Glastonbury 2003

Hi folks, I have just returned from the Glastonbury festival (well last monday) and I am still high as a kite with the experience. This was my 8th Glastonbury and the 3rd in which I performed. My group, Rocketgoldstar (web site), played twice this year on Thursday night and on Saturday afternoon. Thursday night was exhilarating as the marquee was packed and we recieved an enormous amount of support. It was a life affirming moment for us! After we left the stage, the cheers and requests for an encore reched the point where we had to go back out on stage only to be told we were not allowed to do another. This was okay as we had all the ego boosting of returning to a screaming crowd but without any of the anticlimax of a substandard encore!

The festival for me was fantastic this year. The organising was second to none and the whole vibe was perfect. The weather (bar a few showers) was beautiful and the whole mood seemed really relaxed and friendly. This was a make or break time for the festival as previous years had gotten out of control with loads of gatecrashers, drug dealers and thieves descending on the gorgeous Somerset site. The improved security and fence seemed to work and I believe that many people were put off from traveling down to the festival. This was both a good and bad thing as the place was most definitely more relaxed but maybe seemed to have lost an edge that it once had. The festival used to be a meeting place for Travelers and Crusties and there was definitely less of them this year.

Musical highlights for me were many. Radiohead (Saturday night headliners) were superb. Colin Greenwood is a tremendous bass player. Understated yet powerful when its needed. I enjoyed most of Yo La Tengo, Sigur Ros and REM. Beth Gibbons on Sunday was also fantastic as were Prog rock maestros Yes. One of the highlights was seeing the 23 piece USA band The Polyphonic Spree. They were sensational! Buena Vista Social Club were amazing too last thing on Sunday night. A really nice way to end the festival.

All in all a fabulous festival that I can't wait to go back (and hopefully play)next year. Hey,all you adventurous Americans, why not take the plunge and come over for next year? You will be most welcome!

 

Yeah, I caught the Arthur Lee and Love set and it was really special. They played the whole of the seminal Forever Changes album together with a string and brass section. Ahh lovely! Arthur Lee proved himself to be the real deal a real rock survivor. His voice was sublime.

As for the Manic Street Preachers, I caught their last song,'A design for Life', the atmosphere seemed slightly muted considering the anthemic nature of the song. It did feel as if it was a band who had peaked and had started the grim decline. Suprisingly Supergrass, who I previously highly rated felt tired and a bit dull. When they played the storming Richard III it just did'nt explode like it should and the audience just were'nt going for it. I guess every band has its day.

I got to be honest though about being pissed off with really negative comments made by John Peel about Yes. On national TV he apparently slagged the group off for being terrible and pretentious. All I can say to this is have you heard the utter rubbish that Peel has been championing over the years? Most of it being utter pretentious,weak and totally boring. Myself and Sion (drummer in Rocketgoldstar) went down the front for Yes and it was superb. When they played And You And I, it brought tears to my eyes out of sheer joy as opposed to the tears John's awful DJing does to me.

 

hey I am only joking about John Peel. I think he is quite cool. The point that I am getting at though is that there has been an awful lot of predjudice towards bands containing virtuoso musicians. It seems strange to me that other musical genres ie classical, Indian, jazz etc all seem to applaud virtuosity but not alternative rock! It is seen as THE ENEMY! I guess in lots of cases its true. Technique can be extremely boring when used out of context just for the muso to show off and strands of fusion are really guilty of this. The band I play in are great musicians (I would'nt call us virtuoso's though!) and we try to use our musicianship to push back the boundaries of rock music whilst hopefully maintaing emotional impact.