Isle of Wight Festival 2024: Saturday

With The Petshop Boys for headliners and Jake Shears, Natalie Imbruglia, Jesse J and S Club 7 for support acts, the second day of the Isle of Wight Festival 2024 seemed to be deliberately centred around pure Brit Pop. S Club 7 emerged in matching denim outfits and epitomised the pop cheese of the early 2000s with their nursery rhyme melodies and elementary dance routines. For the masses of inebriated millennials, it was an enjoyable hour of hits and catchy lyrics. However, for the remaining Keane fans, it was merely a prelude in anticipation for the main act.

A stampede of campers and a vast variety of age groups made their way to the main stage. The alternative rock band from East Sussex, Keane, graced the music scene in 2004 with their unique sound and poetic lyricism. It appeared to have expressed a newfound appreciation and embracing of alternative rock music for the mainstream. The Brit award-winning foursome played legendary tunes from their best-selling album, Hopes and Fears, which featured some of their most notable hits, including Bedshaped and Somewhere Only We Know. Tom Chaplin bonded with the crowd by channelling his inner Freddie Mercury. As he fisted the air, he belted “AY-OH” and the audidence echoed, boasting his hypnotic vocal range.

Jesse J’s performance was a notable one. Her neon lime outfit shimmered in the pounding sunrays along with her stage presence and charisma. As her third time playing on the iconic Isle of Wight main stage, the Price Tag songstress bemused attendees with her astounding vocal abilities during her song Domino’s.

At the Big Top stage, Tom Meighan appeared in a big fur hoodie and sunglasses for Fire. The former frontman of Kasabian seemed to have redeemed himself as a soloist as the fans reacted impressively to songs from his album The Reckoning. However, the reaction to the notorious Kasabian song Club Foot didn’t even compare.

By 10pm, the main stage was filled to its limit with people who assummably just bought day tickets for The Pet Shop Boys. Neil Tenant and Chris Lowe made their grand entrance in masks and cloaks and their iconic 80s synthesisers transported the fans back in time as they opened with Can You Forgive Her?, a 1993 hit single from their fifth studio album, Very. Their synth-pop duo romanced the audience as they weaved their covers of U2 tracks Where the Streets Have No Name and I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You into a medley. Devoted fans seemed to be having the time of their lives and caused the moshpit to go wild in perfect time for West End Girls.