It was Faithless who got the ball rolling again with what was merely an OK set. Maybe I was too far away because at V2001 they were one of the best acts. Here they were just alright. I think I heard God Is A DJ before we all left the main arena for the second stage and saw...

...A! This was before they became popular and they looked really different. The tunes were just unmemorable moshpit fodder but what a moshpit! It was quite intense (if nicely compact) and I steered clear. Nothing worth jumping around for here.

I now took a few steps forwards and was left by my mates as I settled down towards the front. Annoyingly there were a few kids who refused to let me get onto the first row until after Travis and it was horrible watching everyone else strolling almost straight to the front just a few metres beside me. But it was worth it for the Furries! Until then I had to make to with Sneaker Pimps who'd dumped their female singer, which was a big mistake making them a bland and pointless act. They did play Six Underground though but everything was slow and dull and just didn't work with some guy doing it.

And now came perhaps the funniest rock star strop I've ever witnessed. I can't say much about dEUS except they seemed a fairly unspectacular indie act. All I remember this for is the singer (who looked like The Cooper Temple Clause do) who stormed offstage due to technical problems. For some reason he received electric shocks whenever he both sang and strummed the tar. After complaining to the soundman a lot and mumbling at us to try and explain what was wrong he then stormed off, leaving the rest of the band to play for a bit before he returned. I haven't heard anything from the band since.

Fortunately things finally picked up as the big three hit the stage in a glorious trilogy of fantastic live music. Travis had done what Coldplay did a year later and had gone massive and were performing to a giant crowd. It was the day that The Man Who (which, incidentally, is completely, absolutely and utterly inferior to their debut Good Feeling) got to number one and I truly can pinpoint this as the day that Travis went mega! I recall that the set was good, with loads of early songs (but sadly no Hazy Shades Of Gold) and it did indeed rain, although not quite to coincide with the song. This was fine stuff and the perfect place and time to see the band. I was honoured to be there!

So I finally got to the front prepared to sit tight for SFA, expecting a nice rest beforehand. But I was in for a treat. Shed Seven who I, along with the rest of the population of Earth, had dismissed as a mediocre indie band not worthy of much attention, were awesome! I was shocked, but everyone else enjoyed it too and there can be no denying their festival shows can win any sceptic over. It was a glorious Disco Down that did it. A song I barely knew, other than thinking it a lame attempt at genre hopping. It was the opener and I was absolutely blown away beyond all comprehension. It was perfect! The emotional intensity of it was nearly unbearable. Of course we also got Chasing Rainbows and She Left Me On Friday which kept me interested, as well as all the crowdsurfers, but it was the opener alone that blew me away and made me ready to stand up for Shed Seven and their music forever more. This was the big surprise show and almost the highlight of the day!

I suppose it goes without saying that SFA were better than everyone else by a million miles, but this was what I'd totally expected which therefore made them slightly less memorable than Suede and the Sheds. Things kicked off nice and early as I helped lead the crowd in a sing-along of Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home) before the band came onstage with it. For once, they pulled this difficult tune off, and it was a glorious opener! Northern Lites was blinding of course, featuring the furry trumpet players we'd seen on Top Of The Pops. Details elude me about the middle of the show, but the light show was spectacular and it was louder than hell! Things reached a glorious climax with an apocalyptic Night Vision, which really felt like the end of the world as Gruff urged us to kill all the bouncers on the planet. Proceedings ended of course with The Woman Don't Give A Fuck (dedicated to James Brown). The furry trumpet players came out, fists in the air to celebrate a glorious victory over everyone else. The Furries had pulled it off yet again. Like Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal combined, they really were untouchable. What a surprise!

I then marched off to the main stage for the Manics to finish my festival off, whilst all the oldies who'd missed SFA came over to watch James Brown. In retrospect, I think they were right with the final act as The Godfather Of Soul would have been a unique festival experience to witness from the front position I'd just given up. Instead it was off towards the Manic Street Preachers and I had to be content with standing pretty far back in a group fairly reluctant to mosh. The highlight was Of Walking Abortion, and we also got the second ever play of The Masses Against The Classes, and a rather groovy green flashlight shining into the sky. There was nothing really wrong except I'd seen it before, I'd see it again and it wasn't worth watching from my position. And, of course, this was an enormous anti-climax after SFA had stormed the field...

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But it was the Manics who ended my V99 story, the only remaining incident being arguing with Joel about Travis, trying to make him understand that, as good as they were, comparing them with SFA is like comparing a glorious palace with a nice-but-modest bungalow and his argument was completely retarded as he'd refused to even see the Super Furries anyway! He didn't understand and the frustration that he'd stayed in the tent doing nothing rather than coming along to see a band I'd promised him would be the greatest thing he'd ever see was unbearable. Of course the sensible thing to do in such a position is to go along and listen, and to avoid a clear chance to attend and give judgement shows jaw-dropping narrow-mindedness and therefore an automatic loss of the argument. I try to give bands I doubt I'd enjoy a chance, including with Hundred Reasons at Leeds 2002, so now I can interject and say they're a shit live act and be in a position to make such a statement which is a lot more sensible! And some bands have also surprised me by defying expectations, such as The Streets at Reading 2006, which I think shows I go with an open mind to new ideas.

But that's enough of me being right. Which I am. Usually. V99 was over, and things would become quite a lot more spectacular next year...

SONG OF THE DAY: Shed Seven - Disco Down