GLASTONBURY 2010 REVIEW

After spending Tuesday night sleeping in the car park, Wednesday watching the football and Thursday meeting Prince Charles, the main appeal of Glasto – the music – officially started on Friday. (With the exception of TDCC on Thursday night, who I didn't get to see because The Queen's Head was so packed out).

First band of the day was Peggy Sue on The Park stage. “They sound like Kate Nash in a band,” I told my friends, which wasn’t entirely untrue. The Brighton duo does have some similarities to Kate but they replace all of her pop quirkiness with a subtle darkness that makes their thorough fem-rock addictive. The Park was a perfect stage for them to play as it was such a chilled atmosphere over there.

After Peggy Sue, we did the long trek to the John Peel stage for Miike Snow and Tegan and Sara. Exhausted from the heat, we had to sit well back but Miike Snow’s set still sent electric currents across the field. Tegan & Sara were brilliant and really entertained the crowd with classics like ‘Where Does the Good Go?’ and ‘Back in Your Head’.

We stuck around for some of Bombay Bicycle Club, discussed the possible geek-sexiness of frontman Jack Steadman and then branded them “nothing special”, before moving on for Snoop Dogg.

As a long-lasting Bloc Party fan, the choice between clashing Snoop Dogg and Kele was a hard one. Snoop is the sort of act you wouldn’t pass up the chance of seeing, but I wasn’t expecting great things from him. How wrong was I?



Cordozar Calvin Broadus, aka Snoop Dogg, is one of the best performers I have ever seen. His whole persona is a giant theatrical enigma; the gangsterism, the drug references, his indiscreet love of the ladies. Whereas I was expecting a hostile, egotistical hip-hop star, what we actually got was a cheeky, down-to-earth performer, humble yet confidently entertaining.



When he opened with The Next Episode, I didn’t even know what to do with myself. A legendary tuuuune that has followed me through my teenage years, played at parties, hollered along to in the car with my friends. The sun was beating down on us and I couldn’t control my exhilaration.



(Lol @ Fiona going, "Nooo!")

I never imagined Hip Hop would work in a festival atmosphere but with a live band and an intense bass; Snoop Dogg’s set was as crisp and atmospheric as any rock giant could have been. (Apologies for the bad quality; iPod Nanos are terrible for filming live music, but I like to think I caught the crowd elation here quite well!)

Rolling out the hits like ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Gin and Juice’, Snoop Dogg is the sort of artist where you know more of his material than you realise. This Friday afternoon set and the emergence of Snoop Dogg during the Gorillaz set later on, cemented the UK’s adoration for him much like what happened to Jay Z in 2008.

Absolutely stunned from Snoop Dogg, I knew whoever I saw next wasn’t going to make a great impression. The next act I saw was Florence & The Machine. I will never understand how I can love her album ‘Lungs’ to the absolute bare bones but every time I see her live I’m disappointed. Quite frankly, I think having her on the Other Stage was a complete mistake; she’s made a Pyramid-shaped name for herself easily. Did Vampire Weekend (who were playing at the same time on Pyramid) really draw in a larger crowd than the artist who’s album probably exists in every household in the UK?

We abandoned Florence after a few minutes. It was hot and crowded and we were feeling very impatient about the Special Guests on the Park stage. Rumours were flying around about Thom Yorke and then, in all his tennis-related glory, he walked out onstage.



Don’t judge me readers, but before last Friday, I didn’t think much of Radiohead. I was given a copy of OK Computer years ago and although I liked it, it went into the pile with Mumford & Sons, Damien Rice and other slow-mo, music to cry about boys to.

Naturally, they blew me away. My friend & I had an in-depth analysis of Radiohead’s music, mood and albums following the set and she has assured me that OK Computer was an unsuitable album to judge the band on.

A combination of their innovative sounds, Thom Yorke’s characteristically comforting vocals and equally, his amazing dancing woo’d me good and proper. I thought Snoop had stolen my heart on Friday but unpredictable it seemed Thom Yorke was also a contender!



