V Festival (Australia)

The Australian V Festival was an Australian music festival, and a spin-off of the British V Festival. Like all V Festivals, the event was primarily sponsored by Virgin Mobile. In Australia the event was also sponsored by airline Virgin Blue. The V Festival was televised exclusively in Australia by MTV, and from 2008, also by its sister channel VH1. In 2008 the festival expanded to four shows, with Melbourne and Perth being added.[1] Since the 2009 V Festival the event has been in hiatus, with the official website stating "V Festival Australia is taking a break at the moment".[2]

V Festival
GenreRock, pop
DatesMarch/April
Location(s)Australia
Years active2007–2009
Websitevfestival.com.au

Artist line-ups

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Artist line-up 2009

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The festival's first announcement was made on 18 November 2008,[3] with the second announcement occurring on 11 February 2009.[4]

  Sydney Melbourne Perth Gold Coast
The Killers Yes Yes Yes Yes
Snow Patrol Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kaiser Chiefs Yes Yes Yes Yes
Madness Yes Yes Yes Yes
Elbow Yes Yes Yes Yes
Duffy Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Human League Yes Yes Yes Yes
Razorlight Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Kills Yes Yes Yes Yes
M83 Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Dø Yes Yes Yes Yes
Louis XIV Yes Yes Yes Yes
Jenny Lewis Yes Yes Yes Yes
Jackson Jackson Yes Yes Yes Yes
Howling Bells Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tame Impala Yes Yes Yes Yes
Wolf & Cub Yes Yes Yes Yes
Children Collide Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Temper Trap Yes Yes Yes Yes
Canyons Yes Yes Yes Yes
Black Rose Yes Yes No No
Vanilla Ice Yes Yes No Yes

Artist lineup 2008

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The festival's first announcement was made on 28 November 2007.[5] The festival's second announcement was made on 10 February 2008.[6] It included the return of the Virgin Mobile Venue, the festival's fourth stage, which featured local and international DJs.

  Sydney Melbourne Perth Gold Coast
The Smashing Pumpkins Yes Yes Yes Yes
Duran Duran Yes Yes Yes Yes
Queens of the Stone Age Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Jesus and Mary Chain Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Presets Yes Yes Yes Yes
Air Yes Yes No Yes
Cansei de Ser Sexy Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Tough Alliance Yes Yes Yes Yes
Plug in City Yes Yes Yes Cancelled
Modest Mouse Yes Yes Yes Yes
Róisín Murphy Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hot Hot Heat Yes Yes Yes Yes
The Rakes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cut Copy Yes Yes Yes Yes
Glass Candy Yes Yes Yes Yes
Robyn Yes Yes No Yes
Doom & Hoodrat Yes Yes Yes Yes
Munk (Gomma) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Flosstradamus (USA) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mike Simonetti (Italians Do It Better) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Andee Van Damage Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mika* Cancelled Cancelled No Cancelled
  • *Mika was originally featured in the first announcement, but cancelled due to recording commitments.

Artist lineup 2007

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The festival ran two shows in its inaugural year: one at Centennial Park in Sydney on 31 March and one at Avica Resort on the Gold Coast on 1 April.

  Sydney Gold Coast
Pixies Yes Yes
Beck Yes Yes
Pet Shop Boys Yes Yes
Groove Armada Yes Yes
Jarvis Cocker Yes Yes
Gnarls Barkley Yes Yes
New York Dolls Yes Yes
Soulwax – Nite Versions Yes Yes
2ManyDJs Yes Yes
The Rapture Yes Yes
Phoenix Yes Yes
Softlightes Yes Yes
Bumblebeez Yes Yes
Muscles Yes No
Mercy Arms Yes Yes
Ghostwood Yes Yes
Lost Valentinos Yes Yes
The Temper Trap Yes Yes
Seabellies Yes Yes
Kitsuné DJs Yes Yes
The Bang Gang Deejays Yes Yes
Rub-N-Tug Yes Yes
Andee Frost Yes Yes

Sideshows and others

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Best of V Festival (Mini V) 2007

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The promoter of the festival, Michael Coppel, declared Melbourne a "festival graveyard", and did not book a venue for the festival in the city, despite the fact that several very successful Big Day Out festivals had been held in Melbourne since 1993. Adelaide also missed out on the festival, disappointing many Victorian and South Australian fans who were hoping to see Pixies on their first Australian tour.[7]

To make up for the omission, a "Best of V Festival" series of concerts was organised, also called "Mini V", in which the Pet Shop Boys, Groove Armada, Gnarls Barkley and The Rapture played in Melbourne (at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl) on 3 April, while Pixies, Jarvis Cocker, Phoenix and New York Dolls played in Adelaide (at the Thebarton Theatre) on the same night. The following night (4 April) the line-ups swapped cities with Pet Shop Boys playing in Adelaide and Pixies playing in Melbourne.

