glastonbury 2008 - part two

by Ric Rawlins
- Worthy farm, Pliton
ARTROCKER RATING:
* * * * SATURDAY* * * *




I’m something of a fence sitter when it comes to LOS CAMPESINOS! and their performance merely reassured my ass to stay seated. Irritating, irritating, irritating - with the odd good tune that makes you feel like a cold hearted bastard.
My inner calm is renewed at the BBC Introducing stage, where THE LAUREL COLLECTIVE are dishing out a thrilling, growling set. It’s a delight to watch their keyboardist, who flops about in ecstasy like Ralph from The Muppet Show.
Leonard Cohen is The Almighty Lord Of The Festival, no contest...
ALPHABEAT’s crunchy summer pop is amazing, and makes me wish I could eat my words having slagged their album. Eating is impossible however, as I’m too busy screaming like a thirteen year old girl to ‘What Is Happening’. Less fun are NEON NEON - who feel cold and aloof. Super Furry legend Gruff Rhys - usually my hero - seems detached, while Har Mar Superstar does the usual lard-ass aerobics. Being the only group that actually lives at Glastonbury, FLIPRON are a twisted delight. During their set, a man dressed as Wolverine does a vaguely sexual boogie with another man, who’s dressed as Colonel Gaddafi (the Hawaiian shirt wearing dictator). Just sit back and picture that for a second. Up at the Park stage, LAST OF THE SHADOW PUPPETS are today’s surprise band (not The Spice Girls - bah!) They treat us to some Wild West folk tunes, and with Jack White hopping onstage to jam with the duo, no-one’s asking for refunds. HOT CHIP drag an 80 piece orchestra up on stage to perform their intro sequence - the flash bastards. They sound great, but not for long - I hear a blues legend on the hill and follow my ears to BUDDY GUY. “They don’t play this kinda jam on the radio any more!” he hollers, while playing guitar solos like a child of God. He pauses only to apply chap-stick. Everybody was curious to see JAY-Z but not many people expected to actually enjoy the bastard. He certainly made my body pop, and attracted far less townie-swine than The Verve will do… on Sunday. * * * * SUNDAY * * * * Today is Marc Radcliffe’s 50th birthday, and he’s celebrating with his Pogues-esque band THE FAMILY MAHONE in the Avalon Tent. “If you’ve only seen us and Will Young today… you’ve made some very wise choices!” he cracks, as the band play a set of enjoyable drinking tunes. After taking a wrong turn, I witness the ghastly SCOUTING FOR GIRLS playing ‘She’s So Lovely.’ In horror I flee, only to be confronted by NEIL DIAMOND. It seems I just can’t win as the golden tanned crooner starts playing the hits. However, I have the last laugh as (1) it starts raining (2) the sound cuts out, and (3) a swarm of seagulls descend on the audience, and begin pecking at their heads. More than making up for it all, LEONARD COHEN is The Almighty Lord Of The Festival, no contest. During ‘Everybody Knows’, his vision of apocalypse now is profoundly moving: “Everybody knows that the plague is coming,” he croaks, “everybody knows that it’s moving fast.” The old crocodile has a glint in his eye as he leads us through ‘The Future’, ‘Tower Of Song’, and the inevitable ‘Hallelujah’. “Thankyou my friends” he deadpans. “You are all angels of the mud.” How do you follow that? Answer: you don’t. THE VERVE have delusions of grandeur, as Dickie Ashcroft jumps about the stage like a Britpop baboon. However, between the psychedelic jams and the never-ending ‘Bittersweet Symphony’, there is some tenderness in ‘The Drugs Don’t Work.’ READ PART ONE OF ARTROCKER.COM AT GLASTONBURY!

    Post new comment

    The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Rabbit, Rabbit All Day Long...

Have You Read?

  • Penalties, Brel et Moi, and Kevin Keegan and Alan Curbishley resign

    PARSLEY'S COMMLOCK Travel News : Penalties When I got to the First Capital Connect ticket office there was nobody serving. The one member of staff had left his position to go and tell another (who...

  • Demo kitchen with iLiKETRAiNS

    istavan.jpgiLiKETRAiNS DEMO OF THE WEEK: ISTVAN & THE KOSMAS / DISCO CLUB IMPERIAL DAVE: The song started out pretty promisingly, but it didn’t really develop. It could be just me! Having said...

  • Joe Gideon & The Shark - Civilisation

    Joe Gideon & The Shark - Civilisation from Bronzerat Records on Vimeo. Awesome video from Joe Gideon & The Shark. Sharp white suits, Mark E Smith style monologues and NoMeansNo heavy...

