By Mal Butler
The Island is ready to rock this weekend as thousands of people arrive for the Isle of Wight Festival, with this year’s sensational chart topping musicians, our own Wet Leg, leading the way.
Wet Leg, fronted by Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, have come a long way since their first nervous Festival performance in the Kashmir Tent in 2019.
Their debut album ‘Wet Leg’ featuring songs ‘Chaise Longue’, ‘Wet Dream’ and ‘Oh No’ topped the UK and Australian charts earlier this year.
Hester said of that occasion: “We played in a local’s tent, and it was really great. It was our favourite place to be when we go to the festival. I think we probably had about half an hour, but we definitely didn’t hit that. I think one of the songs we did was a cover of a friend’s song. We played pretty early in the day in front of about 15 friends!”
Times have certainly changed since then and festival promoter John Giddings said: “They are beginning to crack America, which is fantastic for the Island. I have always wanted a group to come from the Island and become international. It’s a great advert for the Isle of Wight and the festival.”
Wet Leg will be performing in the Big Top on Sunday at 4.30pm while other top acts include Leiws Capaldi, Madness, Nile Rodgers, Kasabian, The Proclaimers, Muse and UB40.
John, looking ahead to the weekend, added: “It’s a nervous excitement. But I also feel a bit jittery, just praying that everything all works out that we’ve worked so hard for. There are 15 stages, 150 bands and so much fun to be had.”
Isle of Wight Observer