Worthy Farm, Pilton
June 25th – 29th, 2009
Now in its 39th year, the annual Glastonbury Festival has become something of a national treasure. But with more media coverage, and scrutiny, than ever before, how would festival-goers respond to a selection of acts more likely to be collecting their pensions than raising the roof?
Friday
Threatening storms on Thursday night dampen the spirits of many attending the Worthy Farm event, forcing a number of people to retire early to the relative comfort of their sleeping bags. Thankfully though, the widely-predicted downpours expected for the festival weekend only last until Friday lunchtime, with ponchos and anoraks swiftly replaced with shades and suntan lotion. As the heat rises and the early morning mud starts to harden, the crowds begin to emerge from their tents and Glastonbury 2009 finally gets into gear!
Friday sees a typically diverse range of acts perform at the Worthy Farm event. But with more than ten musical stages catering for a number of genres and tastes, perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Mr Hudson and the Library open proceedings with an early morning set on the Other Stage. The singer’s tales of love and loss may recently have gained the attention of unlikely fan Kane West but his plodding brand of soul-rock fails to win many new admirers among a rapidly thinning audience.
Thankfully, Dan Black offers a much more energetic live prospect in the John Peel Tent. A darling of alternative radio, Black’s half-hour set is over all too briefly, with a string of would-be electro-pop hits living up to the growing hype. The performer and his able backing band could be ones to watch over coming months as word-of-mouth accolades spread.
Over at the Pyramid Stage, Regina Spector’s appearance heralds the last of the weekend’s rain. Sadly though, cuts from her latest major label album offer a less appealing prospect, veering dangerously close to the middle of the road. It’s ultimately left to past works like ‘Us’ to remind everyone of her fleetingly quirky charm.
Fleet Foxes quickly get things back on track. After winning widespread critical acclaim for last year’s eponymous debut album, the Americans overcome early nerves to provide their own form of musical warmth. Tracks like ‘Oliver James’ and ‘Sun Rising’ work equally well live as they do on record, while a new song, jokingly entitled ‘Diminishing Returns’, points to a promising future of more ghostly alt-country.
While pop fans at Glastonbury are able to enjoy sets from Lily Allen and NERD, one of Britain’s finest singles bands is also on hand to show the upstarts how it’s really done. Continuing their reunion tour, The Specials still sound fresh and worthy after their long time out in the wilderness. Coventry’s finest (and perhaps only) successful ska group play a crowd-pleasing show laden with hits. Terry Hall may remain one of the music industry’s less gleeful front-men, but the group’s energy is infectious. ‘Little Bitch’, ‘Rudi, A Message to You’ and ‘Monkey Man’ all feature, before ‘Ghost Town’ brings things to a fitting close.
Glasto founder Michael Eavis has reportedly been trying to get Neil Young to play the festival for years and with tonight’s performance you can see why. The Pyramid Stage headliner may resemble an unlikely crowd pleaser these days, but his two-hour set offers a diverse range of experimentalism and old-school favourites. The folk-rock veteran has a back catalogue to match anyone’s and the likes of ‘Hey Hey My My’, ‘Heart of Gold’ and ‘Down by the River’ are highly impressive. A spirited 15-minute version of ‘Rocking in the Free World’ is also a delight, albeit an unexpected one. Meanwhile, Young’s climatic encore of The Beatles’ ‘A Day in the Life’ is simply stunning, with the rocker thrashing through the final crescendo. Marvellous stuff, all told.
Saturday
Saturday continues where Friday left off, with sweltering weather, clear skies and Michael Jackson still being dead.
Indie fans are treated to early sets from Peter, Bjorn and John and Metric on the Other Stage. The latter offer a number of lively tunes from their latest album Living Thing, before delighting the punters with their infectious, if somewhat overplayed, ‘Young Folks’. Metric, in comparison, provide a tight 40-minute show centred round tracks such as ‘Monster Hospital’ and ‘Help, I’m Alive’. Singer Emily Haines remains an under-rated front-woman, energetically leaping around the stage despite the growing heat.
Over on the Park Stage, the London-based Memory Band run through a live version of the Wicker Man soundtrack. They make a decent fist of it, but the film’s haunting melodies and spectral Scottish folk are somewhat undermined today by the presence of nearby burger vans.
The usual rumours surrounding Peter Doherty no-shows and police investigations are thankfully banished late on Saturday afternoon as the former Libertines man (Baby)shambles onstage, backed with dancers and a string section. Doherty’s set may be uneven, with new solo songs instantly forgettable to many, but a selection of hits from his eclectic past soon reminds the large crowd of his hidden talents. A cover of Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer’ also goes down a treat with a raffish audience of indie kids young and old.
