Victorious Festival 22/23/24 August 2025, Southsea, Portsmouth.
My regular trip to the Victorious Festival – been at every one since 2014 – and approached a bit more cautiously this year. Knees. My bloody knees.
A chair waiver for my portable folding stool and a few knee supports, painkillers, access to the premium section, s nearby hotel, my much maligned support stockings and we’re off.
I planned to keep the walking between stages down where possible and largely kept the lid on it. One concession was an early night on Saturday as the headliners just weren’t my bag and after most of two days I was flagging.
Fabulous sunny weather, bordering on the too hot and very dusty by Sunday. Out of the variety of stages, I shamefully only visited the two main stages: The Common Stage and the slightly smaller Castle Stage, a 15 minute walk (20 minute hobble) away.
A fairly focused total of 14 bands seen fully plus five part sets, which were mostly on my badly planned and piecemeal Saturday.
FRIDAY
I started with The Charlatans, the afternoon special guests on the main, Common Stage. A friendly happy feel to this low key set. No time for any tracks from my favoured, more recent albums, but this is a set for a festival crowd with Sproston Green and North Country Boy from the early days of the 90s.
Tim Burgess, a peroxide blonde for so many years now, is back to a more natural look. This is a good welcome to the festival set but not enough to satisfy long-term Charlatans fans.
I make my way to the Castle Stage next for The K’s. They were on brunchtime TV over the weekend and mention made of the band’s name origin: The Kaleidoscopes, after their local record shop and abbreviated due to a clash with another band’s name, so hence the added apostrophe. That put my mind at rest.
A bit of weight loss going on looking at frontman Jamie Boyle and guitarist Ryan Breslin. Jamie’s voice just gets better and better and the new album, Pretty on the Internet, has some more varied material to illustrate that with, before the masterpiece that is Sarajevo.
It’s Ash next, also on the Castle Stage. Half an hour of old favourites and their latest single: a cover of Jump the Line. Everyone enjoyed this set more than they thought – the murmur and smiles afterwards tell a story. They’re back on tour soon – it’s been a while since a headline one but they guested on The Darkness tour recently.
Afterwards it’s back over to the main stage for one of my targets of the weekend, Wunderhorse.
I loved this. A really rocky set, much more so live than on the album. Really going for it and lucky to have them here.
It was getting dark by the end of Wunderhorse. I settled for retiring to the premium paddock and stayed in there for Kaiser Chiefs, mainly watching the big screens. It was a fair way back and right but fine.
Kaiser Chiefs never disappoint. I’ve seen them several times since the early tours and they have such a catalogue of songs, including hit singles to draw on that they are big winners at places like this.
Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) are Friday headliners. On the Castle Stage it’s Madness. I was committed to QOTSA as I only saw them once at Reading Festival a long time back and thought I can’t miss the day’s big draw – for many the weekend’s big draw. Truth be told I could. I just don’t know their stuff and I probably would have enjoyed a Madness hits party more.
Photos were distant and dark and aside from a few better known songs, for QOTSA I was a bit lost.
SATURDAY
I made a right dog’s breakfast of today. Flitting, well moving slowly, between the main stages and missing significant bits of sets I wanted to see. A bit of rescheduling and lack of information didn’t help with the Mary Wallopers having the plug pulled on them within their first song, as well as some other pro-Palestine pull outs and a comedian’s illness disrupting things. Funny idea that: comedians on the main stage.
Scouting for Girls pulled a huge crowd to start the day. All a bit pop roadshow but huge numbers enjoying their half hour – crowd participation at maximum. The band loved it and seemed taken aback by the response.
Then I went on a meander to the Castle Stage for Kid Kapichi but got delayed and missed half of what was a short set anyway. Wish I’d seen more of this more innovative sounding indie rock – with some anger and protesting lyrics. I happen to have bumped into them at Teddy Rocks festival, supporting in Southampton and even had the opportunity of a local record store (Boiler Room) album release gig in Poole pub basement.
Kid Kapichi certainly have some uniqueness that keeps me coming back to them.
Back again to the Common Stage and Crystal Tides were finishing off. The Pompey indie rock pop band, full on guitars, who I enjoyed twice last year, here, were added to the main stage in a late reshuffle and won more friends. I will get to one of their own gigs soon, I hope.
A bit of a wait and then my highlight of the day, Shed Seven. Longtime favourites of mine and they really are back with gusto and two number one albums in 2024. Front man, Rick Witter, as ever pitches it all just right.
The tunes are great and crowd is bouncing…. Going for Gold, Chasing Rainbows, Getting Better. Wonderful anthems. I guess Chasing Rainbows is something of a personal anthem I have to own up to as a label, occasionally.
