Over lunchtime and the early afternoon, we took a break from bands to explore some of the other attractions on site, and to get to some of the more outlying areas. A quick glance at some of The Pipettes' set whilst crossing the Pyramid Stage field, actually resulted in seeing almost the whole thing, such was the size of the field, and the time needed to wade through all the mud. Their set was Ok, although the cheesiness of it all did become a bit annoying towards the end. From a male perspective, and apart from a few songs, they are generally more interesting to look at, than to listen to.
After an extensive wander around the site, which included visits to the Lost Vagueness area, Tipi Fields, Avalon Fields, and The Glade, we ended up near the Other Stage, in another rain shower, to watch CSS. Previously, I had only really heard their major single, Let's Make Love, a kind of bad disco tune which I don't really like - so I had low expectations for their set. But, I was pleased to hear that it is not at all representative of what they really sound like - their "normal" sound is much more guitar driven, including an excellent cover of L7's Pretend We're Dead. So, I found myself really enjoying their set, much more than I expected to - a surprise highlight for me.
After CSS, I headed again for the John Peel stage, to get a decent spot for The Pigeon Detectives - which would surely be one of the festival's highlights. Before the Pigeons, Calvin Harris played. The tent was packed with females for his set, which I find tends to be par for the course for any dance-focused act - you get lots of birds emerging to watch them at festivals (just look at the crowd next time Basement Jaxx or Groove Armada play a festival). Calvin Harris's set was excellent, and really got the crowd going - the music was not completely my cup of tea, but I have to admit that the band played an awesome set, which really fired up the audience, and showed how good a dance-indie act like this can be when they play live.
Next up were The Pigeon Detectives. The tent was busier than I saw it all weekend for this set, a real must-see show, with hundreds of people even standing in the swamp outside, trying to catch a glimpse of the band. Their set was incredible - partly just a standard Pigeons set, with the singer jumping around like a madman, getting into the crowd, encouraging singalongs, and doing all he could to fire the audience up into going crazy. But as well as that, there was also an extra special Glastonbury bit of mentalness, with the singer clearly very excited to be playing, and the crowd becoming aware during the set that they were witnessing something special. By the end of the set, the singer couldn't stop jumping into the audience, emerging each time with stolen flags, toys, and other booty. A complete riot of a set, possibly the highlight of the whole weekend, and one that should be a big step on the Pigeon Detectives' route to becoming a massive band. The songs are great, too.Wallowing back towards the Other Stage in time to catch Maximo Park, unfortunately we arrived in time to catch the last half dozen songs of what seemed like a pathetic Babyshambles set - one of those where you really wonder why he bothers. Apparently Kate Moss had come on stage earlier in the set, and sung a few lines - like anybody is supposed to care. They stumbled their way through Fuck Forever like they just wanted it all to be over, then inexplicably ended the set on the downbeat What Katie Did - with Pete Doherty teasing the crowd about whether that was really the end of the set or not. Pete, you only get to do that if you actually manage to play a decent set.
After the Shambles horrorshow, it was time for Maximo Park - another band (like The Maccabees the previous night) who were at pains to thank the crowd for choosing to watch them, ahead of all the other possible choices. Like, er, Paul Weller. This was a standard Maximo set - averagely brilliant, as former Gooner Thierry Henry (and that news spoilt the fun of Glastonbury somewhat!) has sometimes been described. They played Nosebleed this time, unlike at the Oxford Union last week, and it was brilliant. They should play it every time they play a gig.By the time Maximo had finished, I was jolly well sick and tired of standing around in, and trying very hard to walk through, mud which ranged between being extremely sticky one minute, and almost liquid the next. With too many band decisions to make (The Kooks, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, or Editors next? The Killers, Iggy & The Stooges, or Hard-Fi as headliners?), I decided to jack it all in, make one last trudge back to the tent, and avoid the issue by listening to bands from there. Being close to the Pyramid Stage, this largely meant listening to the bands that were playing there, with some Other Stage listening when the Pyramid went quiet. So, Saturday night multi-gig commenced!
I got to hear a decent amount of The Kooks, who seemed to be playing their entire album, plus a few new songs, to a very enthusiastic reception indeed. Their set seemed quite short (which would make sense, given that their only album is about 35 minutes long), so when it finished, I got to hear some amazing sounds from the Other Stage, where Editors were playing. In particular, current single Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors sounded immense, and I briefly regretted moving away from the Other Stage.
When the headliners came on, my position meant listening to The Killers. They came on stage playing Sam's Town, with a load of fireworks going off behind the stage. It looked OK, but seemed a but gimmicky and cheesy - given that so many people were there to see them, they really didn't need a cheap stunt like that to win people over. The early stages of the set seemed to see them throwing away most of their decent (i.e. old) songs, with When You Were Young, Mr Brightside, Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine, and Smile Like You Mean It, all coming in quick succession. The sound of 1969 from Iggy on the Other Stage, was making me start yearning for that part of the site even more.
But, if it seemed like The Killers were going to blow it, they seemed to pull it back out of the fire. Some huge versions of some of their more ropey newer songs, seemed to be doing the job - and perhaps showing for the first time that some of the new songs do cut it after all. They kept it going for long enough to get to the obvious finale, which was an absolutely massive version of All These Things That I've Done - which pretty much sent the Pyramid Stage wild. I still don't like all that much of their latest album, and I kind of regretted not staying at the Other Stage - but The Killers pulled it off - just about.
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