounding so raw and fresh. Every song with a harmonica had the leadsinger throwing it out to the crowd at the end. “People say we have a lot of influences but we really like Janis Joplin!” which you could hear a bit of in every song I thought. They were there to have a good time and the crowd enjoyed it all.

Beck was good with “Devil’s Haircut” as the introductory song, yet he seemed a little fatigued and his sound-check took forever! It was all worth it though and the puppets were great, I also loved the medley with “Wave of Mutilation”. Drunkards wanting to get a good spot for PIXIES during Beck’s set pissed me off though, should have waited till the end like Beck fans did for Jarvis’ crowd. Jarvis was awesome too, same set-list as his sideshow which gave me time to watch all of Gnarls Barkley which was fun but not as amazing as I had anticipated or been told.

Pet Shop Boys were a bit old and seedy for me… I think the whole gay cabaret thing weirded me out a little bit but what I saw was alright. It was quite novel too.

PIXIES played pretty much (if not) the same set-list as the previous night at Luna Park, so I happily watched from the back of the compacted crowd as I sung along. It sounded great from there and being able to watch them on 2 video-screens either side of the stage, that were just the right height, was a bonus. I loved the encore/post stage walk-around (that they did the nigh before also) of “La La Love You” and of course “Gigantic” with the lovely “Goodnight”s from Kim to everyone in the band and to us in the crowd. That was the best close to a festival…

I do agree with many festival buddies about the fluro tops and short-cut denims, but it seems to be constricted to extremely slutty north shore girls so if you see one with that combination you know what they’re like without having to talk to them. It’ll be interesting to see what they wear when winter comes ’round…  Pink High-top Ugg boots? Let’s hope not!

I do have another positive to give V Festival and this kudos is due in the merchandise section. The merchandise for the festival looked really good, so much so that I bought a T-shirt, the black one with the line-up witten on it in white and pink that hilighted the shape of a “V”. The other shirts looked great too but that was the least trashy in my opinion. As opposed to BDO t-shirts which I would wear maybe to be and then never out coz they look awful, especially the basketball singlets!

Coopers beer was good too, a lot better than your average TED’s or New but I am a beer snob. The food was the best festival food I’ve had too. A festival of firsts I’d say…

Well I’ve just about covered everything. I never thought I’d see PIXIES headlining a festival in Australia or at least not one with Beck, Jarvis Cocker, Gnarls Barkley, Pet Shop Boys, Phoenix, Groove Armada and New York Dolls on the same line-up!

I feel that their first full length release; “Funeral” and “Neon Bible” are extremely hard to compare and in-fact shouldn’t be compared, as they both employ their own unique musical stylings and themes. Where “Funeral” was about the bands’ response to death after members’ loved ones had passed-on, “Neon Bible” is about contemporary society including all it’s Big Brothers and idiotic world-leaders who are just waiting for a nuclear winter.

“Neon Bible” is so perfect for our time, without any egotistical guitar solos from a band who shun celebrity and the leadsinger status. Who locked themselves away in a church in rural Quebec for a year until this album was perfected, extemely perfected. Such determination and commitment doesn’t come without it’s rewards and so the ultimate reward is something so sweet and might just be THE album of 2007!

No wonder Bowie loves them so much!

Album stand-outs include: “Black Mirror”, “Keep The Car Running”, “Intervention”, “Black Wave / Bad Vibrations”, “Ocean of Noise”, “Windowsill”, “No Cars Go” and “My Body is a Cage”.

10/10!

I strolled into the massive space that is the Horden Pavilion and tried to get a good spot to see the coveted support band “Ground Components”, although it is hard when the tall guys stand upfont…

The lights dimmed at 7.30 and these scruffy figures lunged themselves into their respective positions. The leadsinger/guitarist trying to get the audience onside by shouting “Hello Sydney!” but unfortunately this novelty wore-off as soon as they were halfway through their set… All of their songs were pretty boring and above all sounded the same as one-another.

Their hour was up and it was time to wait the dreaded 30 minutes (or however long the soundcheck guys want to take) before Muse would appear onstage.
In between this a sheet covering Dominic Howards’ pristine transparent drumkit and Matt Bellamy’s shining white electronic piano with vintage white amplifier in tail, was raised which made the awaiting crowd even more anxious with a loud applause.

The soundcheck guys did take what felt like an eternity to finish their job for the night, but it was all worth the wait as Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard or collectively MUSE, strolled across the vast Horden stage.
MUSE had arrived and it was time to experience some of the most talented artisits in the business doing what they love doing best, playing insane rock and roll which could have fallen off the pages of an immense sci-fi, western and romance novel!

The trio began with introductory track from “Black Holes and Revelations”, “Take a Bow” which had everyone jumping and screaming with smiles from ear-to-ear as the addictive lyrics and guitar riffs pounded out of the towering speaker stacks!

Hilights of the show were; “Starlight”, “Supermassive Black Hole”, “Hysteria”, “New Born”, “Plug-In Baby”, “Time is Running Out”, “Bliss”, “Muscle Museum”, “Invincible” and of course the finale of the second encore “Knights of Cydonia”, which had the whole crowd singing along to the words of the chorus as they all flashed-up onscreen in corrsespondance to Matt’s absolutely breath-takingly amazing singing ability!

