Anti Climax.
Everyone I met who'd seen him (apart from one) said "mehhh, he was alright. Not awful, not brilliant.".
From my Pyramid-overlooking camp, I watched the vastly depleted crowd's unenthusiasm and was a bit surprised. Expected everyone to go mad for him.
The absolute only single one bad thing about this year's Glastonbury, for me, were the Pyramid headline performances.
Kings of Leon were bored, pissed, effortless.
Jay Z tried his best which I applaud him for, but didn't cut it.
Verve were lacklustre and again, anticlimaxes.
However. I watched two bands do two performances. Both were better than everyone else's. Vampire Weekend and MGMT. All other bands are void.
Oh and also: biggest regret =
not knowing any Leonard Cohen.
Absolutely mesmerising. He was literally unbelievable. I'll never be able to list any adjectives that can do his performance justice. He wins.
Brilliant isn't he?
Shame he put an embargo on filming. Apparently he was fucked over by his agent or something and needs dvd sales...
Yeah I watched a bit of jay-z on tv and cringed. It would have been better if he'd been all "That is the worst song ever. Fuck noel gallagher" after he came on to wonderwall, then launched into some dub influenced shouty music. Instead he just played "recognizable rock" samples over his stuff so people didn't get bored. Kind of pandering and a bit useless but I guess that's what people wanted.
Exaclty right.
His set seemed to lack any balls. He didn't come out and give them a full-on hip-hop set, he gave a chart-tunes-with-rap-on-top set.
But let's face it; before he even took to the stage, everyone had decided what a triumph it was going to be.
Leonard Cohen doing Hallelujah in front of a Pyramid sunset, though = :O
what did you think of Jay-Z?
I'm interested. You haven't let us know in your initial post!!
I was bored by him.
I could see the novelty value of it, but personally I didn't appreciate the fact he was rapping over pre-recorded tracks. He wasn't creating anything magic onstage. He wasn't weaving a wall of wonderful noise or anything. He was just adding to a wall of fairly pleasing music. Not enough.
fair enough!
thought it sounded pretty fun... but yeah, not what I personally desire froma hip hop act.
What were the crowds like this year?
I mean as in congestion getting between stages?
urrrr
seasick steve. sex.
Not an issue.
This Glastonbury was an Absolute Triumph. Organisation was spot on. Toilets were clean. Food was brilliant. Only slip-up was the three headliners and the clashes.
Crowds were biggest after The Verve and before Scouting For Aids on the Other Stage.
RE: pre-that gig on OtherStage = the largest gathering of people I've ever seen outside the Pyramid. That was absolute gridlock. But fine everywhere else.
Hmmm, sounds promising.
I suppose last years weather had more of an effect than I originally thought.
The weather made it!
I'm a browny-red colour. I spent 80% of the weekend sitting outside getting a tan. It was just absolutely boiling hot with nice little breezes to cool you down here and there.
Alright, you can stop now.
I did miss it like fuck this year, I have to admit :(
What were the crowds like
in terms of the percentage of awful, awful idiots that seemed to litter the crowd last year? They were one of the main reasons I didn't go, unfortunately...
Joe - www.anewbandaday.com
Good crowd.
Lots of young children. Lots more than last time. And generally the crowd was more there for the fact it was Glastonbury. Or that's what I grasped. Without sounding like a prick, it was as if they'd just 'gone for a laugh' as opposed to seeking out countless bands and rushing around to see them.
Vampire Weekend and MGMT both given highlight nods?
I know I wasn't there Wrighty but if they put on a fun and good show then i'm adolf hitlers mustach
MGMT looked good from what I saw on TV.
And my flatmate texted and said they were amazing.
best things I saw were
Leonard Cohen and Edwyn Collins. A few 8's like Franz Ferdinand, Eddy Grant, Yeasayer and Caribou as well as really good performances from stuff I really like anyway (Laura Marling, British Sea Power)
Edwyn Collins was hard to watch
but amazing.
I saw vampire weekend at primavera
and they were pretty good fuckin fun. Not exactly a performance band but they've got jiggy pop songs down to a tee and people seem to like it.
That's probably exactly why, Mr Duck!
I actually recalled you saying in the past that both were poor live. I went to watch them with the lowest of expectations and was shell-shocked.
I'm not at ALL easily pleased. But they did it. Maybe it was the ocassion?
Yea it could be
they might of fit the summery atmosphere as well, Vampire Weekend in a dark hall at 3pm deffo didnt work when I saw them at ATP.
Jay Z
was pretty fucking awesome.
Highlights:
Annie, Jay Z, Franz, Dizzee, Vampire Weekend, Futureheads. And Will Young. Seriously.
The weather was mainly marvellous, I drank a lot of gin, and even the toilets didn't seem as bad as usual. The line-up wasn't great, but there was enough stuff on to keep us occupied for the whole weekend.
It was so much less fucking EFFORT than last year. My seventh time, and one of the best.
Annie
I forgot about that, that was another really good one.
I could have spent a long time at The Park stage, really interesting mix of stuff there across the three days.
Park was the best.
Had nothing to do on Friday and got wind of the Franz rumour. Went to see and they came on!!! I was ecstatic.
Saturday. We'd been talking about wanting to see Last Shadow Puppets because of how good their record is. Got to the Park early for MGMT and on come LSPs joined by Jack White. OMG. Best.
Not sure about anti-climax...
but just watching it on the iPlayer again, and it sounds worse than it actually was.
I was really really looking forward to this gig, and a lot of my mates, proper hip hop heads, were too with me, and I just thought it was really good, and it kinda disappointed me cos I'd hoped it would be really great.
