Glastonbury Review: Part Two

(If you missed part one, scroll down or look under archive xxx)

Saturday:

Seriously hot Saturday, but that did not deter me in checking out The Phenomenal Handclap Band. I was very impressed by their set, fusing sounds of 1970s New York with funk and electro; slightly reminiscent of CSS as seen in ‘15 to 20’ but do have a glance at their MySpace page. Next it was off to see Kate Nash, and her set marked a definite steer to punk, shouting and screaming, perhaps trying too hard, especially when she smashed up her piano at the end. I was not impressed by her new material; I think by having this punk influence it’s taken away some originality, distracting the listener from her subtle poetic lyrics as seen in her first album. Although I must praise Kate Nash for highlighting the fact that the music world is still dominated by men and encouraging women in the crowd to pick up a pen and a guitar and create music.

I hate to admit it, but Shakira was one of the highlights of the festival. She pranced about on stage, inspiring the audience (including myself) to copy her dance moves to ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ and ‘Whenever Wherever’. Until then, I hadn’t appreciated Shakira, but her distinctive voice, her heartfelt lyrics as in ‘Underneath Your Clothes’, and influences drawn from world music has certainly changed my judgement. And I admittedly enjoyed ‘She-Wolf’… Scissor Sisters up next and they just blew me away. They’re back with a new album after a long break, bringing back new found sexiness. ‘Fire with Fire’ and ‘Nightlife’ were my favourite songs of the set and got the crowd going wild, especially when Kylie (badly kept rumour of a secret act – rumour has it she may be headlining next year) joined them in their rendition of ‘Any Which Way’. Old hits such as ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’’ were played, as well as what must be my favourite cover of all times: a disco-themed rendition of Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’. The Scissor Sisters are brilliant performers (with interesting costume choices, I might add) and thoroughly enjoyed their set, closing on ‘Filthy/Gorgeous’.

Muse was the headliner for Saturday, and boy, aren’t they just the stadium band? Lights, lasers and the volume pushed up to max, they gave a performance of a lifetime. Material from their most recent album was played, ‘Uprising’, ‘Resistance’ and ‘Undisclosed Desires’; songs inspired by conspiracies, Orwell, rebellions and the universe, interspersed with dramatic interludes paying tribute to ‘Heartbreaker’… breathtaking. ‘Feeling Good’ and ‘Plug in Baby’ had to make an appearance, as well as a representative for poor Bono: The Edge. ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ was a touching moment, and as for an encore, a simple harmonica melody was played and you knew straight away what was in store. Of course, the explosive ‘Knights of Cydonia’. Epic.

Sunday:

Sunday was a little bit of a come down for me; too much sun and too much walking. So, in search of shade, I sought the BBC Introducing Stage and checked out rising talent Broadcast 2000, followed by a surprise short set from Laura Marling. It’s hard to believe she’s only twenty and is able to come up with folksy lyrics full of wisdom and life experience. Temper Trap sounded good, and managed to catch the last bit of their set, good stuff. But I regret not seeing Grizzly Bear and Ray Davies (my excuse is that I caught a cold and was slightly exhausted). Shame.

MGMT was one of the biggest disappointments for me. I felt there was a lack of energy amongst the band, and the sound quality was quite poor. From where I was standing, the audience were definitely not feeling it, and their new material did not go down well. Their set was partly saved by ‘Time to Pretend’ and ‘Kids’ at the end, where the band invited people on stage to dance and embrace the hippy spirit. Over to Faithless. Now that was a dilemma: LCD Soundsystem or Faithless? At much pain, I went with the latter. Their set was warmly received; loops and rhythms galore. ‘God is a DJ’ and the classic ‘Insomnia’ featured, and ‘We Come 1’ created a nice sense of unity amongst the crowd, ready for…

Stevie Wonder. What a great way to end a festival? Nice bit of soul at the beginning and onto a brilliant cover of The Beatles ‘We Can Work It Out’, mixed in with some wonderful cheeky narrative provided by Wonder before introducing the next song: ‘this relationship has turned into a relation-shit’, prior to ‘If You Really Love Me’ just had me in hysterics. I relished his Motown section where he was transformed back into his younger set when he drunk the ‘magic potion’. ‘Fingertips’, ‘Uptight’ and ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ were perfect, and ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ made the audience go all romantically soppy, with desperate attempts of some members trying to call their loved ones back home only to realise the networks were jammed…I tried to do the same thing as well. A couple of notes on bass symbolised the oncoming ‘Superstition’ and the audience went literally mad, only to be brought back to Earth with ‘Happy Birthday’ played lovingly to Michael Eavis.

What else to say? Glastonbury was pure magic. 5 out of 5 stars.