Some of the greatest names and the most exciting new acts in music rocked Victorious Festival this weekend.

Up to 80,000 fans each day were on Southsea Common to see headliners including Sunday night’s Biffy Clyro and Becky Hill who appeared after performances from The Kooks, James Bay, Wet Leg, Red Rum Club and Natasha Bedingfield.

On Friday, headliner Fatboy Slim was right here, right now with a shock and awe dance mix after an epic set from joint headliners Snow Patrol, who thrilled with killer hits such as Run and Chasing Cars.

There was also a huge Saturday night with headliner Jamie T showing he is still running with believers after Manchester’s Courteeners wowed fans with an epic set ending with Not Nineteen Forever and What Took You So Long?

But the save of the weekend was from Yorkshire band  The Sherlocks who appeared on Friday with only a few hours notice, replacing The Snuts, who could not attend.

Frontman Kiaran Crook told The Echo that the band had no clue of the festival’s SOS until the evening before when they were together on a pub crawl around Sheffield.

“We were in one pub when a call came through and by the next pub it was confirmed,”  explained Kiaran.

“But it was worth it, the crowd and atmosphere was unbelievable,” he added.

After years on the smaller stages,  local stars Crystal Tides made their debut on the main stage on Saturday in front of thousands of music fans. 

Five-piece Billy Gregory, Harry Knowles, Neil Cripps, George Regan and Joe Knight, played a blistering set of tunes and revealed plans to headline Portsmouth Guildhall in March.

George told us: “Victorious has such a big place in our hearts, so to finally be on the main stage made it a very special day for us.”

Elsewhere, indie-pop trio Busted entertained a rain-soaked Saturday crowd with a greatest hits secret set, while Reading’s The Amazons brought electrifying rock to Victorious before telling The Echo that their fourth album is completed and will be released in 2025.

The weekend also saw sets from Razorlight, Tom Walker, Lightning Seeds, Echobelly, Holly Humberstone, Maximo Park, The Lottery Winners, John Power, Harvey Jay Dodgson, and The  Covasettes and former One Direction and now solo star Louis Tomlinson’s first-ever UK festival set.

Pictures by Allan Jones