The Island of Whites is a strange place, an island of only one rule "NO BRINGING DRINKS INTO THE ARENA". Slightly reminiscent of the fair that the boys were carted off too in Pinocchio, "You Know", the one where they all turn into donkeys.
Tip number one for all you festival goer's, don't buy a pop up tent for a rainy festival. I am sad to say i did and yes it did flood. I first became aware of this when i woke up in a pool of my own urine, have you ever heard of that game people play when a drunk mate falls asleep and you put his or her hand into a bowl of water whilst sleeping and they end up peeing themselves, it is now apparent to me that hanging your hand off of a blow up bed into rain water can be just as effective. I'll leave you to decide for yourselves how much of this statement is true.
I went to Glastonbury festival in 2009 and it is safe to say that Isle of Wight is a much more chilled out festival, nothing starts until about 13:00, so the morning is spent sleeping, eating and generally prepping for the evening ahead. There are considerably fewer preforming tents than Glastonbury so alot less walking which was nice.
Onto the music, i managed to see 10 Main Stage acts, 4 Big Top acts and possibly a few from the other stages and bars but i cant remember names. Highlights of the week for me were; Jay Z preforming Heart of the City, Kanye West joining Jay Z for Run this Town, Jay Z's interaction with the crowd, Pink entering the stage via a crane, Vampire Weekends drummer....drumming, Ocean Colour Scene stealing some dudes hat, The Big Pinks drummer standing on the bass drum to show the crowd her ass cheek revealing swim suit, and Bombay Bicycle Club doing there thang.
All of these moments were dwarfed by the mere presents of, drum roll please......wait for it........ THE STROKES!!!!!!
Now i'm a 27 year old man and should probably know better but i found myself palming small women and children out of the way in order to get to the front of the stage so i could enjoy this moment to the fullest as i have convinced myself that this will end up being a once in a life time reunion. I know i should be ashamed of myself but I'd do it all over again if i could, the cry's of squashed feet and palmed faces were drowned by the Sheer coolness oozing from the stage. I bounced around like a baby for about an hour, I even removed my shirt at one stage in order to swing it high above my head in some homoerotic Stroke loving frenzy, for that and that alone i am ashamed. It's safe to say that this was the highlight of my festival, no year, no decade, No.....Life. For all of you that missed this moment, I feel sorry for you and wish you all could be as happy in your lives as i now am in mine.
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