Chanting fun in the summer sun
Fratellis have what is turning out to be this year's summer anthem, even though 'Chelsea Daggar' was released towards the end of the last festival season and has been massive ever since. You couldn't walk far around the Isle of Wight site without hearing groups of people chanting it football style; it even kept people amused while waiting for bands on the Saturday night. So for that one song alone the anticipation was tangible on Sunday afternoon: but Fratellis have a whole album's worth of anthems to entertain a lively field of music fans.
You can't really make any other entrance than launch when the first track is 'Baby Fratelli', and this set had the crowd jumping right from the first note.
The band left most of the singles to the end, choosing to play album tracks like 'Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night', 'Flathead' and the insanely funky and catchy 'Vince The Loveable Stoner'.
Maybe it was the heat, for the Fratellis were on when the sun was at its most fierce, or perhaps the crowd seemed to experience a bit of a lull as they were waiting for singles they knew. 'For The Girl' went down well, but it was next single 'Ole Black n Blue Eyes' that energized the fans once again.
From here on in Seaclose Park was properly rocking. 'Henrietta' and 'Whistle For The Choir' were as massive as you might think, with the inevitable last word being left for one 'Chelsea Dagger'.
The Fratellis will be a lot of fun for stacks of people this summer. They could improve the setlist by bringing back 'Creepin' Up The Backstairs' and spreading the hits around but that would be more for the benefit of the casual fan. They were certainly one of the highlights of the final day at the Isle of Wight Festival though.