The move was controversial, however, with tickets for one night at the Melbourne show costing only slightly less ($110 in Melbourne, $99 in Adelaide) than a festival ticket ($124), and double that to attend both nights. The promoter responded that the similar cost was to do with the economics of scale regarding the smaller capacity venues in Melbourne and Adelaide.[8]

V Festival Sideshows 2008

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The Best Of shows did not return in 2008, for several reasons. Firstly, Melbourne was given a full V Festival for 2008, due to the availability of the newly renovated Showgrounds. Secondly, Adelaide, after again missing out on a full-scale festival, received, along with other capital cities in Australia and New Zealand, a variety of sideshows from V Festival artists, intended to replace the Best Of shows.

The sideshow schedule was as follows:

City Venue Date Notes
The Smashing Pumpkins
Wellington TSB Arena 20 March 2008 with Queens of the Stone Age
Auckland Vector Arena 22 March 2008 with Queens of the Stone Age
Christchurch Westpac Arena 24 March 2008 with Queens of the Stone Age
Sydney Hordern Pavilion 27 March 2008
Brisbane Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 31 March 2008
Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre 2 April 2008 with Queens of the Stone Age
Melbourne Festival Hall, Melbourne 4 April 2008
Duran Duran
Auckland Vector Arena 26 March 2008
Sydney Sydney Entertainment Centre 28 March 2008
Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre 1 April 2008
Melbourne Palais Theatre 3 April 2008
Queens of the Stone Age
Wellington TSB Arena 20 March 2008 with The Smashing Pumpkins
Auckland Vector Arena 22 March 2008 with The Smashing Pumpkins
Christchurch Westpac Arena 24 March 2008 with The Smashing Pumpkins
Brisbane The Arena 27 March 2008
Sydney Luna Park, Sydney 28 March 2008
Melbourne Palace Theatre 1 April 2008
Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre 2 April 2008 with The Smashing Pumpkins
Hobart Hobart City Hall 4 April 2008
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Brisbane The Arena 1 April 2008
Sydney Enmore Theatre 2 April 2008
Melbourne Palace Theatre 3 April 2008
AIR
Perth Kings Park & Botanic Gardens 27 March 2008
Brisbane The Tivoli 31 March 2008
Melbourne Palais Theatre 2 April 2008
Adelaide Thebarton Theatre 3 April 2008
Sydney Sydney Opera House 6 April 2008 Sold out in 10 minutes
Sydney Sydney Opera House 7 April 2008
Modest Mouse w/ Hot Hot Heat
Brisbane The Arena 31 March 2008
Melbourne Palace Theatre 2 April 2008
Sydney Luna Park, Sydney 3 April 2008
Róisín Murphy
Brisbane The Tivoli 1 April 2008
Sydney Metro Theatre 2 April 2008
Melbourne Billboard 4 April 2008

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "V Festival 2008 Venues". V Festival Australia. 29 November 2007. Archived from the original on 4 December 2007. Retrieved 29 November 2007.
  2. ^ V Festival website home page Archived 15 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 10 May 2011
  3. ^ "V Festival". Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
  4. ^ "V Festival : Buzz : V FESTIVAL DROPS WITH MADNESS, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, M83". Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  5. ^ "V Festival 2008 Lineup". V Festival Australia. 29 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2 December 2007. Retrieved 29 November 2007.
  6. ^ "V Festival 2008 Lineup". V Festival Australia. 10 February 2007. Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  7. ^ Donovan, Patrick (6 December 2006). "Music fans on the move in Melbourne festival morgue". The Age. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  8. ^ Northover, Kylie; Rennie, Reko (13 February 2007). "Festival gives fans the big V". The Age. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
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