Victorious Festival 2019: Friday Night At The Seaside

by | Aug 27, 2019

Friday night atmosphere at Victorious Festival (Simon Reed)

Victorious is Britain’s biggest metropolitan festival. From humble beginnings a few years ago at a site in Portsmouth’s Historic Naval Dockyard, the event is now in its eighth year and has expanded to occupy a giant swathe of Southsea Common and promenade. There are a total of ten performance spaces but the majority of the big action takes place on the headline Common and Castle stages.

In 2017, the festival grew from a two day weekend to include a Friday night party on the (smaller) Castle stage and from 2018 the Friday activities were upgraded to the premiere Common arena.

Last year the weather was at times atrocious; rain pelted sideways aided by a hurricane force breeze off The Solent. Bands huddled under makeshift gazebos at the back of the stages. Boy what a difference a year makes. For 2019, three days of wall to wall sunshine with temperatures exceeding thirty degrees were forecast. So, with a pair of sunnies and the factor fifty in hand, I packed my camera and headed down the A3 to be beside the seaside.

Victorious Festival fun (Simon Reed)

Victorious Festival fun (Simon Reed)

Friday’s first action on the big stage came in the form of Dodgy, a band who sit smack bang in the 1990s Britpop nostalgia box. Dodgy headlined the very first Victorious in 2012. I didn’t see that performance, and as a result of bank holiday traffic, I didn’t see last Friday’s one either. I did see them in their heyday at the Kentish Town Forum, though I suspect it was called the ‘Town And Country Club’ back then. If I’m being brutally honest, the thing I remember most about that evening was how good the support (a little-known band at the time called Kula Shaker) were. I was keen to find out if Dodgy were going to make more of an impression second time around, but sadly I’ll never know. One thing I’d bet the mortgage on. They surely must have played Staying Out For The Summer and given the weather, the crowd would have lapped it up.

The Zutons (Simon Reed)

The Zutons (Simon Reed)

The Zutons followed and this one I did get to see, their brand of jangling guitar infused pop and rock going down very nicely with the late afternoon Victorious crowd. Frontman Dave McCabe’s brown mop of hair bounced in harmony with the audience whilst stage left, sax player and vocalist Abi Harding’s staccato dancing and facial expressions drew much warranted attention.

Abi Harding of The Zutons (Simon Reed)

Abi Harding of The Zutons (Simon Reed)

The band’s most popular tune, Valarie, was made more famous by the Mark Ronson/Amy Winehouse collaboration. This came mid-way through the set and garnered a big reaction, but it was the foot-stomping/hand clapping You Will You Won’t that closed proceedings and was my personal highlight. It was made for an event such as this.

Jimi Goodwin and Andy Williams of Doves (Simon Reed)

Jimi Goodwin and Andy Williams of Doves (Simon Reed)

Doves are a band that I freely admit passed me by at their height, though given the sizeable number of tour shirts baring their name in evidence, there was significant support in the crowd. Another indie rock band from the late Britpop era, singer Jimi Goodwin played bass in the style of his namesake Hendrix (i.e. instrument upside down though fortunately not on fire). He also bore a passing resemblance to a bespectacled Guy Garvey – or put another way, a geography teacher without the elbow pads – but just like Garvey, Goodwin had a great rapport with the crowd.

Jimi Goodwin of Doves (Simon Reed)

Jimi Goodwin of Doves (Simon Reed)

As the set progressed, I was left wondering ‘there must be a song of theirs that I know’. Then they played There Goes The Fear and I was left wondering ‘how on earth did I not know this was a Doves song?’ I’m in no doubt the whole episode says more about my own ignorance than it does the Doves discography.

The Specials (Simon Reed)

The Specials (Simon Reed)

As the relentless blue skies gave way to a beautiful south coast sunset, The Specials came on to the Common stage.

The Specials (Simon Reed)

The Specials (Simon Reed)

The famed social conscience of the band was spelled out for all to see in the shape of placard props placed amongst the backline.

Terry Hall of The Specials (Simon Reed)

Terry Hall of The Specials (Simon Reed)

Terry Hall read lyrics from an iPad and sadly didn’t look like he had his heart in the performance, though super-animated Jamaican born guitarist Lynval Golding more than made up for this.

