In preparing for my day at V, I clicked onto the BBC Weather forecast to find a little round symbol depicting a day of rain and eventually sunshine. Now being an optimistic soul (you have to be as a photographer) I plumped for boots rather than wellies and lighter clothing rather than snow gear. As I drove out of Wrexham the rain part of the forecast proved accurate; it was pissing down as dark clouds besieged the town. But being and optimistic soul I thought that as I got closer to Weston Park, some forty miles away, things must get a little brighter (it always rains in Wrexham anyway). And for a while things looked quite promising. My optimism persisted as I found out from a clewed up journo at Weston Park that an unknown band called 606, appearing early on the V Stage, was in fact Dave Grohl in acoustic guise. I was then met by the smiling, attractive faces of my female minders from Cake Media by which time my optimism was at its peak – lovely and friendly young ladies, Grohl, light drizzle. On inspecting the performance schedule for the day I established that the Sunday line-up was the pick of the festival, and an opportunity to see certain acts for the first time, including, Sinead O’Connor, Terra Naomi, Pink, and Juliette & The Licks. My list of must-see acts also included The Editors, Snow Patrol, 606, and the Foo Fighters.

Festival audiences for the first minor acts of the day are usually pretty sparse; made up mainly of punters claiming their places at the front of the stage for musical heroes appearing later in the day; but in 2007 V organisers had pulled off a master stroke. At the main stage opening acts Just Jack and The Proclaimers virtually guaranteed a big crowd from the kick-off. So it was with the Channel 4 Stage with Dave Grohl and Juliette & The Licks taking the early shift. But as we left the media tent to catch Grohl my optimism about the weather dissipated as the dark clouds gathered and the rain started in earnest. Even under the canopy of the stage that usually offers a degree of shelter, swirling rain and wind forced photographers to find ways of protecting their cameras. For the first time ever, I saw photographers actually shaking heads and giving up the fight. Fortunately for the crowd, Grohl was magnificent as he performed with his acoustic band, and promised punters that despite the weather he was ‘going to make their day.’ Never before have I seen a single artist dominate a festival, but on that wet and windy day at Weston Park Grohl solo and with the Foo Fighters did just that. But it was more than just consummate musicianship that won the day, it was Grohl’s enthusiasm and sincerity as he smiled and chatted through performances that will go down as some of the best I have ever seen in many years of covering live shows.