The Specials will be performing at this years V Festival, along with other Coventry band, The Enemy. The recently reformed SKA band will be playing on Saturday 22nd August and Sunday 23rd August 2009 at Weston Park in Staffordshire and Hylands Park in Chelmsford.
Headlining the V Festival are Oasis and The Killers, with a whole host of top bands and artists including -Fatboy Slim, Snow Patrol, Keane, Elbow, Razorlight, Ting Tings, Pendulum, MGMT and Lady Ga Ga.
Also appearing will be James, Lily Allen, Katy Perry, The Wombats, James Morrison, Pete Doherty and The Streets.
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Tickets go on sale Friday 6th March at 10am, find out more at http://www.vfestival.com/ . Prices are £73 for a single day, £132 for both days or £152 for weekend entry that includes camping.
Here are the list of artists confirmed for this years V Festival:
The Killers Oasis Razorlight Elbow The Streets MGMT The Wombats The Script Lily Allen The Ting Tings Bify Clyro Keane Pendulum Snow Patrol Peter Doherty James Katy Perry The Saturdays Ocean Colour Scene Happy Mondays Lady Gaga Seasick Steve Fatboy Slim Paolo Nutini The Enemy The Specials Dizzee Rascal
The Enemy may have woken up today in their home town of Coventry with very sore heads as they celebrated the end of yet another UK tour. Thankfully they didn't have too far to travel back home at the end of the after-party following a second night at Birmingham Carling Academy.
It was also celebrations for The Wombats, who were able to make it on stage tonight (previously ill) and the news their single "Let's Dance To Joy Division" had entered the UK charts at #15. Andy Hopkins from The Enemy had also battled against illness over the past few days to bravely solider on for the many Coventry fans who turned up both nights.
According to NME, all three acts put on a "ferocious performances for the packed house" and The Enemy were in a celebratory mood following the gig, by presenting bottles of champagne to both support acts by way of thanks.
"Playing in Birmingham for two nights was something that I really didn't expect so these dates were a real highlight, but I think the gig at Glasgow Barrowlands really stood out the most. I think the Scots are leading the way when it comes to getting on to new bands." "The Wombats have been great and they were definitely on a winner tonight. But I've got a lot of respect for how hard Lethal Bizzle worked on this tour. I wouldn't feel very confident going out in front of a crowd of Lethal Bizzle fans but he went out in front of ours and managed to convert a lot of people who didn't know anything about him."
For more music related stories, check out www.NME.com
Max and robmacca holding up Max's new Enemy poster
The Enemy gave the Coventry faithful another night to remember at Birmingham Carling Academy with yet another stunning performance as Andy Hopkins braved his illness to make it to the gig. The Wombats sadly couldn't say the same as they had to pull out due to "unforeseen circumstances" but Lethal Bizzleand his crew put on a cracking warm up and were warmly received by the crowds.
I had a good view of the crowds from the balcony and can honestly say - everyone was up for a good night. Long after the gig was finished the singing and chanting continued as several thousand fans streamed out of the Carling Academy and back home to Coventry. The New Street train station must have resembled a post football match scene when fans filled the platform. These fans tonight were celebrating another victory - for The Enemy.
Rob, Max and robmacca enjoying The Enemy gig in Birmingham
The Enemy kicked off their show with "Away From Here", so it was no messing about - just straight into an anthem. The crowds loved it as plenty of plastic lager glasses made it to the stage and the whole crowd danced, sang along and partied like it was a New Year party! The videos captured the scene quite well and can be seen at: http://www.theenemy.eu/gigvideos.aspx .
Tom Clarke asks "How the fuck is it going Birmingham?" to which the crowds respond with cheers and shouts, then The Enemy launch into "40 Days and 40 Nights". It was hard to define where the mosh pit started or finished because so many in the crowd were dancing. The press and photographers must have got a few good pictures during "Pressure" with lots of flashing lights and egar supporters. For "Technodanceaphobic", Tom said he wanted to see the "whole fucking room" dance to it and he got his wish because we all went mental! By "Had Enough", everyone was singing along. Could the Saturday crowd out do the Sunday crowd for "Aggro"? Well, by the looks of the video the Saturday crowd put on a good show with lots of crowd surfing to keep security busy at the front.
A funky and fancy introduction to "This Song" calmed things down a little as the alcohol kicked in and my vision became some what blurry but about 1:38 seconds into the song the Coventry faithful were back on fine singing form. Making up for the blurred video I'd managed to record! Could this be another fine anthem in the making? The clapping supporters certainly think so.
Andy Hopkins jumped from the stage to crowd surf, even though as mentioned earlier, he had been ill in bed the day before so we were lucky he was here at all. That didn't stop the people crowd surfing and "It's Not OK" always guarantees results.
The next song, "You're Not Alone" has always been a special song to Tom Clarke and means a lot to the people of Coventry as well who have witnessed the demise of Peugeot and Royal Mail's determination to ruin postal services in the city. Watching the video through again and it looks like a scene from the miners strike of the 80's as the security separated the band from the crowd. But this crowd were 100% behind The Enemy, so no danger other than possible stage invasions threatened security. Arms were raised in the air as an act of solidarity as Tom, Liam and Andy performed. Another personal song "Happy Birthday Jane" and then finally "We'll Live And Die In These Towns" provided one last chance for everyone to sing-a-long before making a joyful loud exit from the Carling Academy in Birmingham.
