This page is a running tally of all the concerts I've been to - half to inform you as to who's great, mediocre, or shitty live, and half to remind me where I've been (you know how the mind starts to go...). So enjoy!
Major Highlights: The Beta Band, Ooberman, White Stripes, Coldplay. No rain again! Backstage frills! A crappy tent!
I'm tired, dehydrated, but at least I'm clean now. Yes, Glastonbury 2002 is over, and as per usual, a fantabulous time was had by all.
As all of you know, I was working this year, so PlayLouder got me a ticket and a hospitality pass, and in return I made sure the website was updated throughout the weekend and the webcasts went smoothly (although Philip and Gavin were the real stars on that front!). If you missed the webcasts, there are some archived ones up now (and hopefully more tomorrow as more record companies give the go-ahead on the rights) that you can watch until the end of the week or so: http://glastonbury.playlouder.com/webcasts/ So I'll try to explain some general glasto stuff before I get into the bands reviews...
THE FENCE - yes, it was as big as ten buffalos standing on each others' backs. and no one was getting through it. It was a two-tiered approach of a bigger fence and more security, since Mean Fiddler handled the security and licensing this year, it meant there were watch towers, LOADS of security guys and actual police, and a ton of angry criminals and travellers outside the fence causing problems. But this was a very good thing, since crime was only a quarter of 2000's, there was noticeably more room on the site (actual room to walk in between tents!), and despite all the security, there was none of that paranoia and "big brother" feeling you can sometimes get in those circumstances. So, it was indeed a success, and I'm very happy to have fence-jumped in the very last year it was possible to do so.
MY CHARMED LIFE - I had a hospitality pass/pink armband, which meant that I had access to the "backstage" area between the pyramid and other stages, which had a restricted camping area, nicer (in comparison; it was the flushable portaloos) toilets, and a very nice bar/cafe with live screens showing the pyramid stage, video games, and a very nice full english breakfast. not ever being in the privileged class before, I didn't realise that my pink wristband was the bottom of the elite social hierarchy - next higher up were those with production passes, meaning you could get to the backstage areas where they had showers and *gasp* porcelain toilets (I borrowed Nik's a had a go, even took a photo of the glastonbury holy grail). but silver passes were even higher up on the scale (but only valid for one day), and black wristbands meant you were untouchable and nearly godlike. a few girls and I were trying to blag our way into the production area to use the toilets and a guy went up to the other security guard when we were there and he screamed out "we've got a black one over here!". surreal. [update - as I was writing this, I got a call from the rest of the PlayLouder crew who got into their cars at 10am this morning. and are still there, having moved less than 100feet in 6 hours!!! I'm very glad we left last night, even though I was feeling otherwise at the time] ok, my thought process is a little wrecked, so I'll move on to the bands now. I was working in amongst seeing the acts, so I didn't see everyone I wanted to, but I didn't exactly sit in the office the whole time, either.
FRIDAY
1. British Sea Power (portion) -- I'd seen them before at our Singles Club gig, but they were just mental here. I caught the last two songs, which culminated in them piggyback riding each other, standing on drumkits, and generally doing everything short of smashing their equipment. all while keeping the eerie Ian Curtis stare.
2. Idlewild -- It's such a shame their album didn't come out in time for this performance, because everyone I know who had the album adored the show, but those who only had their first two just thought it was okay. I was in the brilliant camp, and these guys probably get my first honorable mention for the weekend. and they were my only real celebrity spotting, having seen them backstage on saturday, with roddy womble kitted out in an old-school mickey mouse shirt. rar! [webcast]
3. Doves (portion) -- I was working so I only caught the last two songs on my way to find the acoustic tent, but they sounded really good, especially pounding and satellites, which I hadn't heard live yet [webcast]
4. David Kitt -- I think all of the Irish kids at the entire festival all came together for this - it was packed to the rafters with Irish flags and a nice, cool breeze wafted through making it one of the most relaxing performances of the weekend. He mostly played stuff off his newish album, with most of the songs turning into complete singalongs. I'm guessing he's much bigger in Ireland than he is here, because I have a hard time finding anyone who's even heard of him,frankly.
5. Coldplay -- I wasn't planning on seeing them, but they were the best of the headliners that night so I was carried along. And they completely surprised me. the old material sounded vital and reassuring, and the new stuff sounded even better (even without the repeated listens to back it up). They really are great performers, and I'm not quite sure why I always underestimate them in my mind...
Then after Coldplay and many beers and ciders at the backstage bar, Sarah and I headed to the Rizla tent, where a mate of Adam's was DJing (and the rest of the PL crew were meant to be heading). we mashed our way into the tent and promptly found some big empty box platforms, so we climbed aboard and danced on those for about 3-4 hours until a terrible MC came on. But for those hours, we were the queens of the entire tent. Men fawned, threw phone numbers at us, and we danced like we hadn't since... err, well, the weekend before at Popstarz, really. As Sarah puts it, we were "in the zone".
SATURDAY
1. The Parkinsons -- Once again, I wasn't planning on seeing them, but I needed somewhere to go after my massive full english breakfast, so that seemed as good a place as any. their music is utter crap, but their show is hysterical. crazy, bouncing off each other, climbing camera rigging, fellating the mic, and showing the audience "his wrinkly old man and his arse cakes. Hello, arse cakes!" (ta to Jeres for that historic catchphrase...)
2. Electric Soft Parade (portion) -- I wanted to see the whole set, but I only ended up catching the last song, the one with "when I needed someone to talk to / you were the only one around", which deconstructed nicely into noise, as it did when I was graced with their entire show at the Astoria a few weeks back.
