V FESTIVAL 2014 (The Saturday Edition)

I'm going to take you back to August 2013, my Facebook feed was full of 'V FEST 2K13' albums containing pictures of Olly Murs, Jessie J, a blurry Niall Horan and of course Queen B. Jealousy kicked in, so I made sure that this year, I would tread the exceedingly muddy fields of Chelmsford's very own, Hylands Park.

So, after strategically planning our itinerary for the weekend, we set off towards the Arena Stage for our first performance of the weekend courtesy of Britsh/Ghanian rapper Fuse ODG. Starting with 'Azonto' where we were taught how to 'Azonto' (I was unaware that this was a dance move so this was an enlightening experience for me,) or rather a simplified version, which involved shaking our hands up towards the sky and then down towards our feet.. Next up was 'Million Pound Girl (Badder Than Bad)' and 'T.I.N.A' (ft Angel)  both involved a lot of call and response shouting between Fuse and the audience and if I remember correctly, ALOT of clapping along, especially to T.I.N.A (which if you didn't know, stands for This Is New Africa.) These 3 songs were just the warm up to ODG's last, and obviously best known tracks. Freshly released 'Dangerous Love' featuring the one and only Sean Paul, who much to my disappointment, didn't make a surprise entrance and global hit 'Antenna', saw every girl unleash their inner African woman with lots of gyrating hips and booty shaking (guilty.) This topped off his 25 minute set in an increasingly crammed and consequently, sweaty tent! 

Next up was John Newman on the MTV Stage. Personally, I always associate John Newman with Sam Smith because John broke through onto the music scene in 2012 with Rudimental and their smash hit 'Feel The Love,' as did Sam and Disclosure with 'Latch'. Now as you may or may not know, I am completely and utterly obsessed with Sam Smith so of course I followed Sam and his career whilst John took a bit of a back seat. However, there is no denying that this man can put on a S H O W, as a bit of a Newman 'newbie' I could only properly sing along to Rudimental's 'Feel The Love' and 'Not Giving In' which he featured on, and also his solo tracks: 'Losing Sleep', 'Cheating' and the obvious crowd pleaser 'Love Me Again'. John looked quite the gentleman in a cream suit as he whipped out the infamous Charleston step and gave the audience numerous hair flicks from that unmistakeable blonde-streaked quiff of his. The raw, almost gravely tone is his voice is just as amazing live, as it is on his album.

Finally we trekked over to the main stage for the final 6 hours of our Saturday, V Festival experience. First on the agenda were Bastille, once again I wouldn't label myself as a massive fan but I'd been told by numerous friends and also by the random bunch of lads that we made friends with in the crowd, that Bastille are amazing live. To be completely honest, because we were so far away from the stage I couldn't really hear their voices that clearly, but the instrumentation and the atmosphere during their set was incredible. Even though I didn't know the words to many of the songs, the atmosphere during 'Pompeii' was almost tangible and obviously I belted out the lyrics at the top of my lungs.

Example took to the stage next and he was one of the acts that I was most excited to see live, Example is one of those artists who hasn't really released a song that I haven't liked. When I was reeling off all of the songs that his set would comprise of, I realised just how many hits he has actually had! Now Example himself, said during an interview at Radio 1's Big Weekend this year, that when people come to see him perform live he doesn't expect them to go away saying how amazing his voice is or how good looking he is, he just wants people to come away feeling like they've had a great time. And that's what I had, kind of.. Apart from being leant on, crushed and grinded on by some sweaty and rather large boy behind me in the crowd, Example's set was just like one massive party. Compiling songs such as my personal favourite, ' One More Day (Stay With Me)' and crowd favourite 'All The Wrong Places' from his new album Live Life Living, and also some of his old bangers such as 'Kickstarts', 'Won't Go Quietly' and 'Changed The Way You Kiss Me' he definitely catered to the huge audience that looked on at him and didn't let me down.

Moving onto the man of the moment, Mr Ed Sheeran. Now I was expecting big, big things from this young man and he did not disappoint whatsoever. The simplicity of his set was as expected, just one man and his guitar. (Oh and his infamous loop pedal). In contrast to Example and most of the artists across the weekend, Ed decided to begin his set with old ('+') album favourites, 'Give Me Love', 'Lego House' and of course the 'white lips, pale face" favourite, 'The A Team'.  A notable mention goes to Ed's absolutely insane freestyle rapping in the middle of 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You' this was the only moment, that for the minute or so that he just let the lyrics run off of his tongue, that the main stage was awe-struck into silence, only broken by thunderous applause and a rather excessive amount of hooting.. The hooting and call and response sequences of 'ohhh-ohhh-oh' that left me with no voice for the following day, came courtesy of 'Sing' 'Don't' and 'I See Fire' (The one from The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug). One of the highlights of V for me, was when I sat on my friends shoulders during the beautiful 'Thinking Out Loud' (which I have reviewed here) and saw a sea of hands waving from side to side and seeing people embracing one another (soppy moment over but it was an amazing sight.) I would definitely recommend going to see Ed Sheeran if you ever get the chance, well worth the perseverance of being crushed and leant on by the rather large boy behind me during Example, (hi if you're reading this.)