A view of the crowd, stage and The Enemy
Finally, why not capture or re-live the atmosphere from the night by watching these crowd videos I recorded:
Crowds straight after The Enemy gig.
Chanting fans at Carling Academy and train station.
It's been a busy old week for The Enemy and one that is set to end in a massive home coming party for fans of the Coventry trio. Friday evening a select audience will be treated to a secret gig somewhere close to home, then on Saturday (20th) and Sunday (21st) all hell will be let loose in Birmingham.
The NME Rock 'n' Roll Tour arrives and Coventry fans will be out in force to support Liam Watts, Tom Clarke and Andy Hopkins. On stage with them will be Lethal Bizzle and The Wombats on what promises to be a weekend to remember.
Meanwhile over on www.theenemy.eu , lots of new videos and latest news posted for your viewing pleasure!
The Wombats new single "Let's Dance To Joy Division" is out Monday 15th October and is set to be their biggest chart song yet, after the download release propelled The Wombats into the UK Top 40 this week. Now you can sing along to the video below. The Wombats are busy touring the UK as part of the NME Rock 'n' Roll Tour and will be in Birmingham on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st October with The Enemy and Lethal Bizzle.
I'm back in Liverpool, And everything seems the same, But I worked something out last night, That changed this little boys brain, A small piece of advice, That took twenty-two years in the make, And I will break it for you now, Please learn from my mistakes, Please learn from my mistakes.
Let's dance to joy division, And celebrate the irony, Everything is going wrong, But we're so happy, Let's dance to joy division, And raise our glass to the ceiling, 'Cos this could all go so wrong, But we're just so happy, Yeah we're so happy.
So if you every feeling down, Grab your purse and take a taxi, To the darker side of town, That's where we'll be, And we will wait for you and lead you through the dancefloor, Up to the D.J booth, You know what to ask for, You know what to ask for.
Go ask for Joy Division, And celebrate the irony, Everything is going wrong, But we're so happy, Go ask to joy division, And raise our glass to the ceiling, 'Cos this could all go so wrong, But we're just so happy, So happy.
So let the love tear us apart, I've found the cure for a broken heart, Let it tear us apart, So let the love tear us apart, I've found the cure for a broken heart, Let it tear us apart, (Let it tear us apart) So let the love tear us apart, I've found the cure for a broken heart, Let it tear us apart, (Let it tear us apart) So let the love tear us apart, I've found the cure for a broken heart, Let it tear us apart, Let it tear us apart, Let it tear us apart.
Let's dance to joy division, And celebrate the irony, Everything is going wrong, But were so happy, Let's dance to joy division, And raise our glass to the ceiling, 'Cos this could all go so wrong, But we're just so happy, Yeah we're so happy, So happy, Yeah we're so happy, So happy, Yeah we're so happy.
Just a few days into their NME Rock 'n' Roll Tour and The Enemy almost caused a riot as they played Cardiff last night. Reports icWales :"very few new bands could have done what The Enemy did last night", this was after The Wombats were unable to attend due to illness and Lethal Bizzle was caught up in a motorway pile-up that kept him on the M4 instead of the stage at Cardiff University.
The crowds were kept waiting in wet Wales as doors failed to open at 7pm due to the missing artists and finally the wet throng gained access after 8pm. You can imagine that some were not happy at then waiting until 9:35pm for The Enemy to finally come on stage, but for others it gave ample time to down a few beers before the gig eventually started.
The Coventry trio launched straight into the anthem "Away From Here" and won over the crowd, who were soon singing along. But by the second offering ("40 Days and 40 Nights"), the main lights had to be turned on as a 10 man brawl erupted near the front of the stage. Security wasted no time in sorting it out and restoring some sort of order at the lively venue.
The Enemy are able to carry the crowds along with songs like "Aggro" and "Pressure" that stir emotions, yet unite the audience in vocal support for The Enemy. As Tom Clarke belts out lyrics about life in modern Britain, with all it's problems, Andy Hopkins crowds surfs!
"This is so good I want to be in there with you!", shouts the bassist as he launches himself into a waiting sea of arms. The newspaper summed it up saying: "working class heroes? spot-on"
Coventry's very own - The Enemy, kicked off their tour last night in Oxford at the newly opened Carling Academy. The gig was a sell out as crowds squeezed into the venue to watch The Enemy perform tracks from their number one album "We'll Live And Die In These Towns".
The evening's line up started with The Wombats getting the crowd warmed up, such songs as "Kill The Director" and "Let's Dance To Joy Division" have attracted quite a following for the Liverpudlian band.
Next up on the NME Rock 'n' Roll Tour was Lethal Bizzle, who got the crowd going with his song "Police On My Back" and everything was then set for The Enemy to come on stage and carry on the good work.
The Enemy launched straight into their catchy "Away From Here" and the Oxford crowd were soon hooked as they sang along to other well known tunes "Had Enough" and the closing song "You're Not Alone" during the set.
