Glastonbury Festival - Friday 27/06/2008

Ever get the feeling the gods aren’t on your side?

As we sit in a line of never ending traffic that snakes off into the horizon, it’s a thought that can’t be shaken.

If the stop start stop nature of the traffic isn’t bad enough, it isn’t long before the near unbearably stifling heat begins to affect us. A slight breeze flirts with us, occasionally tickling our exposed skin, but it’s not enough to provide lasting relief. Hysteria sets in. Followed by irritation, frustration, discomfort and ending in a slump of crushing inevitability that we may be here for some time. Six hours to be precise. A full four hours longer than the internet route planner suggested. As omens for the weekend go, it’s not a good one. But as we eventually arrive on site, some solace can be found in the fact that the ground is dry, green grass is underfoot and the sun is shining.

But not for long. By the time we’ve parked the car, walked across site and found a place to pitch up by the John Peel Tent, the sun has gone into hiding. As the final peg pulls the tent tight, the heavens open, putting both a literal and metaphorical dampener on proceedings. Rain streams down as waves of déjà vu pass over us. As Thursday draws to a close, it feels like Glastonbury 2007 all over again. Same time. Same place. Ever get the feeling the gods just aren’t on your side?

Friday morning kicks off with more rain. Neither as heavy nor as constant as the previous night or previous year, these are sporadic showers. With each one comes an on-off Mexican wave of waterproof action across the crowds. But while the downpours have turned into drizzles, the damage has been done. Thousands of sodden wellies have tramped over the hard ground and green grass of yesterday and churned it into a muddy marsh that sloshes and squishes underfoot. As we make our way to the Pyramid Stage for festival opener Kate Nash, our feet tread heavily and carefully, the ground slipping easily under each step.

With the stage resembling a live action remake of The Little Mermaid, Kate Nash proves to be a crowd pleasing opener. While not exactly getting the party started with a bang, she is entertaining enough. Her band play heavy. Rawer and not as slick as you’d assume, the songs are bashed out with an energy that’s usually lacking on record. More surprising is that Nash’s cheeky, girly cockernee persona is less annoying than usual. Though alas, there’s still no excusing the dreadful ‘bitt-ah/fitt-ah’ rhyming couplet of ‘Foundations’.

From there, we sludge across the site, en route to see Be Your Own Pet, only to find they’ve been replaced by The Rascals. A small crowd’s gathered but not enough to suggest they’re worth hanging about for, so we go for a wander in an attempt to get our bearings. A good while later and we’re back catching the end of Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong. A band whose music isn’t quiet as bad as their name but which is essentially just another Strokes-Libertines hybrid and thus hugely uninteresting.

Unlike Vampire Weekend who follow with the first of two appearances this weekend. They appear nervous, the set being something of a slow burner. The band take a while to warm up and in turn, the large crowd they’ve drawn take a while to warm to them. But following the crowd participation on ‘One’, Vampire Weekend appear to loosen up, dispel the nerves and hit their stride. An energetic ‘A-Punk’ gets the crowd going, while ‘Oxford Comma’ is greeted with the biggest cheer of the festival so far. It may not be the most memorable performance of the weekend but it’s the first sign that, whatever the weather, Glastonbury can still throw up some great moments.

With the site so vast, the ground so slippy and the festival so packed, manoeuvring from stage to stage is a time consuming effort. By the time we make it across to the John Peel Stage, Lightspeed Champion are already mid set. The tent is packed full. With people spilling out from every side of the tent there’s no way in and the sound is so low, that we a struggle to hear anything from outside. we strain to catch the echoes of ‘Tell Me What It’s Worth’, which seems well received well by the crowd inside, but with no chance of getting in ourselves, we head back to our tent to refuel.

Food eaten and legs rested, we’re met with the first clash of the weekend. Opting for The Gossip, we make our way to the Pyramid Stage, meeting what seems like the entire festival heading in the opposite direction to see The Ting Tings. Any doubts that we’d made the wrong decision vanish as Beth Ditto and co put in a performance that is one of the festival highlights. Dressed in a strange purple cowelled jumpsuit, and seemingly determined to prove something, Beth moves about with the energy of someone half her size. She dances, jigs, struts and eventually slips unflatteringly offstage to sing the second half of the set from barrier. And you can’t take your eyes off her. She steals hats and glasses off the audience, proposes to the security and sings an acapella version of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ amongst many things far more entertaining than they sound. Her voice is simply amazing. A powerful soulful instrument that loses none of it’s intensity, no matter how out of breath she gets. The band match her, their sparse disco garage rock sounding huge as it thunders across the field. Finishing the set with Beth deep in the crowd, The Gossip round off their second great Glastonbury performance in two years with a surprisingly fresh sounding and exhilarating ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’.

Back at the John Peel Stage and the poor sound we assumed was because we were outside for Lightspeed Champion, seems to be affecting inside as well. The tent seems to swallow The Kills. The claustrophobic intensity that fuels their sound is lost across the expanse of the tent. Where normally the band spark off one another, they seem slightly flat. The vocals sound dulled, the beats distant and only the guitars manage to cut across with any real conviction. While the crowd cheer each song with a surprising familiarity, overall it’s a disappointing set, the tent sapping the band of the elements that usually make them so thrilling.

As darkness covers the festival and night time creeps in, we’re back at the Pyramid Stage watching The Fratellis bash out their laddish, terrace anthems with the subtlety of a brick in the face. Arms are raised, lyrics chanted, men hug (but not sexually alright!?!) and I stand around thoroughly uninspired, hoping for it to end as quickly as possible. And when it finally does, the first day of music is left free for the Kings Of Leon to wrap up. Which they do. In a fashion. Over 90 minutes they play a solid if largely unremarkable set. Appearing slightly daunted by the prospect of headlining the first night, the band offer little in the way of interaction, surprise or spectacle. While ‘Molly’s Chamber’ goes some way to providing a highlight and a highly charged ‘Charmer’ proves pretty special, the rest of the set offers little to get too excited about. Exhausted with a day of music under our belt, sleep beckons and we sip into the land of nod, the dull thud thud thud of the dance field provided a soothing rhythm.

The Gossip - jealous girls (live at Glastonbury 2008)

Vampire Weekend - one (blake's got a new face) (live at Glastonbury 2008)

Kings Of Leon - charmer (live at Glastonbury 2008)

mp3 / music / glastonbury festival 2008