(At the end, you can hear my beautiful friend Chloe making a noise like an injured sealion. Priceless)

Anyone who witnessed Thom Yorke’s secret set will tell you that Karma Police was the unquestionable highlight. Yorke’s vocals were drowned out by the crowd punching the air and chanting, ‘FOR A MINUTE THERE, I LOST MYSELF’. When the song had finished, the crowd carried on yelling, ‘FOR A MINUTE THERE, I LOST MYSELF’. Once the band had left the stage completely and we were walking over to a different stage, there were throngs of people still chanting, ‘FOR A MINUTE THERE, I LOST MYSELF’. It is times like these that the true power of a song is realised. The sheer unity felt by thousands of people singing a song together because they love it THAT much shows why festivals like Glastonbury in the first place.

With my heart undecided between Snoop Dogg and Thom Yorke, what was I supposed to do with one of my other heroes, Carl Barat? A cheeky-chappy onstage, it is no surprise to me that he debuted in theatre recently. His solo stuff sounds good, although I think I – like many others in there – were just waiting for Libertines covers.
Carlos is very chatty, albeit slightly mumbly, onstage and a brilliant moment came where he said;

“Did you actually just shout Where’s Pete?... You’ll see him at Reading!”
And then almost self-conciously he said,
“Do you want some old stuff then?”
CROWD: “Yeeeeah!”
“But do you like the new stuff, right?”
CROWD: “Yeahhh!”
Lololol.
Everyone went nuts to What a Waster and Don’t Look Back into The Sun. Looking around in the crowd, I noticed everyone just dancing like maniacs as if they had just won a prize.


Back to The Park for The XX after Carl. I was quite pissed by this point and it made the unstoppable, irreplaceable, genius music of the XX 100x better.



We expected them to be electric and they were; their stage set up with the lights and smoke made the experience of watching them all the more thrilling.

One of my favourite parts of Friday was returning to my campsite (complete with Leighton Buzzard flag), and discussing the bands I’d missed with my friends who had seen them. Apparently Florence had come on to perform with Dizzee (ouch :( ) and Snoop had reappeared for ‘Clint Eastwood’ with Gorillaz. So many magical moments – Thank God for YouTube!


Saturday started with Imogen Heap. Crazy, doolally – all my friends that hadn’t heard of her before instantly fell in love with her. A talented songstress, it is unfair for people to judge her on the giant ‘Hide and Seek’ which thrust her out of obscurity. Granted, I haven’t heard much more of her stuff, but her live set on Saturday showed many hidden gems lurking within the albums that aren’t Speak for Yourself.

Oh, Kate Nash. There were occasions during this set where I swelled with affection and others where I cringed with embarrassment for her. What are you up to, Kate? I originally forgave you for abandoning your quirky pop roots and going all riot-grrl but after Glastonbury, I think you may have lost some fans. The new album is a bit hard to stomach as it is, but she didn’t help herself by saying things like, “Come on, you’re at Glastonbury, for fuck’s sake!” as if we were the ones responsible for the entertainment.
She saved herself in my eyes by being so brash and finishing her set by stamping all over her piano, but I think those expecting the cutesy, floral-dressed pop princess that sang Made of Bricks were thoroughly disappointed.

Watching The Dead Weather in the 5pm unrelenting sun at Glastonbury must have been a very sexy affair for everyone watching. With the eerie sexiness of both Jack White and Alison Mosshart, their set was a lesson in the true thunderousity of rock n’ roll. However, I still have trouble falling in love with The Dead Weather; ‘Treat Me Like Your Mother’ and ’60 Feet Tall’ have the pummeling pop aspect but few of the other tracks make a lasting impression on me.

Sadly there were times when I wanted to see bands like Foals and Marina & the Diamonds at the John Peel stage but I was just too hot and tired to walk all the way over there. Did anyone else have this problem? Do you agree that the John Peel Stage was excessively far away from the Other stage and The Pyramid?

Shakira was to be expected, a.k.a boring, mainstream drivel that apart from the occasional ‘hit’ all sounds like someone wanking into my ears. I dozed during the majority of her set while my friends shook their booties in front of me. Miraculously, I heard her announce her cover of the XX and I shot up and out of my Shakoma like Bono out of his wheelchair.



An impressive cover, not groundbreaking but the confused expressions on the moderately-chavtastic crowd around me made it all the more enjoyable.

