v festival

i've just got home from v festival and what a good time it was. i got there fairly late and caught the end of cut copy's set. they seemed pretty cool and i'd be keen to see them again. following them was the legendary the jesus and mary chain who played a good set.

the highlight for me was a brilliant performance by duran duran. i last saw them play in london four years ago and since then andy taylor's left the band again. i'd also heard mixed reviews of their eastern states shows so was wondering how they'd go. i needn't have worried as they were in good form tonight. of course, it's hard to go wrong when you can pull songs such as planet earth, girls on film, rio, hungry like the wolf, the wild boys, a view to a kill, notorious, the reflex and ordinary world from your back catalogue. simon really seemed to be enjoying himself (and the crowd adulation) and regularly broke out into grins. john's bass playing was masterful and had me spellbound. it's the first time the durans have been to perth since 1983 and i really hope we don't have to wait another 25 years for them to come back.

the final act was the smashing pumpkins and they were also good although suffered from being upstaged by the durans. they didn't play a number of their most well known songs but still kept the crowd happy, particularly when the opening notes of 'today' rang out.

all in all it was a very good concert. i think the $130 ticket price may be a bit steep when you compare it to the number of bands you can choose from at the big day out but then again, it's a smaller crowd here so you can actually get a spot at the front of stage for your favourite bands. i managed to end up right at the front for the durans which helped make the show.