But Shakin Stevens first - the big "joke" artist that opened up the Pyramid Stage on the Saturday. I heard all of his set, much of which was quite folk and country influenced. He got a very good reaction from the (very impressive) crowd that showed up to see him. By far the best reaction though (and, I suspect, the reason that many were there) was when he played This Ole House, which admittedly did sound very good! Welsh Elvis indeed!
Los Campesinos! were the first band of the day that I made a proper beeline for, on the Other Stage. Having seen their unique show at the Camden Crawl, I was definitely not going to miss them. There weren't many people waiting for them when they came on stage, so it was easy to get right into the middle - even if endless people with flags were obscuring the view of all 7 of the band. I again really enjoyed Los Camp's set, it was interspersed with some very funny chat to the crowd, and the songs of course sounded excellent. The quiet parts of the songs just make you yearn for the poppy guitar bits even more, and when they come, they are fantastic. A really good band, who I really want to see somewhere small again soon.
A 5 minute walk across ground that had now completely dried out after the previous day's rain, brought me to the John Peel Stage, where The Teenagers were playing. Kicking off with the excellent Scarlett Johansson, they seemed to have a very enthusiastic hardcore of fans at the front of the tent. Although I didn't know all that many of their songs, they sounded very good, and even the songs I didn't know were keeping me entertained. The main thing about their set was the dozen or so girls that they got up on stage with them for final song French Kiss - and of course, the amusing French-ness of the singer in particular when talking to the crowd. This was a good way to spend a lunchtime - although I'm not sure I would make a special beeline to see The Teenagers again, I was glad I went.By the time Black Kids took to the stage, the sun was starting to properly come out, and any mud that had been around the previous day had gone for good. The crowd on the Other Stage was big, and very up for what Black Kids had to offer - which was 40 minutes of sunny, party music. They got the crowd dancing, they fired them up with their chat in between songs, and on the last 2 songs I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You and Look At Me (When I Rock Whichoo), they kicked off a huge party at the front. Just what the doctor ordered, and it kicked off a day of great music in the sunshine.
I then moved back across to the John Peel Stage, where British Sea Power were playing. They had a big crowd, with hundreds more watching on the bank outside the tent, enjoying beer in the sunshine. Obviously BSP usually have a very devoted cult following, and today was no different - lots of people waving tree branches, and I saw lots of BSP t-shirts being worn in the audience. Their set was very enjoyable indeed - lots of their classics, mixed with some climbing up the stage rig - a decent afternoon Glastonbury set.
Next up in the John Peel tent came what was, for me, the best set of the whole festival, and probably the best show I have seen The Courteeners play. The tent was busy, but unlike the Ting Tings where many people were just curious, this tent was packed with a hardcore of Courteeners fans. The band were preaching to the converted from the word go, and as a result, the set was like a joyous homecoming. The band seemed incredibly up for it, especially Liam Fray, who was continually looking out into the audience like he couldn't believe what was happening. The crowd were even more up for it, and during some of the more lively songs such as Cavorting, Acrylic and Not Nineteen Forever, it was properly kicking off in the middle of the audience. Liam stirred the crowd up more and more as the set went on (wearing a very cool looking t-shirt with Axl Rose on it too!), then declared that it was the greatest day of his life. It felt like that for many watching too, so good was the set. The undoubted highlight of Glastonbury for me.Vampire Weekend were up next in the tent, and given how many people had watched them on the Other Stage the previous day, I was slightly surprised at how much room there was inside the tent. Maybe people had their fill on Friday, and went off elsewhere, particularly as the set was clashing with both The Wombats and The Raconteurs. The people that weren't there missed a treat, with the more intimate environment bringing out the best in the band. They were talking to the crowd more, and the guitars sounded much more rock and roll than the relatively "clean" sound on the Other Stage the previous day. If that was a pop show, this was more of a rock show. Oxford Comma in particular in this set sounded incredible, with a guitar edge that had been missing when I'd seen them outdoors.
With not much in the way of "must see" stuff on for the rest of the day (and a tough choice about which headliner to watch, we headed up to the Park Stage for the "secret" debut show by Alex Turner's new band, The Last Shadow Puppets. Getting up there, we found a stage where it was pretty difficult to see, because the sun was going down right behind it. Blinding, literally. There seemed to be some kind of open mic going on when we arrived, with an MC introducing various famous guests, including Martha Wainwright, members of Portishead, and quite a few others. Then, as the numbers around the stage were still swelling, The Last Shadow Puppets were introduced. Alex Turner and Miles Kane came onto the stage, and played several acoustic songs from their album. Obviously, given the big orchestral sound of the album, this sounded very stripped down, and it just didn't seem like the way those songs were intended to be played. The sun still made it tricky to see too much of what was going on, but later in the set, you could definitely make out Matt Helders joining them on drums. There was another guy on guitar too. Sadly, that guy was Jack White, and I knew nothing about it until reading the reports afterwards. Having fancied seeing The Raconteurs, but opting for Vampire Weekend instead, I was a bit annoyed that I had managed to miss Jack White twice in as many hours - including once when he was playing a guitar less than 20 yards away from me! Never mind.
Walking back down from The Park towards the main stages, I passed the Other Stage, and heard some of Hot Chip's set, which sounded pretty good. Also on the Queens Head stage, right next door, I walked past right as the Pigeon Detectives were coming on stage. The tent was nowhere near as busy as when I was there on the Thursday, which was strange considering how popular the Pigeon Detectives are. They seemed to be loving playing in such a small tent, especially as their "proper" slot the following day was on the Other Stage, much bigger, and much more public.
After a food and beer stop, I headed around to the Pyramid Stage, where the mess that is Amy Winehouse was shambling her way through some of her songs. Watching the disaster of her set, there did seem to be a distinct difference between her performance on the "hits", that I presume had been arranged in advance to be televised, and the other songs. The songs for TV were passable enough, the rest was just ridiculous. Admittedly, this wasn't a lot different to most Amy Winehouse gigs for the last couple of years, except with the added bonus of a fight at the end, which gave the whole set a surreal ending. Definitely one of those famous Glastonbury sets, for all the wrong reasons.
And finally, Jay Z. Probably the most written about gig anywhere in the world this year, so I thought it really had to be seen. Shame, because having subsequently seen some of the Massive Attack set on TV, I probably should have gone there instead. The set started off with film of all the controversy about booking him, and the cover of Wonderwall that followed was a stroke of genius. After that, though, I didn't really get what was going on. In just over an hour, he apparently played almost 30 songs, many of which seemed to be truncated, and many others seemed to be just Jay Z rapping over a sample of a riff from a more famous song. All of the reviews were fantastic (but then, were they ever going to be anything else), but the set just didn't do anything for me. I remember seeing Eminem headlining Reading in 2001 and being similarly disappointed - maybe big outdoor rap shows are just lost on me.
Given the slightly disappointing Sunday bill, the fact that I'd been there since the Wednesday, and the need to start work again on Monday, we left the site on Sunday lunchtime. The weather, especially on a glorious Saturday, made this the best Glastonbury for a few years - the lack of sellout did also seem to bring back some of the 17 year olds that had been noticeably missing from recent years. A few more scallies around too - which does at least mean that Glasto seems to be getting some of its spirit back.
No comments:
Post a Comment