REVIEW: Scouting for Girls

1:18am Monday 18th August 2008

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IF the V Festival dished out a prize for the feelgood set of the weekend it would go to Scouting for Girls.

Their brand of upbeat pop had a packed 4Music stage singing and clapping along from start to finish.

The tracks might sound a little too similar and the content doesn’t pretend to be thought provoking or particularly meaningful – but it’s perfect for a sunny Sunday afternoon sing-song.

For a band whose first album was released less than a year ago, Scouting for Girls have an amazing following.

Most seem to be young teens and older woman - many who remarked how ‘lovely’ frontman Roy Stride is.

From the word go with I Need a Holiday and Hearbeat fans were belting out the tunes.

The rapport with the audience is carefully orchestrated.

Stride started by mocking the weather at Weston Park in Staffordshrie, V’s twin site, praised the Chelmsford crowd’s vocal efforts and let them sing the catchy choruses unaided.

In fact it got to the point where Stride could have put down his mic and gone and had a cup of tea and slice of cake with one of his many middle-aged admirers.

He revelled in the fact the audience were having fun.

Hits like It’s Not About You and She’s So Lovely were interspersed with covers of Falling in Love With You (Elvis Presley) and a quick couple of verses of Nobody Does it Better (The Spy Who Love Me theme tune).

A set from Scouting for Girls is guaranteed to leave you with a warm feeling inside.