The Isle of Wight Festival 2007 was the sixth revived Isle of Wight Festival on the Seaclose Park site in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. It took place between 8–10 June 2007. Tickets went on sale at 9am on Thursday 22 February and were sold out by Monday 26 February. It was the first festival since 2003 with no official sponsor. The festival capacity was around 60,000. Local artist, Helen Davenport, created a illuminated wicker and tissue paper statue to commemorate the performance of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

at the 1970 festival. The campsite was located next to the site on an extensive farmland site. The Seaclose Park site was within ten minutes' walking distance of the town of Newport. The 2007 Festival sold out in a record time of less than five days. The festival was

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

' first British festival performance for over thirty years since their performance at the 1976 Knebworth fair. The festival once again featured the popular Carling warm beer amnesty, in which people could trade warm beer for cold cans of Carling. The

Red Arrows The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams ...

performed a full-smoke aerial display during the festival weekend. The festival won the "''Best Major Festival''" award at the 2007 UK Festival Awards in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in November 2007. This beat off stiff competition from

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

, T in the Park and

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

. This success was followed by promoter, John Giddings, winning the "''Outstanding Contribution to UK Festivals''" award. In reaction to this, Glastonbury organiser, Michael Eavis, offered to present Giddings with the award personally.

Highlights

* Part of the stage moved forward during a performance by The Rolling Stones. *

were joined on stage by Paolo Nutini and Amy Winehouse. * The Feeling performing an energetic cover of The Buggles '' Video Killed the Radio Star'' to the delight of the crowd. *

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

quipped whilst interacting with the crowd that the festival was somewhat of a non event. Stating 'the water costs two quid, the burgers four, and a dog ate my dope'. * There were pyrotechnic displays during the performance of

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

, particularly during the final song ''Take A Bow''. *

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...

lead singer, Gary Lightbody interacted with spectators outside the festival site on the opposite bank of the

River Medina The River Medina is the main river of the Isle of Wight, England, rising at St Catherine's Down near Chale, and flowing northwards through the county town Newport, towards the Solent at Cowes. The river is a navigable tidal estuary from Newpor ...

, which resulted in 'tongue-in-cheek' boos from the paying crowd. *

Country Joe McDonald Joseph Allen "Country Joe" McDonald (born January 1, 1942) is an American musician who was the lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe and the Fish.Richard Brenneman"Country Joe McDonald Revives Anti-War Anthem", ''Berkeley ...

managed to get the crowd chanting the profanity 'fuck' for a minute. * The crowd continuing the chant of

L.S.F. "L.S.F." (or "L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)") is the second single released by the British rock group Kasabian. It was the band's first UK Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 10 and staying in the Top 75 for five weeks. The song also charted in the United ...

after

Kasabian Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and occasional vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karlof ...

's set had finished. * A full

aerial display performed on the Saturday afternoon crowd members speculated was better than some acts.

Line Up

Main stage

The Rolling Stones with Amy Winehouse at the Isle of Wight Festival 2007

Friday *

* Groove Armada as special guest. * The Feeling * Echo & the Bunnymen *

Koopa Koopa Troopas, known in Japan as , are fictional footsoldiers of the turtle-like Koopa race from the Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' media franchise. They are commonly referred to generically as Koopas, a race that includes Bowser, Bowser, King of ...

Saturday *

as special guest. *

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

* Wolfmother * Amy Winehouse *

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

* Arno Carstens *

Carbon/Silicon Carbon/Silicon is a rock music duo consisting of Mick Jones (formerly of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite) and Tony James (formerly of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik). The band formed around 2002. Career Similar in many respects to Jo ...

* The Thirst * The Menschen Sunday *

* Keane as special guest. *

The Fratellis The Fratellis are a Scottish rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom ...

* Paolo Nutini * James Morrison *

Melanie C Melanie Jayne Chisholm (12 January 1974 - 25 December 2022), better known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer-songwriter and media personality. She is best known as one of the five members of the Spice Girls, during which time she was ni ...

The Hedrons The Hedrons were an all-girl four-piece rock band, formed in early 2005 in their native Glasgow. Career The band have released three singles on the Glasgow-based label, Measured Records. Two singles went top 5 and one went top 20 in the Scott ...

