Week 26
Glastonbury – Saturday Part I
““Wiggle me this, wiggle me that, who thinks Candy’s a complete t-””
Whether The Wiggler actually said these words is irrelevant. What is relevant is that only after using several packets of wet wipes, did I feel safe enough to return to the tent. Friday’s rain had dampened our clothes, but not our spirits. They were safely protected in plastic bottles, preserved at exactly the right level of dampness. It would take a fool, nay, an imbecile, to say that the rain hadn’t affected our enjoyment of the festival so far, but the rain hadn’t affected our enjoyment of the festival so far.
Happily the Sun came out to play on Saturday, which allowed me to leave my muddy poncho behind and head to the Pyramid Stage, where I saw the second half of a set from Stornoway, who’d begun at the unholy hour of 11am. It was a pleasant opening to the day, ideal for a hangover and a spot of ‘Zorbing’ saw several huge white orbs released into the audience.
I joined Candy and Cousin Bish on a beer run back to the car park, where we retrieved fruit, vegetables and orange squash, while Kimbo and Little P grabbed as many crates of lager and cider as they could manage. On our return we made for the John Peel to enjoy Yuck, who were disgusting and had a bit of a grungey feel to them, before Candy and I made a short journey to the Dance Village with The Wiggler, Flapjack and Sandro, to see Brother in the West Dance tent.
Apparently they’d revealed a change in their name to Viva Brother at their performance on the Other Stage the day before, following a legal challenge from their brothers. They’ve been ruffling a few feathers recently with their apparent cockiness, and by generally harking back to Brit-Pop, although I’d managed to avoid them altogether. “They’re good, but he’s a bell-end,” Candy summed up after their set, referring to their singer who wasn’t quite as endearing as, say, Guy Garvey, but the tunes were there, so I expect these brothers to be even bigger than Sandro soon enough.
We then returned to the John Peel tent to see Anna Calvi, another newbie who’s had plenty of attention this year and her guitar playing was incredibly impressive. For a girl. Or so thought sexist Salazar anyway, and she wasn’t even there. We didn’t stay for her whole set, Cousin Bish headed for The Walkmen at the Park Stage while the rest of us regrouped to watch The Kills at the Other Stage, which was entertaining, although of course Sal spent most of the set slagging off Alison Mosshart.
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Cousin Bish reappeared in time for Jimmy Eat World, which was a treat. They ended with the delicious combo of ‘The Middle’ and ‘Sweetness’, but Jimmy Eat’s achievements were surpassed by Friendly Fires. Cousin Bish and I had seen them with Sandro at Glastonbury in 2009 when their energy and their front man’s dance moves in particular had impressed us. Our intention on this occasion was to watch the beginning of their set and then head to the Pyramid, but they were so much fun that we stuck around ‘til the end.
‘Jump in the Pool’, ‘Lovesick’, ‘Skeleton Boy’ were all crowd pleasers and the band were joined by some lovely ladies in Hawaiian skirts to match the singer’s Hawaiian shirt came out to dance for new single ‘Hawaiian Air’, which ardent feminist Cousin Bish found degrading, before the ridiculously good ‘Paris’.
Pulp were special guests at the Park Stage but Cousin Bish and I were still scarred from our experience with Radiohead so we stuck with our original plan to see Elbow instead. This time there were no regrets, as they almost upstaged the headliners. The crowd were in jubilant mood and were eating out of Guy Garvey’s muddy palm, which was probably unhygienic. Guy revealed that it was Elbow’s twentieth birthday, before admitting that nobody actually remembered which day in June they formed twenty years ago, which led to the obligatory ‘Happy Birthday to you!’
They’d played a few songs by the time we arrived but we saw the majority, including the ground-shaking ‘Grounds For Divorce’ and their now tried and tested and perfectly plotted finale of ‘Open Arms’ into ‘One Day Like This’. I then found K-May who was also among the crowd, swilling beers and swearing at youngsters from her camping chair, as is her wont.
Although Elbow are far more than just a warm-up act, they were the ideal band to prepare the crowd for the headliners. Sandro, who’d seen Coldplay the last time they’d headlined in 2005 had tipped them to be the stars of the festival, and to make a few hipsters stand up and take note. I had my pen and paper ready.
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