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It
was standing room only on the Isle of Wight ferries as hoardes of
music fans crossed the Solent for the third of the revived festivals.
Having headed to the campsites to wrestle with their dome tents,
fans trailed down the road to the main arena. But a late gate-opening
time meant there were lengthy queues to get wristbanded and into
the Seaclose Park site.
 Photo
gallery of Friday's bands
Once everyone did get in, the crowd was treated to a diverse first
night line-up which has come to charactarise the Island's festival.
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| The
Duke Spirit |
Opening
the festival bang on time was the unenviable task of The Duke Spirit.
But they dived straight in and carried it off with a set which had
a touch of Blondie about it. The
22-20s continued getting things rocking and the crowds filed in.
It was definitely the day the Welsh came to Wight and the number
of Welsh flags showed that plenty of fans had made their way from
over the border.
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| Gruff |
The
Super Furry Animals brought a whole helping of their own brand of
Welsh psychedelic surrealism to the party, Gruff suitably dressed
in his bright red Power Ranger outfit.
Groove Armada brought their cast of thousands to the stage, with
their mix of chill out favourites and Lovebox material which got
everyone on their feet.
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| Groove
Armada |
Their
Purple Haze seemed poignantly placed, although it has nothing to
do with the Jimi Hendrix song, everyone knew that Hendrix famously
played at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, just 18 days before
his death.
It was left to another Welsh supergroup to headline Friday night.
Stereophonics were making their first festival appearance in two
years and Kelly Jones sported a big white hat for the occasion (festival
veterans may have noticed a passing resemblance to Bob Dylan's Isle
of Wight look).
They rattled through their hits - including The Bartender and the
Thief, Mr Writer and Have a Nice Day which had the crowd shifting
between bouncing swaying and dancing. The perfect curtain raiser
to a weekend of music in the sunshine.
What
did you think of this year's festival? Have your say on our Music
Message Board
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