I think the thing that took away from it was, if I go see a headliner I'll usualy scream back evry work, and even though I kno loads of the cataloge its still ngh on impossible and a ttimes I found my self getting a little bit distracted by the cheap background graphics, or the fact that getting a live singer in would have been better than a sample, not jsut a guest star, but just someone taht didn't make it seem like a sample.
I was right up the front too so can't comment on the crowd.
Furr dooze.
Hello, by the way. It was great meeting you. I expected you to be posh and from The South, but you were Irish and I was pleased!
Your friend was hilarious too. I loved his views on DiS. Very sound man!
I thought Jay Z was pretty neat tbh.
Didn't catch any other Pyramid headliners though. I had an amazing time. Saw Noel Fielding and a barman from my local partying hard last night and then watched the sun rise with about 20 friends. Perfecto >.<
Also
Vampire Weekend were pretty good.
Furr dooze.
Hello! I think you were lucky that your first Glasto was so sunny. I bet it was Paradisisisisish.
We went to the Hot Chip thing at the Park on Saturday to dance, but you'd soon gone. Would have followed but we'd gone from Shangri La to Park for MGMT, then back down from Park for a bit of Jay Z and then further down to the Acoustic, and then back UP to the Park again. And then when we got there you said you were elsewhere so we just wandered and ate and Jazz Lounged etc.
Oh deary me that sounds like a massive pain.
My falldown at glastonbury was definitely my 1ltr flask which kept meaning I was topping with 1 1/2 bottles of wine every time I refilled. Saturday night was a pretty messy one for us. We partied in the upside down disco for ages and then got high in the greenfields and then watched the sun come up. Pretty epic.
I made a thread aboot meeting you but there was one reply :(
it's just HIP HOP
This was the intro the BBC didn't broadcast the crowd were blown away the atmosphere was positive and vibrant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkPFqdY65O4&feature=related
this year was so good
highlights:
APPLEBLIM'S DJ SET IN THE IGLOO, the Igloo in general really, coolest place ever, I want it built on to my house. For those who didn't go it was built on to a typical Glasto tent bar with sofas and people hanging out and getting drunk and stuff (cool in it's own right) then you go through this tunnel thing and end up in some dome with people going apeshit and literally the whole ceiling being screens with projections on, awesome.
Leonard Cohen, so graceful, so humble, really really beautiful.
Massukos: Glorious sunshine + african rhythms + Brothers = some kind of wonderful dream
Hot Chip, Wiley! Nothing Compares 2 U! & when the fuck did these guys get so many huge hits?
Los Campesinos in The Guardian Lounge: Band I adore, tiny tent, mental crowd :D
i had an amazing time
highlights?
The National
Caribou
Jay-Z
Yeasayer
Estelle.
one of the best I've done
the line-up of landfill indie on the main stages made me discover loads of cool stuff. I'd never have bothered otherwise.
highlights:
dizzee
caribou
squarepusher
candi stanton
sea sick steve
this trumpeter in a tiny tent in shangrila
roll on 2009
I thought Jay Z was incredible
Everyone around me was going crazy for him and knew every single word, he would've been the act of the weekend had Leonard Cohen not played.
I was very impressed by Vampire Weekend given the bad live reviews they get. MGMT, last two songs aside, bored the fuck into me. A girl camping with us went to their Park set and despite her being in love with them, thought they were terrible.
Hot Chip were fantastic. As were Los Campesinos! in the sun - "I would stop and chat but we've got a pop concert to put on!"
Agree with the organisational side of things - they actually learnt from the stuff that went wrong last year. The toilets by ourt camp appeared to be cleaned hourly. Also yesterday morning there were hundreds of stewards in the east car parks, unlike the one, stoned, individual we saw in the carnage last year.
All in all, a fantastic event, I loved it all. Especially when I destoryed that guy who was rude to the Green Police having been caught pissing in a nature reserve and he had to do a walk of shame down that massive hill with the flags on it at the back, while the whole hill laughed at him
Fucking brilliant Glastonbury!
But I will disagree with you wrightylew, yes the kings of leon were boring but they always are.
Jay-Z - didn't see him
The Verve - Fucking immense.
MGMT - I just think they are dreadful, both musically and live.
Vampire Weekend - Just can't get it right live, thought they were crap but I do like the album.
Seasick Steve - acoustic stage, brilliant.
Manu Chao - brilliant.
Organisation was massively improved on last year, everyone in great spirits and plenty of cider.
Fucking great weekend and I can't believe we have to wait a year to go back!
How could I forget.....
Leonard Cohen was sublime!
The man oozes charisma!
The Worker's Bars ran out of cider
late on Sunday afternoon -POOR
^^^^Very poor show indeed.
KRS 1 or Busta
would have killed it as both can work any crowd, Jay Z is a great rapper and the set was tight but he didn't sweat and that's what the people pay to see
The Jay-Z intro.
had. a. lot. of. fucking. balls.
Brilliant. Didn't think it was necessary to try to appeal to the more indie/rock crowd with the covers.. he should have stuck to his roots on that one, that's why we were there.
Glasto
highlights.
Seasick Steve
Joan Baez
Leonard Cohen (and Joan Baez doing a Leonard Cohen song)
Urban Voodoo Machine
Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara
The Ethiopiques
(both of the above represent far better cross-fertilisation between African and rock traditions than Vampire Weekend and Foals – the latter were particularly dull)
Amy W. - surprising that she was actually able to get through a set. I really must stop believing the tabloids. But she is fuckin' insane and that added to the sheer compulsiveness of her performance.