Culture Club: Isle of Wight Festival

Readers review this week’s festival

David Soggot's induction into the political life of the colony of South West Africa (now Namibia) was brutal and bloody. It was 1973, and the Anglican suffragan bishop in Windhoek, Richard Wood, unable to find a local lawyer to act on behalf of Swapo nationalists being flogged by South Africa's black quislings, had telephoned the human rights advocate in Johannesburg."I'll be on the next plane," was the response.

"A phenomenal weekend. Kanye West guesting for Jay-Z was incredible, and Paul McCartney was of course, just brilliant. The Strokes were boring and just went through the motions with no charisma or stage presence to speak of, but their lacklustre display was not enough to in any way taint the rest of the weekend."

Jack Elton-Walters

"There were a lot of style gurus, including Kate Moss and Erin O'Connor, as well as Alexa Chung, looking perfect. How do they do it? Effortless festival chic. Also stylish were Fearne Cotton, Marina Diamonds and Paloma Faith, who also performed. The musical highlights were Jay-Z and The Strokes – but I just felt dumpy in my baggy jeans and flip-flops."

CARO Cotton

"In my opinion, the Isle of Wight's three headliners this year, Jay-Z, The Strokes and Paul McCartney, far outshine those of the UK's premier festival, Glastonbury, who have Gorillaz, Muse and Stevie Wonder topping the bill next week. On the Isle of Wight, the three headliners were fantastic, all putting in energetic performances and giving the crowd the hits they wanted. The trouble lay in the rest of the bill. There were so many comebacks and old-timers, it almost felt like it was the Nineties. Crowded House, Reef and Shakespears Sister are just some of the irrelevant bands that played. But the sun shined all weekend and there were plenty of other current, exciting bands to pick from."

Jenny Crogan

"It was amazing – everything I imagined it would be! Jay-Z was especially good because he was great to listen to and was fantastic fun to dance to, and he also got Mr Hudson on stage to sing a song with him! The Strokes had a great vibe and got everyone going, but I found Calvin Harris a bit repetitive. Blondie was good fun – Debbie Harry talked a lot to the crowd who loved all the old classics. The crowd really got jumping up and down when N-Dubz came on stage. And although I enjoyed watching Florence and the Machine, I thought that Florence was a little bit out of tune. I was expecting great things of Vampire Weekend but I was a bit disappointed because they weren't that easy to dance to. As usual, the toilets were disgusting but not as bad as they were at Latitude a couple of years ago. I was camping in Tangerine Fields, which was a great experience and wasn't that far from the music. But some people were camping miles away and had to walk for ages until they got to the main area. It was an amazing experience and I would like to go back next year!"

Saskia Thorold

"I LOVE The Strokes!!"

WhiteFeather calamity Hunter

"I don't think I have ever had so much fun. The music was brilliant – every song, every mind-blowing artist just got me dancing. One artist that really stood out for me was the man himself, Jay-Z. He had brilliant stage presence and got the crowd wild. I was a bit disappointed by Vampire Weekend. I was very much looking forward to them, but when they sung their songs it was very quiet and out-of-tune. Unfortunately, we had to leave so I missed Paul McCartney and Pink, two acts that would have been great. Blondie were fantastic, and so was a brilliant band that go by the name of N-Dubz – they really whipped the crowd up. The festival itself was full of fun, laughter and some strange, strange outfits!"

jade MARAVIGLIA

Next week in Culture Club: Glee

Please email your views on E4's musical drama series about an American high school musical club to cultureclub@independent.co.uk. The first series had its finale on Monday.