Festival Review: Victorious Festival 2022
Victorious Festival triumphantly returns to the seaside for its biggest year yet.
The August bank holiday is the final big weekend of the UK festival season. Reading and Leeds have always been the crowning jewel of the weekend. However, since 2013, the South Coast has had a new alternative. Victorious.
2022 marks the biggest Victorious Festival to date. In previous years, the Friday was a smaller warm up to the weekend, with a handful of acts playing in the evening. This year, festival goers were enticed to arrive earlier, with an afternoon Special Guest slot from Primal Scream wetting people’s appetites, and a strong including Self Esteem, James and Bombay Bicycle Club ahead of the opening headliners, Stereophonics providing a very strong start to the weekend.
For us, the festival kicked off on the Saturday. We arrived early, to catch the opening main stage act, The K’s. Currently unsigned, it is clear there is some raw talent there, and it will only be a matter of time until they start to progress through the music ladder. Lead singer Jamie Boyle has the crowd in good spirits, and after inviting a young K’s fan onto stage to crowd surf during final song ‘Dacton’ highlights a family friendly atmosphere you wouldn’t get at many other festivals.
Following on from Friday, the next band to the stage was today’s special guest. Sugababes. I was sceptical at first. For a pop group that had been off the scene for over a decade, you would be forgiven for expecting some rustiness. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The trio exploded into ‘Push the Button’ and had the crowd wrapped around their fingers in mere seconds. What followed was 45 minutes of non-stop throwbacks, tied together with flawless choreography, leaving me and many others in awe and wanting more.
It would be tough to follow that, but Dodie stepped up to the plate to deliver a highly energetic set, and a live debut of her new song ‘Got Weird’.
For us, it was time to explore the festival site. We were impressed with the sheer variety of stages and activities on offer. Victorious prides itself on being a family friendly festival that anyone can attend. The expansive Kids Zone, and sheer volume of buggies across the site, shows it’s an aspect that is unrivalled across the UK Festival scene.
Inhaler kicked off the evening run, with a well-oiled set filled with familiar favourites, and new single ‘These Are the Days’. They’re nearing the end of their debut album run, with fans eager for more new music. This, paired with recent support slots for Arctic Monkeys, means the Irish band are only going to grow heading into 2023.
Declan McKenna was our next stop on the Common Stage. He bounced around the stage in a high energy performance we’ve become accustomed to with him, but the crowd didn’t take to his set as well as many of the acts preceding him, perhaps unfamiliar with some of his lesser-known hits. Only once ‘Brazil’ played, did the crowd sing along in unison.
The Wombats on the other hand, had the Common Stage bouncing in an instant. Their Sub-Headline slot meant the Common Stage was packed in anticipation, with frontman Murph commenting that he couldn’t even see the back of the crowd. Their set was filled with every crowd favourite from the last 15 years, with just enough sprinkling of their latest album to keep it fresh.
Saturday’s headliner was Paolo Nutini, making his return after 5 years away from music with the release of new album ‘Last Night in the Bittersweet’. Paolo has grown a reputation for disregarding a lot of his earlier hits, and tonight was no exception. His performance was exceptional, and he was worthy of headlining the festival, but the omission of fan favourites ‘Last Request’ and ‘Rewind’ left fans wishing for a little bit more, not to mention the lack of an encore.
As soon as we arrive on Sunday, it’s clear that this is the busiest day. There’s a bustle of people, torn between the biggest clash of the weekend. Special Guest’s, The Libertines on the Common Stage, or Example on the Castle Stage. Secondary School nostalgia pulls me to Example. His set is a typical DJ Set, aimed at hyping up the crowd, rather than playing as many songs as possible. He does just that and sets the tone for a jam-packed day.
The increased attendance is amplified as we try to get a drink at the bar. I had to watch The Reytons from the queue, as the card readers failed to register contactless payments, thanks to the poor internet service across the site, an issue that plagued the festival all weekend long. Nonetheless, the band sounded great ahead of their UK tour in late autumn.
The acts were coming thick and fast, with Alfie Templeman up next on the Castle Stage. Alfie has gone from strength to strength following the release of his debut album, ‘Mellow Moon’, yet only 3 songs from the album made it into his set, showcasing a vast catalogue at the age of 19.
We took a minute to catch our breaths as Editors and Amy Macdonald soundtracked our dinner. We knew it was only going to get busier as we headed into the evening, a point quickly proven as we made our way to see Becky Hill.
We got there just as Sophie Ellis-Bextor finished her set, as the swarm of people leaving the stage came face to face with the swarm trying to enter. Crowd control was non-existent, and it was lucky a more serious incident didn’t occur. On reflection, both Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Becky Hill should have been on the much larger Common Stage.
Nonetheless, Becky Hill put on a strong performance, cramming as many of her multitude of chart hits into her 45-minute set. But with multiple incidents of people being pulled from the crowd by security, the set was marred by poor planning from the organisers.
As the horde of people dispersed, we stuck around to see Nothing but Thieves. For me, it was the set of the weekend. The band were flawless, effortlessly switching from heavy hitting ‘Futureproof’ to the ballads of ‘Particles’ and ‘Impossible’, with frontman Conor Mason showcasing a vocal range that very few singers could match.
As the confetti from Nothing but Thieves settled, we just about had time to make it to the Common Stage for the weekend’s final headliner, Sam Fender, alongside a crowd as far back as the eye could see. He was the biggest pull of the entire festival, and it’s clear to see why. Since releasing sophomore album ‘Seventeen Going Under’, he has grown into an act worthy of headlining festivals up and down the country. His set is tight knit, if a little short. He can be forgiven though, having recently had a bout of laryngitis. As he brings the weekend to a close with ‘Hypersonic Missiles’, we’re left reflecting on a jam-packed weekend.
Victorious has grown rapidly since it’s inauguration. This year’s line-up showcased names that would’ve previously been pipedreams for the organisers. With next year marking its 10-year anniversary, and the announcement that it will be a full 3-day festival, it is clear that the plan is to grow even more. There is no reason why Victorious can’t become a major player in the UK Festival scene, and it is already providing a great alternative to Reading and Leeds. But with larger acts descending on the South Coast, organisers need to ensure the infrastructure is in place to accommodate them. The crowd issues of Sunday served as a warning, and the poor internet service plagued both the bars and groups of friends trying to find one another. If these issues are rectified, Victorious 2023 will surely be even bigger and even better than this year.
Words by Sam Daly
Photography by Tony Palmer