This night left me speechless as they had played the best set-list I had heard in months and not to mention one of the most exhilerating performances I have seen in years! The Audio-Visual system made this night more of a theatrical experience rather than a mere concert or gig.  Audience members were sucked-into the songs as images and videos relating to the plot of various songs were projected onto the massive transparent screens! “Invincible” had video of poverty, famine and natural disaster stricken areas of the world which made me feel extremely lucky to live in the conditions that I do.

Eventhough I did see MUSE again at the Big Day Out two days later, as with the White Stripes you can never judge a bands live show to its full extent until you see their own headline show.

Yet I was soon to be put in a much better mood when I saw Thom stroll across the stage as a smirk came across my face whilst Kirin, Jules and Ash (collectively Mercy Arms) soon followed suit and started one of the best live sets I’ve seen in recent times, which made me proud to have been apart of this band at its conception.

They punched through their set offering a large helping of what was yet to come for the band as they prepare to release their first EP in the following months. It was a very pleasing sample indeed, “Shot Right Down” an old favourite and i was surprised to see that some audience members (who must be keen myspacers) singing along to this very song. As per usual, and to some female crowdmembers delight, Kirin went straight ahead and exchanged his shirt for a bare chested look. Yeah some of you girls may have been hugged or had the chance to touch Kirin in some of his stage-divings yet I can claim that I was slapped on the ass by this charming man! Thanks man.

Anyway it is obvious that these guys have gained a much larger fanbase (and deservedly so) through their extensive tour with The Strokes. So look-out for them, I think they’ll be on JTV and Home & Hosed soon as well as on tour with wolf and cub in sept.

The lights dimmed at around 9 and everyone went “crazy go nuts” as Jules, Nick, Albert, Nikolai and Fab walked smoothly aross the dimmed stage and went straight into the first single from “First Impressions of Earth”; Juicebox, where Jules proclaimed “…Cold, You’re So Cold, You’re So Coooooold!” Quite the opposite for us in the mosh as I realised I desparately needed something to drink. Unfortunately I had stupidly malnurished and under hydrated myself that day and subsequently started feeling the symptoms of a black-out as I soon after headed for the foyer.

As I Found my way there the guys finished Juicebox and followed-up with The End Has No End. I grabbed a couple of waters and then headed for the stands as Heart In A Cage had just commenced. I’d never watched a show from the seats (only at the end of Placebo in 2004) and being able to get a spot in the centre facing straight towards to stage, I wasn’t too disappointed and had no real ambition to go back for another possible black-out in the front.

It was an amazing show, both audio and visually stunning. The 1.5 hour set was just fine for me as it was packed with old favourites including Someday, Last Nite, Hard to Explain, Reptilia and New York City Cops (in the encore) as well as my new album favourite, now the second single from the album You Only Live Once. WOW!

This show wasn’t as emotionally stirring as last years’ Gaelic Club gig (as camping-out with fellow strokes fans and actually being able to purchase (and show off) one of only 600 tickets that were released made one feel quite special), yet this show just seemed to be a lot more pleasing as the favourites shone and we all had time for the album to sink in.

A great night was surely had by all and a great new band, for some people, had been added to a list. And I managed to score the last small hoodie as security were telling everyone to go home. Just a fun band I will definately be seeing more of in the future and it’s also good to know that they are great guys offstage.

If that wasn’t enough, just check-out the set-list from the show…
Nothing could been asked more of the Stones on that night!

Jumping Jack Flash
Let’s Spend The Night Together
You Got Me Rocking
Oh No Not You Again
Dead Flowers
Angie
It’s Only Rock’n'Roll
Tumblin’ Dice
Night Time Is The Right Time
Intros
The Place Is Empty
Happy
Miss You
Rough Justice
Get Off My Cloud
Honky Tonk Woman
Paint It Black
Sympathy For The Devil
Start Me Up
Brown Sugar
You Can’t Always Get What You Want (encore)
Satisfaction (encore)

(OK except maybe Wild Horses)

Basically this concert rates as the best I have EVER been to! And that’s up against a list of contenders such as; The Strokes, The Dandy Warhols, Interpol and The Vines.

In short The White Stripes have enough energy and power to suck even the latecomers into their world of enigmatic rock stylings. The night started off with mod rockers The Greenhornes (also Big Day Out performers), who got the crowd going back to the 60s, especially with their toe-tapping pop tune “Pattern Skies”.

Then came 9.15, yes 30 minutes earlier than the set time, but if you didn’t hang around your faith would have been put to a harsh test! Because at this very moment Jack and Meg strolled across the stage in their traditional red and black attire to play the commencing song “Dead Leaves on The Dirty Ground” & “I think I Smell a Rat” and it just got better from there on in. With a two hour set ranging from “The Hardest Button to Button”, “I Just don’t know what to do with myself” (which was mostly sung by us in the audience), “The Denial Twist”, “The Nurse” (with Jack on the marimbas!) and the extremely energetic song ”Black Math”. And then came the encore which powered through beginning with “Blue Orchid” and “Death Letter” then to follow ”We Are Going To Be Friends” and “Seven Nation Army” then to top it all off “De Boll Weevil” had the audience chanting “He’s Looking For A Home!” – “When they ask you “Who sung that song?” You tell ‘em Jackie White! Then they’ll all sing along! He’s looking for a home, he’s looking for a home, he’s looking for a home, he’s looking for a home!”