Glastonbury Festival 2

ARMCHAIR GLASTO: DAY 2

Glastonbury Festival 2013, 28-30 June



Ronnie, Sir Mick, Keef and Charlie. Haim not pictured.
(Image: Guardian)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another enjoyable day in front of my virtual Worthy Farm. Two days in and it's looking like one of the best Glastonburys for

a while.

 

No porridgey soft metal today, thankfully. The day begins on BBC3…    

LAURA MVULA. Well done orchestral angst pop. Striking singer, in the same ball park as Florence and the Machine. ‘That’s Alright’ is a great song, but can’t help thinking of Eartha Kitt for some reason.

HAIM. Hard to judge. Three sisters with an engaging mash up of ‘80s synths, call and response choruses and indie rock. The lady Killers?

NOAH AND THE WHALE. 4 albums, apparently. Smartly reference everyone from Talking Heads to Springsteen via Hothouse Flowers, but too slick for me. ‘Tonight’s the Night’ is rather good.

BEN HOWARD. OK, worthy singer/songwriter stuff. I thought he was more entertaining in his off stage interview beforehand.

THE STRYPES. Bloody hell! The new Vaccines with a dose of Dr Feelgood. On ‘Blue Collar Jane’, the singer is Lee Brilleaux. They’re fifteen. School’s out.

TOM ODELL (unplugged). Astonishingly mature performance of superior ballad ‘Another Love’ by singer who looks about 12. Headlining the John Peel Stage tomorrow night.

MAVERICK SABER. With a cover of Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’ on a beautiful summer’s day, he’s won. But mate – you’re not black. Besides, whatever happened to
Finlay Quaye?

PRIMAL SCREAM (with HAIM). Mr Gillespie’s pink suit is brilliant. ‘Rocks’ is the best Rolling Stones song they never wrote. Immediately start leaping around the front room. Guesting, the lady Killers fit right in. How bizarre is it to get the Scream to warm up for the Stones, when a fair bit of their set riffs on the headliners’ back catalogue? Exhibit B: ‘Country Girl’. ‘Rocks’ gets another outing later on BBC2, together with ‘Movin’ on Up’ (channelling ‘Sympathy for the Devil’), ‘Swastika Eyes’ and ‘It’s Alright, It’s OK’, again with the seemingly ubiquitous Haim sisters.

The BBC have obviously spent a fortune on The White Queen because they’re even flogging it in the middle of their Glastonbury coverage.

RUDIMENTAL. Another black and white feel good band, with a blonde singer who’s as cute as a button. Good beats and synths, but the trumpet player should have tuned up. Add to the CD list.

HAIM (unplugged). This band’s management obviously have something on the BBC, as this is the third time they’ve been on since 7 o’clock. Haim’s first album’s not even out for another two weeks. ‘Let’s Do This’ wins me over. The indie Hanson.

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB. Healthy indie pop. Terrific haircut and suit on the front man. I hope my niece will now play the CDs I bought her. On ‘Someday’, the guitars are growling. ‘That was pretty epic,’ the Annoyingly Chirpy Presenter says.

EXAMPLE. ‘You’ll be glad to know all the shit songs are out of the way.’ How on Earth did this charisma vacuum get so far up the running order? ‘All the Wrong Places’, Mr Example? You’re not kidding.

Over to BBC2 for the main event...

ROLLING STONES. On the cover of the Radio Times, the Stones insist that playing Glastonbury is ‘not about the money.’ Like hell. Why, then, did you initially want to restrict the BBC coverage to three songs? Come to that, why are you charging obscene ticket prices for Hyde Park?

Whatever. In the end, it’s the music that matters. The Stones might idle along in second gear now, and at times it sounds like the relaxed on-stage jam is going to fall over into noodly self indulgence. But there’s Sir Mick, unnaturally thin and an accomplished blues harp player, bouncing around the stage like he’s made of rubber. There’s Charlie, Keef and Ronnie, laying down a slick, sleazy strut. On ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, Sir Mick is all in black and black fur, the silhouette of Turner in Performance, a shiver-down-the-spine moment. ‘Start Me Up’, ‘Tumbling Dice’, a throaty blast of saxophone on ‘Brown Sugar’… with a combined age of over 300, the Stones really are living legends, the bluesy, still rolling id of The Beatles.

Predictably, the encore’s worth waiting for. ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ with two choirs and the Pyramid Stage audience singing their lungs out. For the closer, an urgent ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ with a barrage of fireworks. Brilliant. Mick Taylor’s in the group hug at the end, too.  

CHASE & STATUS. Alternative headliners on The Other Stage. That’s how to do the rock/rap/dance crossover. Sampling The Doors doesn’t hurt either.

THE STRYPES (acoustic). ‘Blue Collar Jane’. They’re supporting Aztec Monkeys on tour. Enough said.

By this time of the morning, I’m surprised that Haim aren’t reading the
news as well.

HURTS. Headlining the John Peel Stage. Gothy, with a singer who looks like he uses the same tailor as Dave Vanian. Get a bit distracted by the dancers. Another CD purchase is on the cards.

PUBLIC ENEMY. OK, I appreciate hip hop, but it’s still not for me.

JOSEPHINE (acoustic). ‘What a Day’. Singer/songwriter territory again, but good.

ALABAMA SHAKES. Good ole rock ‘n’ roll, with a singer channelling Janis Joplin. The bassist is wearing dungarees, something you don’t see every day. Not usually my kind of thing, but on the strength of these songs I wouldn’t mind hearing an album.

JOHNNY MARR. Love this man and always will, for obvious reasons. A new song and an old one – ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’. The Man does surprisingly authentic Morrissey-style vocals.  

RODRIGUEZ. Another legend, but he looks like I’m starting to feel. It’s 1.25am.

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING. Smart, unusual. Reminded of Gang of 4, but bed’s not far away.

LONDON GRAMMAR (acoustic). Lovely, mellow stuff.

SAVAGES. All in black and rather marvellous. Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division are definitely on their list of influences. CD please, and…

Goodnight.

FUNNIEST MOMENT OF THE DAY: David Tennant silencing Coldplay-hating Noel Fielding on What a Load of Buzzcocks with a blast of ‘I Will Fix You’.