Author: Adam Gorecki

Music Festivals are a convenient and more engaging way of being able to see multiple artists whom which you follow all within the typical space of a weekend.  What we endure is the process of having to navigate which gigs are worth seeing, and prepare ourselves to rediscover new and exciting acts within the process. Woven into it is the opportunity for adventure, chaos and obscurity. The downside is of course that the formalities of these events tend to vary tremendously depending on which one you choose to go to. Whilst some present themselves as tame and tolerable, with a focused interest in the arts, others manage to enhance on the ecstasy and bedlam that compliments the feral environment that an outdoor music festival can create. As we get older, our taste in a luxury day out will continuously shift. 

At the age of 23, I begin to find it more and more difficult to find an appropriate balance between order and chaos when it comes to these music festivals. Moreover, I find it even more challenging to find a lineup that can convince me to spend three nights in a tent for the bank holiday weekend. Portsmouth’s Victorious Festival serves as an equilibrium for festival lovers. Where it offers a high quality, well stacked lineup that also sprinkles a varied selection of discoverable underdogs on their more quaint and subtle stages. The event succeeds in providing a civil atmosphere, clean utilities, a multi terrain venue to explore and an incredible range of food and activities to enjoy on all three days; not to mention a highly recommended camping experience. 

Predominately, I was here to see Madness. A Camden-based group that famously oozed the culture of tomfoolery and shenanigans amongst British young men from the 1970s and beyond (one step). But being a part of ska’s revival in the 1970’s, they provided a playful twist that steered away from the typical political nature of the genre. In unison, the band sounded impeccable live, as well as lead singer Graham (Suggs) McPherson not sounding a day over his 20-year-old self. The group ceased an opportunity to unify possibly the widest range of demographics to be present for the gig, all firmly marching to One Step Beyond. Tracks such as Embarrassment, My Girl, Wings of a Dove and NW5 played particularly well before going into a performative take on Shut Up, which involved an immersive and equally bonkers skit of cops and robbers running about on stage. Finally, the set climaxed with the significant hits; Baggy Trousers, House of Fun, Our House and Last Boat to Clairo as an explosive encore. The set simmered down with an audio play of ‘Always Look on The Bright Side of Life’ by Monty Python which I feel perfectly summarised Madness’s presence that evening. Somewhere amongst the hi-hat emphasis, silky saxophone and a driving melodic ska baseline, Madness achieved the ultimate goal of bringing people from all generations together with the ambition of jumping around like bumbling idiots for an hour and a half. 

Throughout the first day, the Common Stage hosted an array of acts that appeared to dominate the crowd, most notably seemed to be the ferocious, grunge rock enthused, Wunderhorse and the immense Kaiser Chiefs. What Wunderhorse had routing for them was a sheer, gritty vocal presence from frontman, Jacob Slater. Of course, the crowd was mostly prepared to recite the lyrics of ‘Leader of the pack’, ‘Butterflies’ and ‘Teal’, but this didn’t in any way suggest that the Wunderhorse collective didn’t have more to provide in their back pocket. The band’s inspiration seems to spur from folk song writing influence, a touch of Fontaine D.C and a thick coat of grunge like rawness. 

I was initially disappointed to hear that Michael Kiwanuka was take a step back from his summer tour this year, meaning we’d no longer be seeing him at Victorious this year. Instead, we were gifted with The Kaiser Chiefs. At this point, Kaiser Chiefs have most certainly established themselves as a household name band with a substantial legacy behind them. However, even with this reputation, I often forget how many outstanding anthems they have at their disposal. Groups typically have two options when presented with a fifty-minute set window – they can either decorate their set with unknown but promising tracks only to climax with their well-known hits at the very end, or they can sprinkle their most popular songs throughout the set in order to keep the crowd hooked. Kaiser Chiefs chose the latter, and it played in their favour. Opening the set with ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’ was a masterful and ingenious decision. The crowd becomes instantly engaged and keen to recite the lyrics throughout the song’s entirety. Furthermore, the injection of tracks like ‘Ruby’, ‘I Predict a Riot’ and ‘Never Miss A Beat’ being embedded into the setlist meant crowds weren’t merely tolerating lesser-known tracks in anticipation for a climax; it meant the entire set was riding on one massive, electrifying wave. We can argue that maybe not all groups possess the luxury of having such renowned tracks to just spread across their timeslot so evenly, but that’s their problem. Well done Kaiser Chiefs, fantastic gig. 

What divided up my days was the retreat towards a relatively tame and controlled campsite. It’s worth mentioning that for a lot of music festivals nowadays, this isn’t always the case. The commute to and from involved travelling on a 15-minute shuttle bus, excellent for anticipating your arrival to the festival as well as debriefing the gigs with your peers on the way back, overall, the shuttle buss definitely positively contributed to the experience. Toilets were frequently cleaned, and the campsite even provided an array of high-quality food vans which for the most part, were reasonably priced. I slept without the fear of late-night disruptions, chairs being nicked or someone playing nudges into our tent, even if that part specifically was tempting for myself to do to my friends at times. 

