Decomposing Trees

After a long and protracted wait the V Festival finally came to Sydney yesterday.

It was the first time I've actually been to Centennial Park since I mainly stick to the inner west and there hasn't been any concerts/music festivals/events that occurred there that I've wanted to see yet.


Muscles was the first act I saw. He was a late replacement for the Bumblebeez who had cancelled (to few disappointments it seemed).

I hadn't heard him before but it was a good performance with much of the crowd getting into his music. I have to say that his performance was amusing because he seemed really excited about playing the festival and kept taking photos of the crowd for his Myspace.


There was a rather big crowd for Phoenix, bigger than I had expected. It seemed like the crowd from that stage had migrated to this stage.

Overall Phoenix played a solid set, playing mainly from their latest album It's Never Been Like That but played some older tracks like 'Run Run Run' and 'Too Young' (which was the song everyone seemed to recognise).


The New York Dolls played a good set, David Johansen working up the crowd with his energetic performance. I have to say I was a bit indifferent to some of their newer songs. Maybe it was because I wasn't entirely familiar with them, I'm wasn't exactly sure. Still, I was happy that they played 'Jet Boy' and 'Looking For A Kiss'.


I hadn't heard much of Jarvis' solo album but after seeing his set I will definitely check it out. I have a feeling his song 'Cunts Are Still Running The World' will become one of my favourites.

After seeing his set I can say that he 's a great performer with a perfect balance of witty banter, great songs and onstage antics. It's rare that you get all three but they just give a sense that you've seen something special.


Beck came on about 15 minutes late to a rather impatient crowd but that was soon forgotten as he put one of the best and most lively stage shows I've seen.

I have to say that one of the best things about the set was that he had some puppeteers on stage with marionettes of all the performers. The marionettes mimicked all the actions of the performers, including a dinner table set up towards the end of his set.

His setlist was a sprinkling of tracks from throughout his career with newer songs from The Information and Guero but also older tracks like 'Loser' and 'Devil's Haircut' and a couple from Seachange. All were played amazingly in a live setting and I can only imagine what one of his solo shows would be like.



The Pixies were the band that pretty much everyone was there to see. Having seen them the previous night I knew it would be another great set.

They played a set practically identical to the previous night (even with some choreographed moves) but I don't think anyone cared. Everyone was too busy singing and rocking along to all their songs. While the crowd wasn't as crazy as the previous night at Luna Park but then again I'm sure many wouldn't have had the energy two nights in a row.

Though I'm generally not as much of a festival fan, throughout the day the crowd had a better vibe than other festivals I've been to such as the Big Day Out. While there weren't that many acts, there wasn't any filler. Pretty much all of the acts I saw played good sets. Depending on the lineup I might consider going again if its on next year.