The Glastonbury 2009 Review Pt. 2
Here's part two....
Saturday. I caught about three minutes of VV Brown as I trundled past the Pyramid. But I had a more interesting appointment with one of the world’s greatest entertainers, the mighty Rolf Harris. Thousands turned out to see him, his appearance on the Jazz World Stage resulting in total gridlock around the festival site. He made being a living legend look easy. Although the man’s music is more about comedy than virtuosity, you can’t argue with 70 thousand people singing along to “Tie Me Kangaroo Down” in the blazing heat of Saturday lunchtime at Glastonbury. I think he brought some of the Aussie weather with him this year. Perfect!
And the fun didn’t stop there, because back at the Pyramid, on came Spinal Tap, who delivered one of the most hilarious “rock outs” I’ve ever seen. Yes, they had the little Stonehenge, complete with dancing midget druids, and yes, they did play “Sex Farm” and various crowd-pleasers of a similar ilk. But it was the witty banter and the genius lyrics that really made me smile. Undoubtedly, they were another highlight. And shockingly, their drummer survived!
I took root around the Pyramid stage for a few hours. Next up was Dizzee Rascal. Well, I’m no expert on rap, but this guy blew us all away with his energy, his beats and his rhymes. I love his tune “Bonkers” especially. He also drew a much bigger crowd than you might expect, people were loving it, and he put to bed any suggestion that urban acts don’t belong at the Festival. I’d recommend this to anyone, even those who claim they don’t like rap, because his energy is infectious.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Crosby, Stills and Nash who bummed me out. I was looking forward to catching this, but to be fair it was disappointing and seemed to go for ages. You could tell people weren’t enjoying it, the crowd was smaller and people started to drift away. For some reason, it just wasn’t very engaging. Maybe a more intimate venue would have been better? Or, dare I say it, maybe they are past it?
I opted for another dose of Maximo over more “special guests” at The Park (who turned out to be the Klaxons), and I’ve spoken about them enough so I’ll just say it was a decent enough gig but not as good as Thursday’s Q-stage effort. I was very taken with Paul Smith’s nifty blue suit though. As evening approached they played “Questing, not Coasting”. This is the band’s most recent single, and probably the weakest, and I became consumed with thoughts of chips. So I got some.
We spent the evening watching a little known band called Edward II in the Fields of Avalon (now there’s a phrase I never thought I’d type), who play a charming combination of sea shanty and reggae. Bizarre but good, I really enjoyed it, dancing round like a goon and mucking around for the duration.
Night fell, and it was a short hop to Trash City, which was full of fire breathing mechanical creations, a tilted dancefloor in the shape of a giant pinball machine, a New York drag club, giant skulls hanging from trees and other inexplicable delights. Here, the freaks and weirdos came out to play, with fairies, punks, bears and bikers all over the place, all smiling, all enjoying one of the biggest parties of the year. For me, sleep came too quickly.
End of Part Two!
