Noah And The Whale have trouble with their ukelele at V Festival

Noah And The Whale opened today's (August 16) Staffordshire leg of 2008's V Festival.

Taking to the Mobile Union stage at 1pm (BST), the folk outfit packed out the tent to capacity.

Wearing a blazer and shirt and clutching his acoustic guitar, lead singer Charlie Fink was backed by the band, including a violinist and a mini-brass section, for the entirety of the show.

However, recently nominated Mercury Music Prize singer Laura Marling was not performing with them as she has in the past.

Marling was replaced by an auburn-haired singer instead.

That didn't stop the gathered crowd dancing along though, and just before performing 'Give A Little Love' Fink acknowledged their efforts, saying: "Thank you all for getting up in time - I know it's probably tough."

Tiredness didn't put off their fans though, with the tent staying full for the whole gig.

Towards the end of the set Fink introduced their recent hit, 'Five Years Time', saying: "So we're going to do a love song now." The singer then picked up his ukulele, and joked about the tiny instrument: "This is very temperamental this little guy."

Strumming the strings into tune he requested the volume be turned up a bit before asking: "Can you guys hear that OK?" The crowd responded with a massive cheer, and the band launched into the song, igniting a huge sing-along from the crowd.

However Charlie's earlier words about his ukulele rung true and a few minutes in the wire fell out leaving the instrument silent. But Fink smiled and soldiered on until a crew member plugged it back in, much to the crowd's glee.

Noah And The Whale played:

'The Shape Of My Heart'
'Give A Little Love'
'Mary'
'Five Years Time'
'Rocks And Daggers'

Keep checking NME.COM for the latest news, pictures, videos and blogs live from both V Festival Chelmsford and V Festival Staffordshire all weekend.

Noah And The Whale tickets:

• Mar 12, 2010 19:00 at Roundhouse, London - Buy from Seetickets

More Noah And The Whale tickets