With timings drifting, I wanted to see the Sheds right to the end, before the trek back to the Castle Stage (it seems longer when your knees don’t want to go). Public Service Broadcasting were one of the bands I hadn’t seen before and wanted to see most. I’d been listening to their Race for Space LP a lot and still am – novel – hints of Kraftwerk. All the more annoying then that I only arrive for the last few songs. Argh.
After, I trudge back, disappointed in my planning. I return for a sit down in the premium garden area – it’s full but I had my expanding portable stool. Travis are playing and the crowd are lapping their very festival friendly delivery – so many years of experience at this eh. Yes it was good but I felt like an intruder as I’d missed the first half.. I’d missed the escalation of enthusiasm. It was time for an early bed. I was done and a day to go.
SUNDAY
New day. New start and a few friends asked if we are heading in for Overpass. Who is this? I look them up and think yup we’ll go with that. Glad I did. My revelation of the weekend.
From Birmingham, indie pop rockers and I like it. Plenty of EPs and singles but no album yet. They are the only band I took a full video of, the song 3AM, which is now resting here on my YouTube channel.
Next were Young Knives. A bit rough and ready for a sunny Sunday lunchtime. They seemed way more raucous than the more melodic albums I’d been listening to and possibly one for the already converted.
Graham Coxon’s band, The Waeve next. Loads to listen to here – guitar, piano and brass with intricate arrangements. Blur’s Coxon isn’t centre stage but his guitar style is a focus for many of the tracks.
Complex sounds that demand your attention. No singalongs here. Long tracks which lend to a jam and improvised live performance.
The Castle Stage crowd expands and infills for Starsailor. James Walsh has some connections around Portsmouth and plays around here a fair bit. A band I left behind after the brilliant Love is Here album, but when I’ve seen them since, including twice at this festival and twice in Portsmouth, they are always uplifting. Such powerful steady tunes. Mournful without misery.
The set was a gem and a big high spot in many people’s day, I’m sure. A real lift and with such sad sounding songs: Good Souls and my pick, as always, Alcoholic.
I hang around the same area to see Palace – light indie rock and a pretty successful band (four LPs) that I haven’t really fully appreciated. I did catch them on the at the Park Stage, Glastonbury in 2019.
Time was pressing and I slipped off before they finished. I was not going to miss The Reytons, back over on the main stage. My last big walk, stopping for a sensational Thai green chicken curry on the way. (My other top food this year was the taco wagon in the VIP section.)
The Reytons were my top band of this weekend. Never a big enough slot in a late afternoon but they go for it in their 50 minutes. The UK’s top independent band. Rotherham’s ‘kids off the estate’ are met with a big crowd, flares, smoke and mayhem. More established on the scene now. Three studio albums and operating under their own label. Master of crowd management, frontman Jonny gives it large in his Stone Island gear.
Market Street, a more recent single provides a less rampant moment amid their modern anthems like Slice of Lime and On the Back Burner. This is a celebration. It’s their last gig of the summer and it’s out with a bang.
I really enjoyed Sunday. A few more expensive pints of hazy IPA and £10 cans of wine to go. Mellow, satisfied and pain free by this point I sat on hay bales chatting with friends. I thought I would go out front to see Block Party but settled for listening and a glimpse.
King of Leon were last up. This is a very big band to appear at Victorious. I don’t know how the other stages looked but it seemed that everyone had come in for this one. The Common Stage area was absolutely rammed and for a long way back. I can’t recall seeing such a big crowd for one band here. It was a monster and Kings of Leon delivered – delivered what they do – solid, full depth rock’n’roll with a Nashville country twist.
I went to the garden area, first up on the viewing platform but just a bit too busy so I went down to the front of that section. Great sound and loud. This was a big band. Not the most flamboyant band but solid rock’n’roll.
Yes, the big singles Sex of Fire and Use Somebody are what most wanted to hear and they get those. It surprises me how popular they are in the UK – they seem to have hit a spot and are more popular than at home in Tennesdee, USA. This is the third time I’ve seen them and they are solid.
Just near the end I wander out front and side for the end of the set.
That’s it. All over for another year. Next year? I don’t know. I do it the easy way – hotel nearby and have been lucky enough to enjoy the premium area over the years. It helps when you get into your 60s.
I might wait and see who is playing before rushing in for 2026 but the accommodation is something to nail down first or it could be a day trip. My inspiration for doing another one came from a chat with a 70 year old guy I met, when having a sit down in between bands and grumbling about aches and pains.
Rock until you drop eh. Thank you, Victorious.
Gigs with Ivan 