  • Volcano Choir - Unmap

    What we know about Justin Vernon: he’s a fantastic songwriter with a soulful voice, which has slowly but surely found widespread acclaim with Bon Iver. We also found out from the Blood Bank EP...

  • Delia's Gig Guide: 19 November

    Sunday 18th November Monkey Chews – Friend Of The Bride, Looker, Jon byrne, Marcus Mumford Cargo – Wire doo dah – Jackie-o motherfkkkccer5, polly shang kuan band

  • Magazine at the Forum

    PARSLEY’S COMMLOCK Concert Review: Magazine, The Forum 12/02/09 Before I describe what it was like to be at a Magazine concert in 2009, I feel I should let you in on what it was like to be at...

  • Skinny Jeans Can F*** Off

  • Free Papers on Diana, Ryan Air, Private Eye, and Which? (Consumers Association) AGM

    PARSLEY'S COMMLOCK Media News : Free Papers report Diana Inquest When people complain about the media's prurient interests, they often say 'if people didn't buy it then the papers wouldn't print it...

Photos

  • In Pictures: Steve Gullick retrospective

    Legendary rock photographer Steve Gullick has a retrospective at Manchester’s KRAAK Gallery running from March 12th til March 27th, featuring shots taken for NME and Melody Maker as well as his...

  • In Pictures: Tune-Yards, Trash Kit and Think about Life

    To accompany the review of tUnE-yArDs’ Monday gig at Cargo, a few tasty shots of Think about Life, Trash Kit and New England native Merrill Garbus aka tUnE-yArDs. Read the review of the night...

  • In Pictures: Worst Record Covers of the Year

    We have collected some truly heinous examples of recent album covers, from Empire of the Sun’s Star Wars travesty to the banal evil that is Razorlight’s Slipway Fire. Discretionary...

  • In Pictures: Best record covers 2009

    Album art in this gallery was selected based on several simple traits: strong concept, fine graphics including creative typography and general lushness. The first three of ‘The Best Record...

  • In Pictures: Placebo

    Placebo pictures: just in - some photos of Placebo and Brian Molko from last week’s gig at the Glasgow SECC. Also check out the review here

chart

  • the Dirty Dishes - In the Clouds EP

    Ahhhh. I love this. When Jenny Tuite of the Dirty Dishes emailed us at Artrocker.com, there was no extended press drivel or desperate pleadings for promotion, just a simple "Hey there!...

  • Cutting Some Shapes

    Not Squares From: Belfast, Northern Ireland On debut single ‘Asylum’ (Richter Collective) Irish punktronic (we really do love inventing these meaningless genres !) trio Not Squares...

  • Turning Japanese

    The Japanese War Effort From: Scotland, United Kingdom The Japanese War Effort is a one man band, based in Edinburgh. Martin Moog (surely an adopted name otherwise baby he was born to moog...

  • Mondrian, Cakes, Pastries and Mille-Feuille

    There’s a tiny town to the north-east of Paris called Peronne. It’s in the Somme, so it rains a lot, and both the buildings and surrounding countryside are deeply gashed with marks from...

  • Wu Lyf (Finally) and The Great BBC 6Music Sham

    I knew something didn’t add up. The BBC 6Music kerfuffle drags on and on – with more and more music fans, politicians and BBC bigwigs all competing to see who can yelp their opinions...

  • Sleeping With The NME

    Yes Giantess Boston, Massachusetts, United States The current incarnation of the NME may be a pale shadow of itself and struggling with it’s identity, not knowing whether to...

  • EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: Egyptian Hip Hop - Round Pot (This is Horseflesh's Rad Pitt Reincarnation)

    According to This is Horseflesh (the nom de guerre of Egyptian Hip Hop drummer Alex Pierce) this fantastic ‘reincarnation’ of the band’s own "Rad Pitt" was written to...

  • Bromheads: Dedicated mp3

    Bromheads are continuing their free monthly download singles with a genius reworking of ‘Dedicated to the One I Love’, a song made famous by the Shirelles.  Unsubtle mix tape...

  • Japanese Voyeurs new single, track giveaway

    If Wyldman’s recent live review has picqued your interest in Japanese Voyeurs, then you might be interested in their free download track ‘Dumb’.  They’re biffing it out...

  • Sissy And The Blisters, and The Folly Of Rock And Roll Adoration

    Forming a rock ‘n’ roll band is one of the more deceptive and fickle actions a group of young men (and it’s almost always young men) can take. It seems so easy: get a self-...
More MP3s

Blogs