And last but by no means least, the one man that most people had solely come to V Fest to see, you guessed it, Justin Timberlake. Now I hate to disappoint, but in terms of the set and setlist, it was simply a shortened version of what I saw at the O2 during his 'The 20/20 Experience Tour' so if you want to read my review, you may do so to your hearts content just here. The only differences at V were that: Firstly, I was a whole lot closer to the stage (which was obviously amazing.) Secondly, everyone was extremely intoxicated by this point so the singing and dancing was non-stop during his hour and a half set. Thirdly, he stopped to take a selfie with some girls on the front row who were holding an "It's my birthday" sign (can you sense the jealousy?) And lastly, 'Señorita' has never, ever sounded so good.
Oh also I forgot to mention, during Justin's set I turned to my left and Dan Smith (lead singer of Bastille) was just casually standing next to me! I didn't want to pester him for a photo, however I did get a hello so at least that's something right?

(Excuse the bad quality photo's, expensive camera + festival = no)

Top 5 songs of the week (14/7/14-21/7/14)

Firstly, I apologise for the late (and lack of) blog posts this week, I have been rehearsing and performing in a few dance shows which is where 2 of this week's top 5 have come from!

So to get straight to it, in at number 5 is a rediscovery of mine whilst I was scouring the Topshop sale (a regular occurrence), my friends and I were just about to walk out when the unmistakeable opening of Two Door Cinema Club- What You Know blared out across the store. We all turned to each other and did the 'ohhhhh what a tuuuune' face (I know you know the one I mean) and started bopping and nodding our heads to the exceedingly catchy rhythm. I don't think the sales assistant standing by the entrance was as enthusiastic as this was most likely, the tenth time he had heard that track that day..

4th position is taken by the incredible James Bay with his James Morrison doppleganger track If You Ever Want To Be In Love, a song that is so uplifting and consequently great to sing along to during your morning shower (this has been tried and tested by yours truly, much to both my family's and the neighbours' delight.)

Third position has also been awarded to James Bay, with his beautiful track Let It Go. I won't say too much about both of these tracks as you can read about them in my previous blog post on the man himself, here. However I have had them on repeat ever since I discovered them last week, so I just had to include them in this week's top 5. To those of you wondering why Let It Go is placed higher than If You Ever Want To Be In Love, it is simply due to the unprecedented tone that he carries when performing this song. His voice is one of very few that I can listen to with complete ease, repetitively, without getting the slightest bit sick of it, so congrats James!

Getting to the nitty gritty of this world renowned top 5.. falling just short of the top spot, is Paolo Nutini and the truly beautiful Autumn. Written in dedication to his grandfather, Paolo has written a song that is so lyrically and emotionally, on point, that it seems it can be applied to almost any situation or person and will never fall short of reducing them to tears. I discovered this song, during the dress rehearsal of my dance show and I immediately recognised Paolo's distinctive voice, but I 'Shazam'ed' it so that I could find out the name of the song and more importantly, so that I could include it in this blog post. (I strongly recommend the Shazam app, it has saved me on numerous occasions from nameless songs on adverts or on the radio) Just a truly, truly, beautiful song.

And finally, in at number 1, another song that I discovered during the dress run of the show and consequently via Shazam is the breathtaking Jamie Woon- Spirits. I have been infatuated, encapsulated even, with this track. In the live version of this track, his loop pedal, beatboxing and harmonising is exceedingly reminiscent of an Ed Sheeran track, however the voice that is to follow, is  just f**king amazing! This song was released over 2 years ago, and how I haven't discovered his voice before now, is completely beyond me! In my opinion, the harmonies are on par with those of the harmony king himself, Craig David. I can't seem to pin point what exactly it is about his voice, maybe it's the simplicity, there are no complicated riff's or run's, just beautiful harmonies and layered instrumentation in support. I kid you not when I say that, since I first discovered this song on Friday, it has been played over 50 times on Youtube.. Like James Bay, I don't see how anyone could ever get sick of listening to his voice because it has totally mesmerised me.
Look out for a Jamie Woon review very soon (probably later on today knowing me) as I'm sure I will become hooked on the rest of his music.

