It was the year Glastonbury Festival underestimated our love of nostalgia.
After their previous appearance at the Avalon Stage proved too packed two years ago, the Sugarbabes were handed a Friday slot at the far larger West Holts stage this time around.
But this was still not enough to satisfy the crowd’s insatiable desire to see their heroines of yesteryear. This mega stage had to be cordoned off due to the surge. The Pyramid Stage surely awaits the trio.
Fast forward to Sunday and the same again for Avril Lavigne. She was an even bigger pull. Even the vast Other Stage was unable to cope, and it too was cordoned off. Her future Pyramid set no doubt being pencilled in already.
This year was also when every band wanted to say ‘fuck the Tories’, ahead of this week’s General Election.
Even former private school girls Last Dinner Party wanted to share their disdain for the current Conservative government. Although Mater and Pater back at record company HQ won’t be too pleased to pay VAT for any of the band’s younger siblings’ school fees when Labour inevitably win.
And for me it was the year I finally got a mobile signal via an eSim for the site’s mobile provider Vodafone so could meet up with more people, rather than rely on hope and smoke signals.
As for the acts, a highlight for this Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent long list judge was to see one of my nominations Problem Patterns, who emerged as a finalist from the competition and earned a Sunday Park Stage slot.
Problem Patterns
I saw them at the smaller Hive on the Saturday and they were superb, swapping instruments, dancing and belting out bangers such as Letter of Resignation.
It was also good to meet up with my fellow judges and music bloggers Tony (fifty3.net) and Paul (besttuna.blogspot.com) this year.
Paul reliably informs me Problem Patterns’ Park set was fantastic. Do go check out his and Tony’s great websites for more top musical tips.
Another high point was seeing some of my personal bucket list acts. Josh Rouse had alluded me for too long, whenever he came to the UK. Catching his Friday afternoon Acoustic tent set was wonderful, especially to hear a crowd singalong on Love Vibration.
Josh Rouse
This is the Kit, shortly afterwards on Friday over at the Park stage, is another. Bristol based Kate Stables band is a bit of a local wonder, now garnering international acclaim. This was cemented when she joined the National on stage to close events on the Sunday, but more of that a little later.
Stables and co were fantastic. Rozi Plain on bass was particularly good with the sound mix just right for her.
This is the Kit
Dexys rolled back time for some highly theatrical versions of songs that are now almost 50 years old. Come on Eileen, Geno, Jackie Wilson Says (with Jockie Wilson backdrop in a nod to an infamous Top of the Pops blunder) were among their superb set.
Dexys
Kevin Rowland’s voice as great now as it ever was.
Dexys
Over to Leftfield for the final part of the evening on Friday took me to see Dublin post punks Sprints. Lead singer Karla Chubb is full of laughs and banter with the crowd for a show, which sped through great tracks such as Up and Comer to a packed crowd.
Sprints
There were none more willing to convey the sentiment of “fuck the Tories” than Billy Bragg. As befits his regular Friday night Leftfield show he was customarily full of rage about right wing culture war attacks and 14 years of Conservative Party rule. As he has also torn up his Labour membership he is also cautious about what Keir Starmer can offer.
In between urging us to join a union, crowd favourites Sexuality, New England and Levi Stubbs Tears were played. When he asked us to “sing the next verse for Kirsty McColl” on New England I well up, as I always do at that bit.
Billy Bragg
It was a largely smaller stage festival for me, with Squeeze the only Pyramid act I saw. And what an opener on Friday their set was. Every. Song. A. Banger. That’s it. That’s their review.
Although, I will add that Hourclasss, Take Me I’m Yours and Up the Junction were particularly good live this time around.
Friday ended with Fontaines DC closing Park set. It was a huge crowd who may well have seen a Pyramid stage headliner in the not too distant future. Their broad international appeal makes them one of the most popular of all headliners across the stages this year.
On Saturday early I started the day at Woodsies watching scary Irish rappers Knee Cap, who sing songs about the “shitness” of our “sniffer dogs” and wear IRA style balaclavas. As my friend said at the time, “who listens to that before lunch?!”.
High Vis followed and were no less incendiary. Singer Graham Sayle mesmerised by the size of the crowd as he tells us during the week he works in a school, and he and the band are former security staff for festivals, hence the name. Songs like Trauma Bonds were charged and emotional, especially as Sayle recounts how hardcore punk saved his life.
Its always an eclectic mix at Glastonbury. Where else in a few hours can you move between seeing Irish rappers telling me my sniffer dogs are shit, to Problem Patterns performing top punk to what is left of Manfred Man, aka the Manfreds. Over at the Acoustic Stage 82-year-old Paul Jones took much of the vocal heavy lifting for 54321 and more in their set, while sounding like he’s 22.
BC Camplight followed at Avalon stage, opening strongly with his recent hit Last Rotation of Earth and taking guitar duties as his lead guitarist wasn’t around. Francesca Pidgeon from the band is a particular standout, playing keyboards and guitar simultaneously, as well as sax and clarinet. Way too much talent!
BC Camplight
I’m a middle-aged man who needs his sleep, but ironically don’t like Coldplay, so English Teacher completed my evening at Leftfield at this Saturday’s Glastonbury Festival.
What a transformation for the band that only a few years ago were finalists in the Emerging Talent Competition!
They looked nervous when I first saw them play here, at Woodsies. Now they are full of confidence. Lead singer crowd surfed while their post punk played to a climax, with tracks This could be Texas, R&B, Daffodils and Broken Biscuits among the highlights.
English Teacher
West Holts area dominated my Sunday, now it was merely just packed rather than ‘Sugarbabes-packed’ as it was on Friday.
This has the best sound of any stage on site, so everyone sounds fantastic, whatever your taste.
Here I took in the wonderful vocals of Jalen Ngonda, some light lunchtime jazz from Mattthew Halsall, then Steel Pulse, Brittany Howard and Nia Archives.
Jalen Ngonda
Luckily this Glastonbury Festival stage of sonic splendour is near to the Avalon tent and like with bucket list gig Josh Rouse, I finally got to see Go! Team from my hometown of Brighton. Ninja, their singer, was on top form. As with BC Camplight they opened with a banger with Mayday.
The Go! Team
Elsewhere, I can now tick Strummerville off my bucket list too. How I’ve never gone there after nine previous festivals and being a Clash obsessive, I’ll never know. Anyway, it’s done now and it’s a wonderful place, with a sunken stage nestled into a copse by a never ending camp fire.
During the day I also managed to catch most of Grace Petrie and her band, with her track Black Tie still one of my favourites, as it was when I saw her solo a few years back on the same Acoustic stage.
And to end my festival was Other Stage headliner the National, whose strong attendance was helped by no one over 35 knowing who Pyramid headliner Sza is.
The National
They seemed bad tempered when I last saw them a few years back on the Pyramid stage at the Glastonbury Festiva , with Matt Berninger’s impassioned antics and vocals not quite gelling with the audience. Here it was different. Berninger could reach the audience easier and often just jumped in , walking around singing among the crowd. Fake Empire and Bloodbuzz Ohio among standouts here.
As a local it was then a queue for the bus home after another great Glastonbury, and the slow realisation of the blister fringe festival that was now taking place beneath my socks.
Words and pictures by Joe Lepper
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