It’s undeniable that V Festival is a lot more commerical than other music festival’s across the country, and while the bash has certainly recieved the odd bit of criticism for it’s uber radio-friendly line up, the fest is no less fun in our eyes. Certainly – going by the awesome line-up, it’s unsurprising that the event managed to sell out in just two hours this year.

The summer bash – which is happening on Saturday 22nd to Sunday 23rd August – will be taking place across it’s two usual sites this ‘09: Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire.

Oasis (pictured right) and The Killers are the two big name headliners confirmed to be playing the festival’s top spot this year. Other major acts gracing the fest’s main stage (aptly titled ‘V Stage’) across the weekend include Razorlight, Snow Patrol, The Specials, Elbow, Biffy Clyro, Lily Allen, James, Seasick Steve and, intriguingly, Taylor Swift.

The smaller sized ‘4Music’ stage will also be featuring further super cool artists including Fatboy Slim, Pendulum, The Ting Tings, The Wombats, Keane, The Enemy, Katy Perry and Dizzee Rascal.

If nothing has still managed to catch your eye (or ear!), why not head over to ‘The Arena’ where you can check out a varied selection including MGMT, Lady GaGa, Happy Mondays, The Streets, Pete Doherty, and latest girl band sensation, British Sea PowerThe Saturdays.

If that’s still not enough, the festival has another 50 acts up its sleeve to announce in the coming few weeks. Exciting!

As I told you earlier, tickets for the Chelmsford leg have sadly sold out. There are still some available for the Staffordshire event, however. For more information regarding ticket outlets, check out V Festival’s website.

Top photo comes from stevec77’s flickr stream, and side photo from John Griffiths’ flickr stream under the Creative Commons License.

James Morrison has announced a November UK tour, his first this year.

Tickets go on sale on Friday (12th September) at 9am for the below dates:

Sunday 16th November – Norwich UEA
Monday 17th November – Lincoln Engine Shed
Wednesday 19th November – Oxford New Theatre
Thursday 20th November – Southampton Guildhall
Saturday 22nd November – Preston 53 Degrees
Sunday 23rd November – Edinburgh Picture House
Tuesday 25th November – London Shepherds Bush Empire

James have announced a new tour to round out the year.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, 25th April at 10am reportedly.

Thursday 11th December – Leeds Carling Academy
Friday 12th December – Glasgow SECC
Saturday 13th December – Birmingham NIA
Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th December – Brixton Carling Academy
Friday 19th December – Manchester Central

One of the few music stars to be his own cockney rhyming slang, James Blunt has announced an arena tour for early October.

Tickets go on sale on Friday (29th February) at 9am.

Friday 3rd October – Cardiff International Arena
Saturday 4th October – Sheffield Arena
Monday 6th October – Nottingham Arena
Tuesday 7th October – Birmingham National Indoor Arena
Wednesday 8th October – Manchester Evening News Arena
Friday 10th October – Glasgow SECC
Saturday 11th October – Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
Monday 13th October – Newcastle Arena
Tuesday 14th October – London O2 Arena

The Forestry Commission has announced their artists for summer 2008’s summer series. This year sees KT Tunstall, The Charlatans, Crowded House and Status Quo all rock various forests around the UK. Full details are on their website. Catch the below acts at the dates below. All tickets are on sale now..

The Zutons

Thursday 5th June – High Lodge, Thetford Forest, Near Brandon, Suffolk
Sunday 8th June – Bedgebury Pinetum & Forest, Near Goudhurst, Kent
Friday 13th June – Delamere Forest, Near Linmere, Cheshire
Friday 20th June – Westonbirt – The National Arboretum, Near Tetbury, Glos
Saturday 21st June – Sherwood Pines Forest Park, Near Edwinstowe, Notts
Friday 27th June – Dalby Forest, Near Pickering, North Yorks
Saturday 28th June- Cannock Chase Forest, Near Rugeley, Staffs

KT Tunstall -
(with support from Tom Baxter)
Friday 6 June – High Lodge, Thetford Forest Near Brandon, Suffolk
Sunday 15 June – Delamere Forest Near Linmere, Cheshire

Tickets are £27.50 and go on sale at 9.00am this Friday, 15th February

Crowded House -

Friday 20 June – Sherwood Pines Forest Park, Nr Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire
Saturday 21 June – Westonbirt, National Arboretum, Nr Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Thursday 10 July – High Lodge, Thetford Forest, Nr Brandon, Suffolk

Tickets are £30 and are on sale now

The Charlatans -

Sunday 29 June – Cannock Chase Forest, Near Rugeley, Staffordshire

Tickets are £26 and are on sale now.

