The smell of freshly cut grass and badly cooked hamburgers coupled with the gentle breeze lacing the summer heat and the eager faces of those looking forward to a weekend of music paints the classic scene for one hell of a music festival and one so flawless as the Isle of Wight festival.

Unfortunately someone has booked skinny, indie nerds The Rakes (2/5) to open what is the fifth year of the revitalised IoW festival. The heat must be getting to them since they just don’t seem to be holding it together. After promising the already bored punters that they are “gonna speed it up a little” numerous times they eventually trundle though a set containing the likes of ‘Strasbourg’, ‘All Too Human’ and some “new shit” without leaving the expectant crowd overly perturbed.

Newly branded glam-disco popsters Goldfrapp (3/5) also do little to inject life into this early stage of the evening. Racing through hits ‘Ooh La La’, ‘Ride a White Horse’ and ‘Strict Machine’, Alison Goldfrapp barely interacts with the crowd. The shameful neglect of the inspirational material from Felt Mountain, does little to showcase the bands diverse brilliance, and the end result is that of a mediocre pop romp.

After a disappointing start to the festival, Placebo (5/5) manage to pull the crowd in with what is one of their best festival appearances to date. An unusually talkative Brian Molko struts his stuff to the sound of an adoring crowd, and is especially spree whilst grooving through the bass driven ‘Post Blue’. With a short set mainly comprising of tracks from their latest album, Meds, Placebo yet again underline their importance in the UK-rock landscape, with standout moments being the rock juggernaut ‘Every You, Every Me’, and the anthem in waiting ‘Infra-red’. They close the set with their spellbinding cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ and a scorching ‘Nancy Boy’.

As the evening draws to a close the line-up takes yet another nose-dive. It is baffling why The Prodigy (2/5) can sound immaculate on disc but sound so shoddy live. Liam Howlett is faultless in serving up the trademark Prodigy groove, however, it only takes the beyond irritating snarl from Keith Flint and the continual nattering of Maxim to facially murder each of tonight’s tracks. Heavy mutilation is apparent on opener ‘Wake Up Call’ and ‘Spitfire’, as well as the dire bonus track ‘Back 2 Skool’ which doesn’t actually seem to end, ever.

New track, ‘Heatwave’ is also heavily badgered by the dynamic duo, to the point at which they actually drown out Liam altogether. The only noteworthy moments of their set come from firm classics such as ‘Firestarter’ and ‘Voodoo People’, largely due to the fact Keith and Maxim have well defined roles within these golden oldies. As with all Prodigy festival sets, you really need to be on drugs to have had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.  

Check for Live Dates  Photos: Simon Hoyle