V Fest: A Resounding Success

Drawing a crowd of nearly 75,000 punters over last Saturday and Sunday (Aug 4-5), the Virgin Festival in Baltimore played host to reunited headliners Smashing Pumpkins and The Police, as well as the full Wu-Tang Clan (minus O.D.B. R.I.P.), Beastie Boys, LCD Soundsystem, M.I.A., Felix Da Housecat, Girl Talk, Regina Spektor, Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Miguel Migs, Amy Winehouse, Paolo Nutini and many others of the underground ilk.

Acts like Brazilian neu-rave band Cansei De Ser Sexy (CSS) and Russian-born Regina Spektor brought together a diversity of styles in the North Stage, while the Dance Tent saw Girl Talk play a seriously fun laptop mix-up selection, Felix Da Housecat unleash banging beats, and M.I.A. serve up tasty treats from her new album Kala. The Beastie Boys kept their new array of instrumentals to a minimum, wisely opting to hone in on their back catalogue. Andy Summers, Sting and Stewart Copeland of The Police finished off the first day with a concise 1 hour set, running through their greatest hits in a matured performance rich with elastic bass lines and frenetic drum work. It was a sweltering weekend in more ways than one, and a fine mid-to-late summer musical festival.