James Morrison -

Saturday 14 June 2008 – Delamere Forest, Linmere, Delamere, Cheshire

Tickets are £27.50 and are on sale now.

Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra -

Saturday 7 June 2008 – Bedgebury Pinetum and Forest, Nr Goudhurst, Kent (with Gilson Lavis and guest vocalists Ruby Turner and Louise Marshall)
Friday 18 July 2008 - The National Arboretum, Westonbirt, Tetbury, Gloucestershire (with Gilson Lavis, special guest vocalist Marc Almond and guest vocalists Ruby Turner and Louise Marshall)

Tickets are £30 and are on sale now.

Katherine Jenkins -

Saturday 12 July 2008 – High Lodge, Thetford Forest, Santon Downham, Brandon, Suffolk
Saturday 19 July 2008 – The National Arboretum, Westonbirt, Tetbury, Gloucestershire.

Tickets are £28.50 and are on sale now.

Status Quo -

Saturday 7 June 2008 – High Lodge, Thetford Forest, Santon Downham, Brandon, Suffolk
Friday 27 June 2008 – Cannock Chase Forest, Staffordshire
Saturday 28 June 2008 – Dalby Forest, Nr Thornton Le Dale, N York Moors
Sunday 22 June 2008 – The National Arboretum, Westonbirt, Tetbury, Gloucestershire

Tickets are £30 and are on sale now.

Scottish folk star James Yorkston has announced details of a quick string of intimate dates around the UK in the week before Christmas.

Tickets are apparently going exceptionally fast, so get yours now if you want to go.

Monday 17th December – Edinburgh - The Ark (Support from HMS Ginafore & Adrian Crowley)
Tuesday 18th December – Brighton - Pressure Point (Support from Adrian Crowley)
Wednesday 19th December – London - Luminaire (Support from HMS Ginafore & Adrian Crowley)
Thursday 20th December – London - Luminaire (Support from David Thomas Broughton)

The ever brilliant Eden Sessions have been announced, featuring many of this years biggest acts. The sessions have been moved forward from throughout August to now throughout July, which probably won’t make much difference to most people.

Monday July 2nd – James Morrison
Tuesday July 10th – Rufus Wainwright
Tuesday July 17th – Amy Winehouse
Wednesday July 18th – Lily Allen
Saturday July 21st – Bright Eyes
Sunday July 22nd – Pet Shop Boys

None of the bands are particuarly shite, but there aren’t any that I’d make the effort to drive for four hours for.

Tickets are on sale for all dates now, with the exception of Pet Shop Boys who go on sale at 6pm on next Tuesday, April 24th.

EDIT: Please Note that “Original Cast” have been removed from the top 14 as they were in fact signed. They were replaced by The Guests.

So they’ve announced the new Road to V shortlist today, and to be honest I’m a bit disappointed. The judges seem to have gone for the bands with the most “buzz”, the most positive press, or the most sell-able sound, rather than simply the best bands. Whilst I’m glad that Bo Pepper are included, I’m disappointed at the lack of singer-songwriters, or simply good songs consistently available.

The top 14 are, along with their MySpace page links are:

1. Bo Pepper
2. The Brightlights
3. Dylan James
4. India Mill
5. Johnny Foreigner
6. The Jubilees
7. Kagura
8. Maxfield
9. New Cassettes
10. Original Cast
11. Our Fold
12. Outside Royalty
13. Rosalita
14. Seven Heroes

Of these, I most like Bo Pepper, The Brightlights, Kagura, Maxfield, New Cassettes, and Outside Royalty, though expect me to change my mind repeatedly as the competition progresses. Some of them however I think are just outright shite (see Seven Heroes, and India Mill).

Expect much heated talk from me regarding these bands in the coming weeks.