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Perth, Australia.  It is 29 degrees, blue skies all round and I am sat at a bar about to witness one of the best festivals to visit the Claremont Showgrounds this year.

The first act I get to see is Duffy. The Welsh, fair skinned popstrel is looking a bit pink and flustered in the western Australia heat but still manages to belt out hit after hit. Sporting some very Kylie-esque white hot pants and a bright red summer top she shimmies her way through Mercy and serenades the growing crowd with Warwick Avenue. Two top tunes which seem to leave a good impression on the Aussie’s.  It is a great start to the big artists today.

And so for this ‘giant game of musical tig’ as Elbow’s Guy Garvey describes it, the whole of the crowd rush across to the stage next door to catch the Mercury Music Award winner’s 45 minute set. The band hailing from Bury, Manchester (represent - and how I did cheer for the Mancs) manage to calm the crowd right down and eventually create a chilled out atmosphere of thousands of people sat on the grass or swaying along up front. As the sun starts to go down Elbow display their finest tunes and the crowd seem most happy to hear One Day Like This, a song that seems to have really helped their popularity here.  It really is a fantastic and awe inspiring set. A relaxing afternoon in the sun complimented by a world class band who are clearly giving their all. The band are also appreciative for their chance to tour with the V Festival and end their set by thanking their good friends Snow Patrol - the mention of which gets the crowd roaring with cheers…

Kaiser Chiefs perform Never Miss A Beat at the Sydney V Festival 2009. Give us a shout out if you were there, and if not - well treat yourself to this video clip and spirit yourself there anyway. Along with The Killers, Snow Patrol, Elbow and Razorlight, the Kaisers have just finished their V Festival tour of Australia - taking in Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth. Check back soon for more video clips from V Festival Australia.

Here we have Snow Patrol turning off the lights for Earth Hour at the Sydney V Festival 2009 as they launch in to Run. Give us a shout out if you were there, and if not - well treat yourself to this video clip and spirit yourself there anyway. Snow Patrol, along with The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, Elbow and Razorlight have just finished their V Festival tour of Australia - taking in Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth. Check back soon for more video clips from V Festival Australia.

With only a few days until the Australian V Festival kicks off, and with me, Eleanor Conway, your trusty Global VPass winner already en route, thought it might be time to whet your appetite with my first tour diary. London to Hong Kong to Sydney… all in a day’s work!

Keep in the loop, subscribe www.youtube.com/elleonline

Also don’t forget to check out Eleanor Conway Presents: Elbow and Flo Rida.

So here’s a televisual blast from the past - well just about this time last year when it all kicked off at Centennial Park in Sydney for the 2008 V Festival. This is what this year’s V Festival has to live up to. Will the glamorous and the good of Sydney come out in force again this year for The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Elbow, Snow Patrol, The Kills, M83, Tame Impala and Howling Bells? Sure as anything they will - I’m just jealous I’m not there… as I look through my old YouTube clips of my Aussie adventures in 2008, all I have to comfort me and make me feel part of the party this year is our very own Eleanor Conway. Elle won the Global VPass competition last year for her awesome achievements in blogging for this very site. Check out her stuff: Eleanor Conway. And now she has embarked on her 2009 epic odyssey through V Festivals in every country courtesy of Virgin Holidays. So it’s over to a very lucky Eleanor to take us on her V Festival 2009 trip. If you fancy joining our global blogging community and sharing your adventures in music with us then simply sign up here to contribute. And if you’re at this year’s Australian V Festivals - then sign up, log on and tell us how awesome it was!

Elbow are set for a summer of love in 2009, music.virgin.com’s Eleanor Conway will be hot on their heels in true stalker fashion as they prepare for V Festival Sydney sunshine, ahead of their UK dates (including V Festival of course!). On the eve of the hotly commended Wembley Arena gig last week, Eleanor Conway gets down and dirty with the boys from Elbow in this exclusive video interview…

V Festival has once again almost completely sold out across both sites only hours after tickets went on sale. Tickets to Hylands Park, Chelmsford sold out in under two hours and only coach packages now remain. The last remaining tickets to Weston Park, Staffordshire are going fast from www.vfestival.com. Tickets went on sale at 10am last Friday.

Virgin Media’s V Festival 2009 has two of the biggest and best live acts on the planet headlining in Oasis and The Killers. They will be joined on the 22/23 August by artists such as Razorlight, Fatboy Slim, Keane, The Specials, Elbow, Lily Allen, Pendulum, The Tings Tings, MGMT, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.

