Sunday at Glastonbury
By Sunday the Glastonbury Festival has taken its toll on many of the 140,000 strong crowd, with aching limbs, hoarse throats, torn clothing and no shortage of hangovers. The Blue face paint from the Water Aid stand has mostly rubbed off, leaving a pale blue hue and once pristine outfits now look like they have been taken from a Charles Dickens poor house. Even the most reserved person has now been well and truly worn in and shuffles around the site like a pro. Whilst many take solace in the Green Fields and Stone Circle the rest look to the music to pick them up and drag them into life and there is one thing guaranteed at Glastonbury; that there is always something for all tastes.
Sunday is dry again which to be honest feels a bit wrong - but then again this is a Glastonbury whopper of a year when all is possible. There's something all too poignant and strange about Glastonbury Sundays, I think it's because it's the final day, exhaustion starts to set in but you just don't want the whole thing to be over. You want to stop time, get some kip and return; you actually want to keep the whole machine going for a few more days, even though you know that organisers have been working flat out with little or no sleep for days, but with a festival this good you just want it to go on forever.
Still, there are some hours to go yet and an awful lot of festival activity to squeeze into the day. Sunday is the day that Blur return to headline the Pyramid and there's a huge vibe of anticipation around the site for this one. In the mean time it’s sing-along-a-Sunday.
Recently shawn Status Quo do their thing early on in the sunshine and roll out the hits in the sun; 'Caroline', 'What You're Proposing', 'In The Army Now', 'Roll Over Lay Down', 'Down Down', 'Whatever You Want', 'Rockin' All Over The World'. Sadly they miss out on 'Matchstick Men' which is the one Quo number I really rate!
Tony Christie, riding high on a resurgence ever since 'Amarillo' was brought back to life earning the performer a legion of new fans, somehow this seemed so right for Glastonbury. A near 20,000 strong Glastonbury crowd singing along to ‘Amarillo’ in the Sunday sun was surreal yet strangely normal. This was a set awash with covers, which were done well and done with style, Andy Williams' 'Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You' and The Righteous Brothers' 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling' had a certain je ne sais quoi - could Tony Christie cope with the Pyramid stage? Oh yes, but everyone was waiting for ‘Amarillo’.
A perfect fit for Glastonbury, Sir Thomas of Jones hit the Pyramid stage and powered his way through a set that had everything you’d expect. Sporting the new grey look, which I have to say is rather fetching and flattering for the old Welsh crooner, the hits were belted out for this afternoon slot. ‘Delilah’, 'The Green Green Grass Of Home', 'What's New Pussycat?', 'It's Not Unusual', 'You Can Leave Your Hat On' and 'Sex Bomb' with an encore of 'Unbelievable' – he fitted into this slot perfectly and with Michael Eavis jigging along in the sunshine all seemed well with the world.
There was a huge touch of Madness brought to the Pyramid stage on Sunday afternoon, drawing a massive and very happy crowd as the ska boys absolutely socked it to everybody sparking off one of the biggest sing-alongs of the festival. The hits just kept on coming and among them were 'One Step Beyond', 'Embarrassment', 'House Of Fun', 'Wings Of A Dove', 'Baggy Trousers', 'Our House', 'It Must Be Love', 'Madness' and 'Night Boat To Cairo' - the crowd loved Madness and Madness loved the crowd, it simply blew people away but above all was fun with a capital F - and when saxophonist Lee Thompson was suspended in mid-air during 'Baggy Trousers' there was uproar. It was just perfect.
Over on the Other stage Enter Shikari showed why they have gathered such an impressive following. Politically charged and displaying exuberance in abundance the guys were watched by none other than Keith Flint from The Prodigy as they charged their way through a strong set which drew an impressively large crowd. The anti-war message being given out while concurrently encouraging the crowd to form a 'wall of death' was interesting, ironic and typical of the nature of the lads set, strong emotions, strong music, strong set.
They've got the sound and they've got the look, the newly revamped Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds lurch onto the stage and dedicate their set to the late great Farah Fawcett, as an obvious buck to the trend of Michael Jackson tributes. A fierce sound from an experienced old timer who knows his music, is comfortable in his genre and who still likes to push those boundaries. The charismatic singer strolled on stage to the sound of Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone' and then opened the set with 'Tupelo'. 'There She Goes My Beautiful World' got the crowd going and 'Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!' was just pure Nick Cave, still producing good works, still doing what he does best - long may it last. Cave is a remarkable lyricist, and there’s many a wry smile raised by his words.
Bon Iver played a second set for Glastonbury having previously played the Park stage, they took to the Other stage with aplomb, setting the seal on what was evidently a great festival for them. This was a mellow, haunting set made quite perfect as the sun set, this is spine tingling music that simply crawls under your skin and stays there. Captivating is the word that springs to mind.
Glasvegas, also on the Other stage, were a festival surprise this year. I've seen them a few times now and frankly just haven't got it. Their performance, although technically good, has always seemed a bit lack lustre with little or no crowd interaction, and while they've shown promise I didn't think they could really cut it on a fairly big stage at a festival where quite frankly the musical brilliance on offer has been second to none. I was in for a bit of a surprise with Glasvegas this time round - they seem to be growing into their skins and seem a whole lot more comfortable with their audience, at one point front man James Allen even cracked a smile!
Looking every inch the broody rock star and sporting a Marilyn Monroe picture on the back of his jacket the band proved they are really on the way, that they've learnt a lot of stuff in the past year and can put it into practice.
With 'Fuck You It's Over' and 'Flowers And Football Tops' on the set list and 'Daddy's Gone' inspiring the crowd to sing alone at top volume the guys put on a hum dinger of a performance. Their acoustic version of the The Ronettes' 'Be My Baby’ was a triumph, so yes I think we'll be hearing a lot more from our friends Glasvegas and if they build on this performance it will be excellent.
We approached the end of the evening on the Pyramid stage with some trepidation, this was it, we were nearing the end and this was one set that had been eagerly anticipated all weekend. Blur, back together again after all these years, and playing Glastonbury. Could these men, now in their forties and each having pursued separate careers during the intervening 6 years cut it once again as Blur the band? Hell yes, it took just the first few chords for everyone in that packed arena to fall in love with them all over again, their performance left no-one untouched by their magic.
Kicking off their set with 'She's So High' the reformed Brit winners swung into 'Girls And Boys' before continuing with hit after hit which had the crowd enthralled, they held them in the palms of their hands as the biggest sing along anywhere on the planet floated into the Glastonbury night sky.
The inclusion of Phil Daniels for 'Parklife' was a touch of class that blew the lid off an already hyped audience who had got more than they bargained for and certainly more than could have been hoped for. The guys were the perfect send off to a perfect festival, hardly a dry eye in the house as it all came to an end far too soon.
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