Radio 1’s Big Weekend.

Well yesterday I went to Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Preston, and I have to say it was excellent!

I nearly didn’t go because it seemed like everyone already had plans for the day, but at the last minute Ajay said he’d be able to take a break from his work and come along.

The weather forecast for this weekend was pretty bleak so I was expecting to get wet and muddy, but it didn’t rain once, and though it was a bit muddy in places, we did really well weather-wise! We got in at about 12 o’clock and had a look around before heading over to the outdoor arena where Westwood was DJing. Now I’ve never been a fan of his – either him on the radio or on MTV’s ‘Pimp My Ride’, but the first thing I noticed about him was his inability to open his mouth with a string of obscenities coming out! He obviously thought it was cool, but to be honest I just thought it was pretty boring, and made him seem even more fake.

Anyway, we headed over to the Main Stage and saw the beginning of Jamie T’s set, but it wasn’t really my thing so we went to the ‘In New Music We Trust’ stage to watch The Pigeon Detectives. I wasn’t really aware of them before, but I knew Ralph likes their stuff, and I did actually recognise one of their songs. They were really good though, and the lead singer was really energetic, and I reckon I’ll take a listen to their future stuff.

Natasha Bedingfield.

We sat outside the tent whilst The Twang were on, and then made our way into the crowd of the Main Stage to watch the rest of the line up. Natasha Bedingfield was on next – I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction she’d get. Personally I really like her stuff, but I think a lot of people are quite hostile to her. But quite cleverly, Chris Moyles who was introducing her got the crowd to build up to a big cheer in sections as she came on, which meant that her set got off to a really good start. She started off with her ‘Babies’ song which I wasn’t keen on when I first heard it, but now I do like it! She also did ‘Unwritten’ as part of her half-hour, and when the gospel-singing bit kicked in at the end, it sounded brilliant!

Next up were The Fray – complete with a baby grand piano! I’m quite into their stuff – I bought their album recently, but haven’t listened to it enough to know that many of their songs other than ‘Over My Head’ and ‘How To Save A Life’. Then after yet another half hour of waiting (as the stage was re-set and various music videos were played on the screens) we were treated to The Fratellis. I’m not a massive fan of theirs, but I did think they were really good, and the crowd were singing along to all their songs, and I joined in on the couple I knew!

Kasabian were next to hit the stage, and the lead singer seemed to be quite hyped up and excited to be there! They produced an amazing sound actually, and probably got the best reaction from the crowd all day I reckon.

Razorlight.

Then the last band we saw on the Main Stage was Razorlight who reeled off all their big hits. To be honest, I was quite surprised at how many songs I knew well, and I thought they were excellent, although my legs were aching quite badly by this point having been standing in the crowd for about 5 hours!

We didn’t bother staying for Scissor Sisters, but instead headed over to the other stage to catch some of Groove Armada’s set. They were okay, but I didn’t really know any of their stuff, so we left about 10 minutes before the end to make sure we didn’t get caught up in the madness of 20,000 people all leaving the park at the same time!

Anyway, to sum up, these are the 5 things I’m taking away from yesterday…

1. I’ll definitely be buying The Pigeon Detectives album when it comes on on May 28th – they were good.
2. I must watch more music videos – there are some really good ones out there at the moment that might well inspire me in my work!
3. I need to get along to more gigs – live music is great.
4. I can’t wait for the smoking ban to come in – I was getting so peed off with people blowing smoke in my face yesterday whilst in the crowd!
5. Westwood is an arse.