THE Verve brought V Festival 2008 with a rousing finale with a rainbow of coloured smoke.

The V Stage arena was packed to within yards of every visible boundary for Sunday’s headline act.

And even though the rain – the first downpour during any act over the weekend in Chelmsford - was falling steadily by the time Richard Ashcroft was in full swing it didn’t dampen the crowds’ spirit.

He opened with This is Music then urged fans to sing along to Sonnet.

Predictably the headliners left the crowd pleasers, such as The Drugs Don’t Work and Lucky Man, towards the end of the set but there were a few nice touches along the way.

Ashcroft pressed his mic against his chest during Bitter Sweet Symphony to show his thanks for the festival’s reaction.

He dedicated The Rolling People to Isaac Hayes who recently died of a stroke.

And the set ended with a new single - Love Is Noise – which is on the comeback album Forth, which is out this month.