While Badly Drawn Boy’s live return proves something of a damp squib at the Avalon tent, Kasabian cement their rise to the top of the UK’s premier rock league with a populist evening set over on the Pyramid Stage. Performing ahead of Bruce Springsteen, the group build on the recent success of their third album to suitably warm up onlookers for the forthcoming prospect of the Boss. Kasabian’s brand of populist lad-rock may occasionally get lost within its own self-importance, but the group’s psychedelic hits are undeniably a strong draw for many festival-goers. If nothing else, they at least offer more than grim contemporaries like Razorlight and The Kooks.
As for Springsteen, he continues to split audiences and tonight’s set proves no different. Over a carefully coordinated two hour and 40-minute show, the Boss tests the patience of casual fans to its limits, saving the likes of ‘Born to Run’ and ‘Dancing in the Dark’ to the very end. Nevertheless, his raw energy and weight of personality remain largely captivating and he develops a good rapport with a sturdy crowd. On the way back to their tents, people are heard complaining that Bruce didn’t see fit to play ‘Born in the USA.’ A good thing, surely?
Sunday
Though Neil Young and the Boss have proven that age doesn’t necessarily stand in the way of exciting performances, Sunday offers an even more mouth-watering prospect to Glastonbury visitors: the long-awaited return of Blur.
The day kicks off with low-key sets from Wave Machines and Good Books in the John Peel Tent. Both bands show signs of youthful promise but are unlikely to still be around in five years time.
Then again, the same might once have been said of Art Brut, who continue to truck on with good humour despite record label problems and general poverty. Eddie Argos and co serve up a catchy set on the Other Stage, based around their Frank Black-produced third LP, Art Brut vs Satan. A small but passionate crowd gets behind the group as they sprawl though should-have-been hits like ‘Emily Kane’ and ‘Good Weekend’. Their fanbase may be limited, in the UK at least, but Art Burt’s live presence positions them somewhere between Pulp and Half Man Half Biscuit in the realm of ironic indie heroes.
Over on the Pyramid Stage, more old-timers run through their classics with Tom Jones and Tony Christie exciting or boring the masses, depending on how much crooning you can tolerate. Thankfully though, Madness soon appear to bridge the generation gap, at least slightly.
The Nutty Boys may have been going for 30 years but their back catalogue is saturated with classic pop tunes. Keeping new songs to a minimum, Suggs and co run through favourites like ‘Baggy Trousers’, ‘It Must Be Love’ and ‘Our House’ with renewed zeal. Closing with a manic ‘Night Boat to Cairo’, Madness prove, just as The Specials did on Friday, that there’s life in the vintage ska genre yet.
Playing one of their largest-ever British gigs, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds baffle and alarm a number of those waiting patiently for Blur with a towering, glowering Pyramid Stage slot. Old Saint Nick may be into his 50s but the Australian still stalks the stage like a mad preacher man, rallying his troops with wild-eyed brilliance. Although Cave’s long-term collaborator Mick Harvey recently left the Bad Seeds, the group remains one of the finest backing bands around. A mixture of garage rock tunes from last year’s Dig Lazarus Dig album merge seamlessly with old standards ‘The Ship Song’ and ‘Red Right Hand’ to impressive effect. By the time the demented ‘Stagger Lee’ arrives, many in the crowd have scampered off in fright.
And so for Blur. Although the Essex four-piece never actually split up, their 2003 tour felt somewhat lacking without the presence of ditched guitarist Graham Coxon. Now fully-formed once again, the group play their largest show yet since their reunion, as Pyramid Stage headliners. And what a show it is; two hours of pure re-energised hits that bring about by far the greatest atmosphere of the weekend. Mass sing-a-longs greet ‘Girls and Boys’, ‘Song 2′ and ‘Beetlebum’ while Phil Daniels even turns up for a frantic ‘Parklife’. Damon Albarn and the boys also cater for the die-hards with the surprise inclusion of brilliantly re-imagined album tracks ‘Oily Water’ and ‘Trimm Trabb’. The euphoric ‘Tender’ brings about the moment of the Glastonbury weekend, with Albarn visibly moved by the incessant roar of the crowd. The future of Blur may still be open to question but whatever form it takes, it’s unlikely to provide many nights quite as memorable as this one. What a performance, and what a Glastonbury.
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