The line up so far:

OASIS  • THE KILLERS • RAZORLIGHT • SNOW PATROL • FATBOY SLIM • KEANE • THE SPECIALS • ELBOW • JAMES • LILY ALLEN • THE ENEMY • PENDULUM •  THE SCRIPT •  BIFFY CLYRO • THE TING TINGS •  PAOLO NUTINI • MGMT • KATY PERRY • THE WOMBATS • JAMES MORRISON • TAYLOR SWIFT • PETER DOHERTY • DIZZEE RASCAL • THE STREETS •  LADY GAGA • HAPPY MONDAYS • SEASICK STEVE • OCEAN COLOUR SCENE • ALESHA DIXON • BRITISH SEA POWER • THE SATURDAYS

Oasis and The Killers are set to headline Virgin Media’s V Festival in Chelmsford and Staffordshire on 22 & 23 August. Fatboy Slim, Keane, The Specials, Lily Allen, Elbow, Pendulum, The Tings Tings, MGMT and Lady Ga Ga will also be playing at what will be V Festival’s  fourteenth year. The Virgin Mobile Union stage sees lyrical genius Peter Doherty take to the stage and will be joined by a load of other acts to be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday 6 March and fans are being advised to only contact official ticket outlets - and fast!

So ensure you have your dialling finger ready or your web browser refreshed and remember - make sure they’re legit! The organisers of V Festival urge fans to not purchase tickets from unofficial outlets.  Those wishing to get their hands on the hot festival ticket this Summer should make www.vfestival.com - where all official outlets are detailed as below - their first port of call on Friday morning. Buying from any other unofficial outlets could lead to disappointment.

official outlets:
www.vfestival.com
www.gigsandtours.com
www.seetickets.com (0871 230 5584)
www.stargreen.com (0207 734 8932)
www.ticketline.co.uk (0871 424 4444)
www.ticketmaster.co.uk (0844 847 1670)

Ticket Prices: £152.50 weekend pass with camping, £132.50 weekend pass without camping, £73.50 day ticket.

Cut carbon, cut costs and have fun with fellow festival goers all the way to the festival.  Visit www.biggreencoach.co.uk for festival tickets with coach travel.
Here’s the lineup so far folks:

OASIS  • THE KILLERS • RAZORLIGHT • SNOW PATROL • FATBOY SLIM • KEANE • THE SPECIALS •  ELBOW • JAMES •  LILY ALLEN •  THE ENEMY • PENDULUM •  THE SCRIPT •  BIFFY CLYRO  • THE TING TINGS •  PAOLO NUTINI • MGMT •  KATY PERRY • THE WOMBATS •  JAMES MORRISON  • PETER DOHERTY  •   THE STREETS •  LADY GA GA • DIZZEE RASCAL • HAPPY MONDAYS • SEASICK STEVE • OCEAN COLOUR SCENE  • THE SATURDAYS • ALESHA DIXON • BRITISH SEA POWER

The Kills, M83, Howling Bells, Jenny Lewis, Jackson Jackson, Wolf & Cub and Children Collide join The Killers, Snow Patrol, Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, Elbow and Duffy on next month’s V Festival Australia lineup. Legendary 80s heroes Madness and Human League have also been added to the bill - fitting in to that classic retro groove so nobly filled by Duran Duran last year and Pet Shop Boys the year before. Human League will treat the V Festival crowd with a start to finish live performance of their landmark album Dare. Surely worth the ticket price alone!?

The presence of The Kills‘ Jamie Hince will alert Aussies to the possibilities of one Kate Moss making an appearance down under…

The Do, Louis XIV, Tame Impala, The Temper Trap and Canyons will also play the four dates across Sydney (March 28), Gold Coast (March 29), Melbourne (April 4) and Perth (April 5).

Visit vfestival.com.au now to book your tickets!

2008 has been a crazy year and has seen the conclusion of two world defying political campaigns. First we had Obama vying for the best seat in the world, and second we had Eleanor Conway on her campaign to become Virgin’s global reporter in 2009. While Barack started his campaign by going door to door through the United States of America, Eleanor took to the streets and fields of the UK to tout for your votes. Features Justice, Sam Sparro, The Presets, Glasvegas, Elbow.

music.virgin.com/author/eleanorconway.