Mmmm, now for the real deal – The XX’s second set of the weekend. I was quite far from the tent during and sadly, was walking away when the abominable You Got the Love cover sounded across the fields. I like to enjoy the faint memories I have of it though, while watching this video (last five minutes)

The XX are the most amazingly innovative band in the world right now. They’re so interesting and you can tell every song is well crafted into a meeting of notes and vocals. The XX are all about intimacy and delicacy and they are the only band I know of who perfect the two so brilliantly.

Muse bored me and one of my friends fell asleep standing up next to me. I knew all the songs but I just couldn’t connect with their futuristic, dystopian bullshit. The highlight for me was The Edge coming on and performing Where The Streets Have No Name, it was such a fantastic moment for everyone watching as well as the musicians involved.



I spent the entire Muse set dreaming of my sleeping bag and then ridiculously ended up in the Silent Disco until 4am and then simultaneously watched the sun rise while my friend vommed and fell down the hill many, many times. Good times.

Sunday started with Avi Buffalo on The Park Stage. Wailing vocals and tender Death Cab-like guitars was a nice way to see in the last day, even though I felt like I was going to die from 5 consecutive hangovers and no sleep. The band were very young, around 18ish, and were very chatty and self conscious that their instruments weren’t complimenting each other.

I caught a bit of the Temper Trap before sliding backstage to watch the football (thought I better slide that in there). I emerged half time to watch Grizzly Bear but sort of wish I hadn’t. Much to her disgust, I told my Grizzly-loving friend that the band sounds like they’ve “gone off”. There’s some subtle quality there but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was wrong or right about them. Listening to them was like reading a book written by someone with bad grammar.

We Are Scientists and MGMT were both very good. They are both bands I have seen before and MGMT’s new material impressed me more than the We Are Scientists stuff. Kids was brilliant and the set made me want to look closer at MGMT’s new album, ‘Congratulations’.

I spent the majority of Sunday chasing the prospect of a Strokes reunion onsite. However, I ended up having another anti-Peel stage moment and choosing Faithless over Julian Casablancas. I’m so glad I did because by this time I was feeling uber-emotional through lack of sleep and shed a few tears during those really euphoric moments. Rollo is a superb front man; he seemed absolutely baffled by the number of people in the crowd surrounding the stage and I think he may have shed a few tears himself at the end. Dance music has all the capabilities of being magical but only super groups like Faithless seem to have the audacity to pull it off and clear the paths for the millions of copycat acts of come after them since their formation in 1995.




With no better offers, I settled for Stevie Wonder on the Sunday. I told everyone I wasn’t going to bother seeing him because I wasn’t fussed about him but CRIKEY. How could I not miss that?! A legend among man – Stevie Wonder’s set was the most heart-warming, uniting spectacle of the entire weekend. His set made me realise the true concept of Soul. I only knew the big ones (‘I just called to say I love you’, ‘Signed Sealed Delivered’ and ‘Superstition’) but I still found the other, unknown songs breath-taking to watch. Stevie Wonder is a musical genius and his stage presence is unlike any other I have seen before. He is in a realm of his own as a performer, incomparable and never disappointing.
As he wound up his set, Stevie dedicated ‘Happy Birthday’ to Michael Eavis. The crying started again then as I really love it when little guys like Eavis are given the appreciation they deserve. What he has done for the last 40 years is truly amazing and he’s still so down to earth still. We saw him briefly around the same time Prince Charles arrived in the Greenpeace field and he stopped for a quick chat about how he wishes he’d worn shorts but they probably wouldn’t have been appropriate to meet the future king in. What a great guy!

So Stevie Wonder sings Happy Birthday and Michael Eavis comes onstage and joins in like your Dad on karaoke. We still bloody love it though, because it’s EAVIS, our hero! And Stevie Wonder, the legend! I’m probably crying again by this point because the whole crowd is going nuts singing Happy Birthday and this magnificent, epic festival has been going on for 40 years and we’re here to celebrate with the man himself who created it.

Glastonbury is epic. Glastonbury isn’t just a festival. It is a remarkable source of hope and love and something to be proud to be a part of. Everyone who went this year will be buzzing off the feelings of unity, glory and euphoria for a very long time afterwards.

What did you see/love?
Was there any bands I missed that I should have seen?

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