Lynval Golding of The Specials (Simon Reed)

Lynval Golding of The Specials (Simon Reed)

Highlights included the obvious, A Message To You, Rudy and Too Much, Too Young. This latter song came last and pork pie hats would have been thrown in the air, had anybody been wearing them. The band didn’t play Ghost Town. Perhaps it’s just too depressing with no deal Brexit and the suggestions of what might possibly follow around the corner? The absence of this fantastic piece of music was a shame, but notwithstanding that and Hall’s apparent ambivalence, The Specials still turned in a very enjoyable performance.

Two Door Cinema Club (Simon Reed)

Two Door Cinema Club (Simon Reed)

By late summer at nine-forty, the stage lighting had fully taken hold for Friday night headliner Two Door Cinema Club.

Benjamin Thompson performing with Two Door Cinema Club (Simon Reed)

Benjamin Thompson performing with Two Door Cinema Club (Simon Reed)

Whilst cementing the unashamed ‘retro/nostalgia’ vibe of Victorious’ opening day, the Northern Irish touring five-piece were comparative newcomers, given their massive debut album Tourist History is only nine years old.

Alex Trimble of Two Door Cinema Club (Simon Reed)

Alex Trimble of Two Door Cinema Club (Simon Reed)

Much of the instantly recognisable tunes the band played, such as What You Know and Something Good Can Work, come from that album and the entire audience it seemed sang along to the ringing guitar lines. After a while, you’re struck that a lot of the songs sound the same but when you’ve got some of the anthems Two Door Cinema Club have got it doesn’t really matter.

Victorious Friday night front row (Simon Reed)

Victorious Friday night front row (Simon Reed)

It certainly didn’t matter to the Friday night audience whose bouncing and singing helped generate one of the best atmospheres of the entire weekend. At the close, fireworks lit up the sky and the exodus began. Saturday brought the promise of a bit less nostalgia and a bit more eclecticism. I was looking forward to it before I’d even reached the car park.

Friday night fireworks (Simon Reed)

Friday night fireworks (Simon Reed)

Victorious Festival 2019: Friday Night At the Seaside: review and photography by Simon Reed. Simon has his own music photography website at www.musicalpictures.co.uk. RockShot’s review of Saturday/Sunday at Victorious 2019 to follow.

 

 

 

 

GeeJay (Phoebe Nightingale)

GeeJay Share New Track Murder And Announce Biggest Headline Show To Date

North London soul-pop duo GeeJay have unveiled their brand new track Murder and announced details of their biggest...
YES (Gottlieb Bros.)

YES Announce 2026 UK Tour Celebrating Fragile

Progressive rock legends YES have announced their return to the UK with a nine-date tour in spring 2026, following the...
Hannah McFarland (Chris Ashlee)

“It Has Been a Whirlwind” — But Hannah McFarland Is Just Getting Started

Alabama country singer Hannah McFarland has barely had a chance to catch her breath. Since releasing her Broken Hearts EP in February, her career has skyrocketed with opportunities she once only dreamed of.

Lewis Capaldi @ Glastonbury Festival 2023 (Kalpesh Patel)

BST Hyde Park 2026 Kicks Off With Garth Brooks And Lewis Capaldi As First Headliners

BST Hyde Park has announced the first two headliners for its 2026 edition, setting the stage for another blockbuster...
Blondshell @ Electric Brixton (Kalpesh Patel)

Blondshell Brings Electric Brixton To Boil On First Night Of London Double-Header

Sabrina Teitelbaum — better known as Blondshell — has built her reputation on raw honesty and songs that cut deep, and...
Ash @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

Ash Light Up Scala & Celebrate Ad Astra With Career-Spanning Set And Graham Coxon Collaboration

There was a palpable sense of anticipation outside North London venue Scala on Wednesday night as Ash returned for the...
Callum Beattie @ Glastonbury Festival 2017 (Kalpesh Patel)

Callum Beattie Announces New Album ‘INDI’ And 2026 Tour Dates, Including Biggest Headline Show Yet at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro

Scottish singer-songwriter Callum Beattie has announced details of his third studio album INDI, set for release on...
Maya Lane @ The Grace (Henry Finnegan / @finneganfoto)

Maya Lane On The Hurt And The Healing: From Vulnerability to Growth

On a rain-soaked evening in London, rising singer-songwriter Maya Lane celebrated the release of her brand-new EP The Hurt And The Healing with an intimate show at The Grace. Just weeks earlier, we had met under sunnier skies at The Long Road Festival, beers and whiskies in hand, denim and sunshine everywhere. Now, umbrellas and storm clouds in tow, it felt fitting that Lane’s new project, a record that navigates through storms towards moments of calm, should arrive on a night like this.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share Thing