Saturday provided us with a wide variety of excursions and mesmerising concert experiences, not to mention the gorgeous and humidifying weather engulfing the coastal experience. Our first stop was once again at the Common Stage to witness the second coming of Rizzle Kicks, a hip-hop group who broke through in the early 2010’s and merged the lines between hip-hop, reggae, dance and jazz as well as implementing catchy yet cheeky lyrics throughout. The group offered personality, quality and energy to their work, and provided a limited but high standard discography before silently departing in the mid 2010’s. On the verge of their disappearance being accepted by the general public, they retuned this year with a new album titled ‘Competition Is For Losers’. An understandable and respectable philosophy for the music industry. It infers that this comeback represented the death of ego, and the pursuit of meaning and resonance in the art, which if achieved, means we can never lose. Who cares what anyone else thinks if you love what you provide to the world?

That energy was definitely captured and appreciated at their scorching 1pm gig on Saturday morning. It felt like a homecoming and a victory lap crammed into a singular moment. What we witness is the confirmation that Jordan Stephens and Harley Alexander-Sule were here to reclaim their significance in the hip-hop scene, clearly demonstrating why there can only ever be one ‘Rizzle Kicks’, something that can be far from replicated. Although respecting their popular past with performing hits such as Mama Do The Hump, Lost Generation, Skip To The Good Bit, When I Was a Youngster and most notably, Down With The Trumpets, the group experimented with newer pieces such as Javelin which still kept the crowd going despite being a lesser-known piece. Sometimes it’s hard to push back against nostalgia when you go to see a group that essentially defined a sound of the 2010’s, but Rizzle Kicks ensured that everything you can love about them still exists in the here and now, just more evolved and a few extra things to enjoy with it as well! 

Witnessing Scouting For Girls live is always a treat. I’d previously seen them play at Weyfest in 2022 in a far more compact and immersive gig due to there being smaller crowds. I went in to seeing their set at Victorious feeling that crowd size had a lot to do with how a performance can make you feel, and how close you feel to the music. I was incredibly and indefinitely wrong. This was the largest audience that lead vocalist, Roy Stride, can remember performing in front of, the band seemed overwhelmed but equally stoked to be there. Similarly to Rizzle Kicks, Scouting For Girls carry a sound that definitely claimed the 2000’s and since then has stood the test of time. 

I’m not sure if it was the highly charismatic and talented works of Roy Stride on the keyboard, the jam packed setlist of songs that nearly the entire crowd knew off by heart from the outset or the exhilarating performance from the group in its entirety, but I’d go as far to say that no one had control over the crowds at Victorious quite like how SFG managed to do so. 

Introducing themselves with ‘I Wish I Was James Bond’ was enough to have 10,000 people fully engaged for the foreseeable rest of the performance.  From there, I don’t think we heard a single track that SFG didn’t have sung back to them. Tracks like Heartbeat and She’s So Lovely hit the ground running, however, what particularly stood out to me was Elvis Isn’t Dead. The outro instrumental was stirred with an upbeat cover of ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ by Elvis Presley. It paid as a sentimental tribute to The King, as well as an ideal crowd belter for everyone to sing along to. It was another excellent performance for the Common Stage.

From here, I was granted the pleasure of witnessing Public Service Broadcast take over The Castle Stage over on the other side of the festival. PSB serve as an alternate, art enthused rock band which was formed in 2009 by J. Willgoose (music instrumentalist). They’re known for not providing any lead vocals, the band’s sound stems around providing samples from archival recordings, public information films, propaganda broadcasts, and historical footage and layering them over their music. 

The group carries with them the sophisticated concept of “teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future.” blending rock band energy with cinematic, documentary-like storytelling.

Complimented by old-style dystopian visuals and dancing astronauts, this concert was one of a kind. I think there’s something really special about witnessing a performance where knowing the music beforehand is far from mandatory. PSB did not provide a show that relied on hits, they formed a sonic wave for the crowd to simultaneously tap into. If you turn up not knowing too much about them, you certainly leave with a firm understanding with what they’ve come here to do. They provide a dissectible narrative and a cosmic-like mystery for listeners to become submerged into; it was an awful lot of fun to be a part of. Riding on the synths, electronic beats and guitars, comes a sense of adventure and a headfirst dive into the unknown. Standout tracks in particular were ‘Everest’, ‘Spitfire’ and ‘GO!’. The samples on Everest, in particular, utilises this sense of adventure in such a majestic fashion. There’s only so much I can do to describe the sensation that PSB brings to the table, if you haven’t already, put on your space boots and give them a listen. You won’t regret it. 

Moving forward, Nelly Furardo went on to own the Castle Stage as the Saturday night closing act. The 2000’s star jumped across multiple genres, showing off her varied array of tracks. It kind of felt like a time machine that transported us back to a 2000’s gig in America. Flamboyant backup dancers, extravagant and exotic outfits and a multi-story stage layout. Tracks like ‘Broken Strings’, ‘I’m Like a Bird’, ‘Promiscuous’ and ‘Maneater’ really demonstrated how many anthems Furtado claimed from this 2000s era of R&B, Hip-Hop and Pop. The set oozed positivity and the encouragement for fearlessness, it held it’s 1 hour 30 setlist firmly with very little room for deflation. 

