The Who triumph on The Isle of Wight
14 June 2004
The Isle of Wight Festival is firmly back on the summer festival map following blistering perfomances from
The Who, Manic Street Preachers and David Bowie. This year's line up offered rockers of all generations
something, quoting from its own history by bringing the dervish-like 60s rockers back and then bringing things quickly
up-to-date with Jet via The Chalatans.
It's in The Who's nature to pillage all the plaudits but even after a testing few years, Daltrey and
Townshend can still bring 30,000 punters to their feet due to the fact that they simply seem to love playing their
back catalogue, and they instilled in songs like 'My Generation' and 'Won't Get Fooled Again' such urgency and vitallity
that The Who live experience is
still more essential than their recorded output.
Daltrey recollected his memories of the infamous 1970 festival
saying, "I remember getting drunk with Jim Morrison. We downed about two bottles of Southern Comfort in front of a
huge bonfire. Then the bugger went and died and didn't buy his round."
The theme of this year's festival seemed
to be whether the present crop of rockers on show could ever reach the status of the Bowies or Daltreys of this
world and if this was even possible these days when the music business has changed so much.
The Stereophonics
and Manic Street Preachers are in contention for such longevity and both played strong sets. Kelly
Jones' men are probably due a critical revival these days and after a brief absence returned to the Isle of
Wight on Friday night refreshed and inspired, ripping through a greatest hits set with 'Boy In The Photograph', 'Madame
Helga' and 'Mr Writer'.
On Saturday, the Manics gave fans a taster of the new Tony Visconti-produced
album due in October with two new tracks 'Empty Souls' and 'Solitude Sometimes Is'. James Dean Bradfield
warned "If it sounds shit, its because it's new." Luckily, it didn't.
Jet proved that they have
the potential to still be around in a few years with a typically brash run out, While many people's rock legends in the making
The Libertines, who unfortunately might not last as long, were replaced on the bill by The Ordinary
Boys.
It was left to Bowie to close the festival on Sunday and lift the impending gloom
of another disasterous football tournament by highlighting what the Brits do best with songs plucked from his 35 year
career. Unfortunately, given the circumstances, songs like 'Heroes' and 'Ashes To Ashes' tended to resonate a bit too
much, but as soon as 'Ziggy Stardust' kicks in Bowie is able to ease the crowd out of despair to begin dreaming all over
again.
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