* Siniez

Strongbow Rooms

Strongbow Rooms is a tent and live music venue which tours many of the festivals in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It made an appearance at the Isle Of Wight Festival with acts such as

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

Krafty Kuts Krafty Kuts (real name Martin Reeves) is an English producer and DJ of electronic music and breakbeat. His first album, ''Freakshow'', was released in 2006 on his Against The Grain label and contains guest artists Tim Deluxe and Ashley Sla ...

and

Shitdisco Shitdisco were a dance-punk band from Glasgow, Scotland. They formed in 2003 while studying at the Glasgow School of Art, consisting of Joel Stone (bass, guitar, vocals), Joe Reeves (bass, guitar, vocals), Jan Lee (keyboards, backing vocals) ...

The Hipshaker Lounge

The popular Hipshaker Dance Lounge was open on the Thursday 7 June to entertain early camping ticket holders. It featured acts such as The Bees (band) & The Sails and two tribute bands of

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

respectively.

Bacardi B Live

The Bacardi B-Live opened to campers on Thursday 7 June providing music and refreshments. It featured acts such as DJ

Norman Jay Norman Jay MBE (born Norman Bernard Joseph on 6 November 1957) is a British club, radio and sound system DJ. He first came to prominence playing unlicensed "warehouse" parties in the early 1980s, and through his involvement with the then-pira ...

Features

The Strawberry Fields area contained amongst others, the following attractions and features – * The Strongbow Ciderhouse * The Hipshaker Lounge *

Bacardi Bacardi Limited (; ) is one of the largest privately held, family-owned spirits companies in the world. Originally known for its Bacardi brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 an ...

B-Live * The Pussy Parlour * The Bandstand * The Kids Zone * Babylon Bar * The Zebra Champagne Bar Other attractions included – * Carling Cold Beer Amnesty * The 'Solace' Tea And Cake Free Refreshment Tent * A Funfair * A ''

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being th ...

'' Refreshment Tent

Controversy

Pre festival controversy

There was some debate amongst the Isle of Wight Council members about whether to grant the Festival a licence, due to the numerous complaints and objections from local residents, mainly those living in Fairlee Road. Ultimately the Council approved the Festival to a maximum of 60,000 attendees. The Festival's future also came under considerable jeopardy as the Isle of Wight Council tried to enforce the Isle of Wight Act 1970, resulting in a £500,000 penalty on the organisers, Solo. The penalty was reduced however, and

John Giddings John Giddings (born 1 May 1953 in St Albans, Hertfordshire) is an English music agent and promoter who has run the Isle of Wight Festival since its revival in 2002. Early career Giddings graduated from Exeter UniversityRMT would grant a general strike on the Island over the Festival weekend. This would have rendered the Island's bus network virtually obsolete and would have left Festival-goers with logistical problems. Thankfully, however, the strike was cancelled and

Southern Vectis Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight. The company was founded in 1921 as "Dodson and Campbell" and became the "Vectis Bus Company" in 1923. The company was purchased by the Southern Railway (Great Britain), Southern Railway b ...

bus services operated as normal. Organisers Solo, were accused of being ticket touts by the Island residents as the organisers auctioned 100 tickets to the highest bidder on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

. Giddings replied to the statement claiming 'I have the right to do what I like, because its my festival'. He also suggested that if people were against this policy then they should simply not buy tickets in this way. The notion of the organisers being touts represents a simplified accusation by those who made the claim..

Post festival controversy

Many of the site security team have been both accused of being heavy-handed and ineffective, to the point where one festival attendee was physically assaulted by security resulting in a broken leg. There are claims of ejection from site without due reason by some festival goers. Others claim that security were not present during incidences where they would have been able to assist, particularly in campsite disturbances and theft.

References

External links

Isle of Wight FestivalIsle of Wight Festival MySpace SiteFestival organisers Solo homepageStrongbow Rooms Official MySpace SiteVirtual Festivals Review
{{Isle of Wight Festival

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2007 in British music 2007 in England 21st century on the Isle of Wight