A fine way to end a day
This was originally meant to be the spot filled by the Kooks, but due to a swap round Basement Jaxx headed day one on the Channel 4 Stage in Staffordshire with the Kooks playing the following night. This provided a dance alternative to the Killers and, in all honesty, the kind of people who would want to see the Killers would also have been up for the Kooks so it was a more sensible way of splitting the line up.
'Red Alert' opened the set, with the crowd initially looking pretty small, although by the end the band had pulled in a large following.
Although they're a very electronic based band, Basement Jaxx don't stick rigidly to the same structure as on CD, with plenty of instrumental freestyling thrown in. There's also a well balanced mix of tempos, with the likes of 'Oh My Gosh', ', 'Plug It In' and 'Lucky Star' alongside the excellent ambient track 'Lights Go Down' and the live favourite, stripped down mellow version of 'Romeo'.
The big hitters were left for the end. First 'Where's Your Head' at had the whole field jumping, with 'Good Luck' and 'Bingo-Bango' bringing the first day at V to a close. The only note worthy absence from this night's setlist was 'Rendez-Vu'.
Basement Jaxx once again proved they're one of Britain's best live acts and this was certainly one of the stronger performances from the weekend.