As usual, I don't own the rights to any of the videos or songs that I have linked in this post. The rights are completely those of the artist.

Top 5 songs of the week (7/7/14- 13/7/14)

I have been having a little think about what sort of content I could put up on here that would allow me to be more regular with my posts. So consequently, I deleved into the dusty corners of my (rather frazzled) brain and came up with the simple idea, of my "top 5" songs of the week (as you can obviously see by the title of the post, duh.)

So without further ado, at number 5 are The Vamps and their cover of The Neighbourhood's-Sweater Weather. Although, frustratingly, we have only be presented with a 2 minute teaser, the accompanying video of the adorable Bradley Simpson, lip-syncing in the middle of a bustling Times Sqaure (as you do), in his cute little fedora hat and circular sunnies, TOATLLY makes up for it. This version is basically a stripped back, acoustic version of the original with the added twist of Brad's cheeky and thankfully, British accent. (I say thankfully as there is nothing more annoying to me personally, when a British singer sings in an American accent is it just me?!) Rant over.
A very chilled/relaxing track that seamlessly repeats over and over as I get on with the mountain of homework that I have left until the last minute.
Here's the link to the video featuring Brad in his fedora/sunnies xoxoxo
(Lets all pray for the full version to be released VERY soon.)

Next in at number 4 is one of my newer discoveries this week and thank goodness I did find this little gem. It's Ed Sheeran and the indescribably beautiful Thinking Out Loud. Never did I think that I would find a replacement so soon for my 'Most Beautiful Love Song Of The Year.' Releasing his globally-renowned hit All Of Me , John Legend took the top spot in August 2013 with this lyrical and visual masterpiece, his inspiration for this power ballad and also, the love interest in the video, comes in the shape of his beautiful wife (back then fiancée) Chrissy Teigen. However Ed's lyrically gifted mind, has yet again churned out another tear-triggering hit. He has optimised the 21st century love song, so consequently (and most importantly of course) he is in pole position for my 'Most Beautiful Love Song Of The Year.' Undoubtedly worth a listen.

Number 3: A song from a genre that has yet to be featured on my blog! Hoorah! Personally I would class Example as an Electro/Dance/House artist, but I'll let you decide for yourselves! Getting an honourable mention, is his new tune One More Day (Stay With Me). Simply put, the ultimate feel-good banger for this summer. Killer beat throughout and very reminiscent of what I would imagine a DJ in Ibiza to put on in the midst of their set.

Coming a very close 2nd are my new little secret obsession, also known as up and coming boy band Rixton. I vividly remember where I was the first time I heard their debut single (and my 2nd placed song) Me And My Broken Heart, I was slouched on the sofa flicking through the Virgin Media Music on Demand's playlists as the repeating advertisements for new releases and monthly favourite artists droned on in the background. Then suddenly, I heard what I immediately thought was Maroon 5's lead man, Adam Levine's voice. How surprised I was when I looked up to find that my judgement had failed me and instead I caught a glimpse of the cute little faces of a nameless boy band that were supposedly part of the new releases folder. In a desperate attempt to put a name to this Levine-esque voice I scoured the new releases folder (unsuccessfully), waited for the cycle of adverts to come back around (I gave up after 15 minutes of impatiently waiting),  and I even tweeted Virgin Media to see if they could help me, but no such luck. After some strained recollection, I remembered hearing the lyrics, "It seems like we've been losing control" so in a very savvy and professional way, I typed those lyrics into Google.. (I know I'm not the only one,  c'mon now we've all done it before) and there it was 'Rixton-Me and My Broken Heart'. An exceedingly catchy song with beautiful instrumentation throughout and a uniquely effortless tone in lead singer Jake Roche's voice. But irritatingly for me, this track very hard to sing along too, as some of the notes that he hits are just that bit too high for me, *cries* but attempts nevertheless.

AND FINALLY (thank you for making it this far) IN AT NUMBER ONE: Magic!- Rude. This song just screams, a chilled out, Jamaican jam (yes you did just read the word jam). It is just such a great song! I really don't know what else to say about it, it is ultimately a feel-good song that will definitely make you get up and start moving those hips!
These words do not do this song any justice, just click on the link up there and give it a listen, I mean it would be RUDE not to.
Get it?


Yeah.. I'll just end the post here.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the video's linked in this post, all rights are those of the artist.