Isle of Wight Festival 2003 Review

Summertime...and the living is easy!

Isle of Wight Festival

Ironically for a festival with a history of being the biggest this country has ever seen, the 2003 Isle of Wight festival was a remarkably small and in some ways, pedestrian affair. With only a single stage and few genuinely palatable areas of alternative entertainment (bar the obligatory funfair and 'amusing' t-shirt stalls) there was little in the way of variety. However, a solid (white, male, guitar based) line-up ensured that the punters had a strong lineup to accompany the sound of their skin burning in the soaring temperatures.

This is the year that The Thrills come of age, a fact they underlined with a perfectly executed breezy pop set, stuffed with ever more familiar tunes. Whether they have the depth of songwriting to become the next Beachboys remains to be seen, but if you had to choose one band to open up a festival on a scorching hot weekend in June, you would be hard pushed to fine one more apt than this.

Unsuprisingly The Cooper Temple Clause ignored the heat, providing a spirited set dressed in assorted leather jackets. The Cooper's set has changed dramatically over the last 6 months and now includes a raft of tracks from their forthcoming (and eagerly anticipated) second album. Of these, A.I.M. still stands out as the strongest live, but it is reassuring to hear the unfamiliar songs slotting in perfectly between their established tracks.

With guitarist and songwriter Dan Fisher hailing from the Island, the Coopers ensured their spine-tingling finale was based firmly in familiar territory, with Ben screaming out the ending to Panzer Attack whilst once again pounding tambourine on stage. Some things never change!

Read on for the rest of the Saturday, and the Sunday review