3. Ian Brown -- I was expecting shambolic singing after everything I'd heard about the Stone Roses live. His singing and performing was spot on the mark. Songs were well played, good selection, and his vocals sounded fine. What I wasn't expecting was for him to be a complete jackass. Absolutely no rapport with the audience, and went out of his way to piss everyone off - wishing the rain to fall on us, burning an English flag taken from a girl in the front row, and coming out for a 10 second encore (no time exaggeration there). Golden Gaze and My Star stick out as song highlights, but it's his personality that I remember most, which is something of a shame.
4. The White Stripes -- I really think the Other Stage would've been better for them than the Pyramid. They can draw the crowd, but they just seemed a bit uncomfortable with the "stadium rock" side of things. All that aside, they put on a very good show, with Meg's vocals on Rated X getting better and stronger each time. One obvious and very surprising omission, though, was Fell In Love With a Girl, sadly overlooked... But we bounced to the memory of Hotel Yorba for the rest of the weekend! [webcast]
5. The Beta Band -- They tied with BDB for my favourite act of Glasto 2000, so I wasn't expecting them to top last time. they did! a fantastic mix of Hot Shots II and the 3 EPs, with hardly anything from the s/t shambles, it was perfect. And The House Song - holy bejezzus, it gets me everytime. the crowd went mental, and I was left saying "wowowowowowow" after the last note dropped. [webcast]
6. Orbital (portion) -- I'd seen them play an amazing set a few years ago, so I only caught a portion of it from afar on my way to meet Becky in at the Greenpeace Fields. Incredible light show, and it proved that the best dance music at glastonbury was most certainly NOT in the dance tent (with a cack lineup this year in there...) [webcast]
Saturday night I met Becky and her friends (as previously mentioned), where we wandered around the Cabaret and Circus areas, watching a man smash bad records (except for KLF, which we, as the voting audience sent to record heaven!) and lots of fire twirling and fireworks. We also stumbled across the Miniscule of Sound, which was a 3 x 3 foot room with dancefloor, flasing lights, pounding house, and fog machine, which the beefy bouncers would only let people past the velvet rope and into if they were on the list and wearing the requisite ballgowns (stored next to it if you'd forgetting yours at home). But once you were in, you were crammed in with 15 of your newest friends. claaaaasssssic!
SUNDAY
1. Manu Chao - Playing directly after the world cup final on the Pyramid Stage, Manu Chao didn't have to do much to set the exuberant crowd on fire. The hottest sunshine of the weekend mixed well with his spanish flair, and scott-favourite Bongo Bong came off particularly well. I'm not sure how long he played in the end, but I had to leave after an hour and he gave no sign of slowing down anytime soon. An intriguing fact about Manu - he has the same mannerisms and body movements as Mark. Anyone else scared?
2. Ooberman - I was completely astonished at their transformation since 2000. Running Girl reflects the complete maturity change they've gone through in the past two years. They're more reserved on stage, the fans have grown up, and Danny and Sophie both are looking damn foxy, with no trace of geekiness remaining. They held the crowd in the palm of their hands (even if they were preaching to the converted, as Iain put it), and set us all en fuego with Snake Dance and Sur La Plage, saved sweetly to the end.
3. Elbow -- I like Elbow, but I've never loved them. They played a fine performance here, but I'm still not won over, as much as I wanted to be. They played Red, Newborn, and a few others I recognised, and Guy had us all sing "We still believe in loooooooove, so fuck you" to be recorded for their next album. which was fun. But apart from that, I was really more interested in checking out the Thai place I'd rediscovered from the previous festival, I have to admit. [webcast]
4. Belle & Sebastian -- Peanut satay in belly and free fruit smoothie on lips, I geared up for the Isobel-less B&S, which mostly just meant that Sarah had to sing and play her little recorder all alone, and a session cellist was brought in for everything else (I'm still irked they couldn't do this in Philly in 98 (99?) when they cancelled for Isobel...). They played a nearly identical set to their Brixton show a few months back, bringing up some kids from the audience to dance onstage, and a very twee-looking girl to do the voiceover on Dirty Dream Number Two (the cow didn't even know the words. gar.). The low point was the fake spontaneity of The Boys Are Back In Town (something along the lines of "we didn't prepare this, but I suppose we'll play it for you anyway", when they've ended with it every other night of their last tour...). But the high, high, HIGH point was Monica Queen coming to sing on Lazy Line Painter Jane. I can die happy now.
MY AWARDS:
Best Performance: The Beta Band, for the 2nd festival in a row
Honorable Mentions: Idlewild and Ooberman
Best Non-Musical Experience: The Miniscule of Sound
Biggest Twat: Keith Allen in his lime-green tracksuit singing kareoke backstage. *shudder*
And then late Sunday night we left to come home, seeing zero traffic and arriving at my warm bed and indoor plumbing around 3am....
I dropped my photos off last night, so I'll see if I can scan some in tomorrow for any interested parties. There was also much, much more I'm sure I failed to mention, but this narrative is long enough already. feel free to ask questions if you want to know anything else.
And, as I mentioned before, if you want to see the ones marked [webcast] (and a few more) head over to http://glastonbury.playlouder.com/webcasts/ asap!
I don't really know much of their stuff, but it was at Royal Albert Hall and it was the perfect acoustics for a voice like his. But I swear there's a Faustian pact somewhere in his pact in order for him to look so young! I came away with so much respect for them and their music, though.