Razorlight have been added to the V Festival Australia lineup. Johnny Borrell and the boys will now join The Killers, Snow Patrol, Kaiser Chiefs, Elbow and Duffy on the four dates across Australia: Sydney (28 March), Gold Coast (29 March), Melbourne (4 April) and Perth (5 April).

Razorlight are heading to their first ever shows in Australia next week where their Sydney and Melbourne gigs quickly sold out. But as a treat for Virgin Mobile customers in Oz who didn’t manage to get their hands on the sought after tickets, Virgin Mobile has grabbed the last 40 tickets to each show and is giving them away free!

To get your hands on a double pass, all you have to do is line up @ Virgin Mobile Pitt Street in Sydney tomorrow (Wednesday January 28), or Swanston Street in Melbourne on Thursday (January 29) before 1pm. It’s first in best dressed so get there early…

Razorlight play the Metro in Sydney on Thursday January 29, and The Hi Fi Bar in Melbourne on Saturday January 31.

The last 40 tickets will be given away from 1pm:

SYDNEY - Virgin Mobile Store at Westfield Centrepoint, Pitt St Mall, City on Wednesday Jan 28 (from 1pm).

MELBOURNE - Virgin Mobile Store, 133 Swanston St, City on Thursday Jan 29 (from 1pm).

For all you eager Aussie beavers quivering with anticipation over the forthcoming Australia V Festivals - here’s a flashback to this year’s awesome V Festivals in Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth. Watch Queens Of The Stone Age rule the stage with Make It Wit Chu.

If you missed it before, here’s the interview with QOTSA backstage at the Melbourne V Festival: watch the QOTSA interview

The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol, Elbow, Duffy, Louis XIV, Tame Impala, The Do, The Temper Trap and The Canyons are already on the V Festival lineup for 2009 and tickets are on sale now. Check out vfestival.com.au for more details…

The Kaiser Chiefs, fresh from the success of their new album Off With Their Heads, are now looking forward to heading over to Australia in March with The Killers, Snow Patrol, Elbow and Duffy for their four dates on the V Festival tour - Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth.

Here’s a ‘making of Never Miss A Beat’ video for you to enjoy in the meantime (worth it to see Ricky’s ‘walk the dog’ yo-yo skills in action, his surreal diva ‘I don’t want to be an anchorman’ moment and his umbrella-in-strong-wind dexterity). And be sure to look out for the second single off the album - Good Days, Bad Days - it’s brilliant… Can’t wait to see them at V Festival Australia…

get your mitts on V Festival Australia tickets now

Tame Impala are one of the awesome acts already confirmed on the V Festival Australia lineup for March & April ‘09. Check out the video for Half Full Glass Of Wine - one of the corking tracks on their brilliant debut EP which will be available to download here in the UK on 1 December. You can preorder the EP from their official website: tameimpala.com

Currently touring Australia, the lads from Perth are set to release their debut album in the UK in Spring ‘09 and are promising a bunch of live dates - so keep your surfing eyes peeled for more info as we get it.

Tame Impala join The Killers, Snow Patrol, Kaiser Chiefs, Duffy, Elbow, Louis XIV, The Do, The Temper Trap and Canyons on the V Festival Australia bill - with more acts to be announced soon. Tickets are now on sale at Tickemaster - so what are you waiting for!?

V Festival Australia is on for 2009 and The Killers, Snow Patrol and the Kaiser Chiefs will be headlining. Virgin Mobile’s third V Festival whirlwind is to hit Sydney on 28 March, Gold Coast on 29 March, Melbourne on 4 April and Perth on 5 April next year. Elbow, Duffy, Louis XIV, The Do, Tame Impala, The Temper Trap and Canyons beef up the already awesome lineup with more acts to be announced soon. Tickets will be on sale Friday 28 November but if you’re a lucky lucky Virgin Mobile Australia customer then you can get your hands on pre-sale tickets from this Wednesday 19 November. Check out vfestival.com.au for more details…

One of the tightest Mercury Music Prize run ups in many years where Elbow won with their fourth studio album, The Seldom Seen Kid.Watch the video ‘Eleanor Conway presents…. The Run To The Mercurys’ as she reports direct from the Mercury Music Awards 2008. Slap bang on the red carpet she raps at Estelle, gets Elbow signed up to the ultimate Mercury inspired deathmatch, causes Jools Holland to forget his lines, and gets personal with Neon Neon and Artic Monkeys front man, Alex Turner.

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