It’s important to realise that festivals are also a great opportunity to discover lesser-known artists who are determined to make a name for themselves. Especially at festivals as large as Victorious, you can trust that acts that manage to get a slot in these smaller stages show a lot of promise and charisma, and perhaps there’s something to discover there. This was certainly the case with up-and-coming Grunge brutalists, The Monday Smile. From the outset, The Monday Smile did an incredibly efficient job of curing my hangover, so early on a Sunday morning. The set was a bold attempt to reclaim and revitalise the fading craze of Grime. The set, although only half an hour long, captivated what initially started out as a fairly average sized crowd, and grew into a much larger one by the time it was all over. Lead vocals from Luke Joyce came across as heavily Cobain inspired, but also incredibly well delivered. The band played popular tracks from their most recent and acclaimed album, ‘Nothing’, which came to streaming services in August. The performance climaxed with guitarist, Russ completely demolishing his instrument on stage, smashing his guitar to smithereens and launching it into the audience. I witnessed an endearing aftermath of a teenage girl confessing to Russ after the show that she was completely blown away by the performance and was now a loyal fan, in response, Russ very kindly signed the guitar and gifted it to her as a thank you. I even bought myself a very nice Monday Smile t-shirt to remember the gig by. 

At this stage, there were only two more bands that I was intrigued to see live. The penultimate one was the sensational Bloc Party, a British indie rock/post-punk revival band formed in London in 1999 by Kele Okereke (vocals, guitar) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar). I’d already seen plenty of people throughout the weekend already wearing their Bloc Party t-shirts, it was clear the following was already substantial. Okereke had such a genuine and endearing stage presence that just made him so loveable from the outset, not to mention his impressive vocal range and cadence. There’re hints of vulnerability in his delivery with a youthful and spontaneous undertone. Whether you knew of Bloc Party beforehand or not, Okereke gave the impression that we’re all in the same boat. The band capitalised on staccato guitar lines and tight, driving rhythms supplied by drummer, Matt Tong. The outcome formed a hybrid between alternate indie rock and a highly intense dancefloor energy.  

Finally, as the crowds began to finally gather for the final act of the Victorious weekend, we prepared ourselves for Kings of Leon, a group I’ve been relatively familiar with my entire life. Before I go into it, I imagine it’s incredibly difficult to please everyone as a headlining act of a multi genre festival. When we hear Kings of Leon, we think of the big hits: Sex is On Fire, Use Somebody, Closer, Pyro etc… but can that satisfy an hour and a half slot for the largest crowd the festival’s seen all weekend? As I said, it’s a tricky box to tick. What Leon did well, they did exceptionally well. Vocals from Caleb Followill were indistinguishable from the original recordings of the song, even without a backing track. Credit goes to the entire band on this one, it’s pure talent, pure authenticity. Although, aiming to avoid sounding overly sceptical, this authenticity sort of withdrew from the overall ‘live experience’ slightly, as it wasn’t always easy to feel as if this music was truly live (even thought it was). Who would know there was such a thing as being too good! 

Furthermore, Leon intentionally drip-fed the crowd with popular bangers throughout the set, as oppose to saving them all till last, including Use Somebody and Closer in the middle bulk of tracks on the setlist. Although this was a good short-term solution toward achieving mass audience engagement, it reminded the crowd that there were fewer and fewer songs worth sticking around for, especially when in the second half of the set the majority of tracks became back-to-back ballads. Over time, I noticed crowds were evidently growing shorter as the evening went on, with die-hard Leon fans still possessing the frontal lobe of the standing area. This wasn’t in anyway a comment on the quality of music we were hearing, but after three days of standing, dancing and singing, perhaps a lengthy and uneven setlist wasn’t what the masses were feeling up for. Saving the best till last, however, Sex Is On Fire was an extraordinary way to wrap up an incredible weekend down at Southsea Portsmouth, but thank goodness there wasn’t an encore! 

Victorious Festival 2025 was overall; an incredibly successful example of how a festival should be run. There’s a genuine sense that all demographics can be catered for here. With that in mind, it grants us all the opportunity to explore multiple new genres, groups people and cultures. A massive shoutout to the world stage, although I failed to make it round to see any gigs there, it looked like a wicked setup. On that note, I’d like to thank all of the stewards, event organisers and staff that made this event run so smoothly with very little hassle and disruption. I can’t wait to see what the lineup has in store next year!

Adam Gorecki is a London-based writer, maker, and photographer with a broad love for anything that catches his curiosity, particularly music. Graduating with a Level 4 Diploma in Copywriting from The College of Media and Publishing, he sees music as a complex social study and is fascinated by how brilliant ideas can be brought to life.