Sunday 21/08/05 Day 2 @ V Festival, Staffordshire

Litter is strewn all around while people lay haphazardly on the burnt grass, almost lifeless. It seems the antics of Saturday have caught up with the majority of V's music lovers. It's akin to a scene from Saving Private Ryan but all limbs appear intact and The Stands are tickling a little bit of life back into them on the V Stage.

By the time Goldie Lookin' Chain bounce on to the stage everyone is up on their feet again, or has at least regained enough energy to turn their heads towards the stage. You will never again see so many cheeky Welsh chappies on one stage at the same time and for the next 20 minutes there is a whirlwind of brightly coloured shell suits and sweat bands. The jocularity of it all momentarily takes the sting out of the sunburn so many people now seem to be enduring.

Over on the 4 Stage The Magic Numbers are about to appear. They seem a little apprehensive, or perhaps just a little modest, as they make their way on to the stage but it isn't long before they are putting on an unbelievable performance. Their set has more soul than a shoe shop. Beautiful harmonies, foot tapping, clapping and deafening cheers are clearly the order of the day and front man Romeo Stodart comes across as being a genuinely cool guy when expressing how amazed he is by the crowd's response. It is a well deserved one though as their crescendo of feel-good music comes to an end.

It sets things up nicely for KT Tunstall whose captivating voice and even more captivating legs help to carry on the euphoria of the crowd. Indulging in a bit of banter with the crowd, her fun-loving and carefree attitude is as pleasing as her performance.

Good Charlotte must be thanked for being disappointingly naff and encouraging a great deal of people go in search of talent at the smaller stages. Quick feet and a reasonable amount of sobriety is just about enough to get you over to the Volvic Stage just in time to catch the end of The Kooks. It's a quirky, energetic performance that probably deserved full attention from the very start but we live and learn.

Morning Runner are up next and very graciously big up The Kooks before launching into their set at a canter. The show is a pleasure to watch but none of the songs are particularly outstanding. They will perhaps be worth another look again in the coming months.

Meanwhile, back at the 4 Stage The Bravery are whipping the enormous crowd up into a frenzy. Their smash hit 'An Honest Mistake' and particularly funky 'Fearless' go down particularly well. By this time, the crowd is thicker than George Bush so it is impossible to get close enough to the stage to tell if the guitarist makes it through the set without getting his bits out as he had done earlier in the year at Glastonbury. The weather is still fine for streaking, although sunblock may be adviseable.

The Kaiser Chiefs continue what has generally been a top drawer 4 Stage line-up thus far in proceedings. The tunes are great, the energy is there for all to see and from a distance you can still see singer Ricky pulling off his trademark Kaiser leaps.

More and more people seem to be appearing, crawling out from the freakin' woodwork. They weren't all here before, were they?! If anyone in the crowd is in any particular hurry to be anywhere they are pretty much screwed so it's time to get your asses, very slowly, back over to the V Stage.

The Streets are attempting to wake up the crowd that Maroon 5 have just sent to sleep and, to a certain extent, they are succeeding. However, 'Dry Your Eyes' hushes up the crowd once more but at least they are still paying attention and enjoying the wonderful cigarette lighter moment.

Of course, it's headliners Oasis the crowd are patiently waiting for. The biggest cheer of the weekend is reserved for them, probably undeservedly. Their cracking old tunes go down just as well as the songs off their latest album and although they are at last producing some good music again it is a shame that they make no effort to entertain the crowd. They might try to disguise their lack of onstage movement or crowd interaction as a stylish arrogance but there is no disguising it's a rather poor performance. You have to feel sorry for the die hard Oasis fans who really do deserve much better.

In fact, it is the crowd who actually steal the show and it's a beautiful thing as they belt out the tunes right until the very end bringing the 10th anniversary of the V Festival to life.