Before he wandered off on a long weekend away (packing, not partying - that’s his lot in life), Stuart - your dear and glorious editor - left us all with a spot of Glasto bingo to keep us all entertained. Here’s how I did.
1. Popstars wearing neon-framed sunglasses in the studio
Didn’t spot this, but I did spot Kelly Osbourne wearing some heart-shaped neon specs, which I think should be worth a bonus point.
2. Annoying repetition of dull set from indie-turned-mainstream act
Thanks to the Red button coverage, a dull indie set was available for near-constant repetition throughout the weekend.
[Duffy, Alison Goldfrapp and Amy Winehouse all dressed up for Glastonbury. Image: Rex]
So, what *did* happen at Glastonbury this year? Here’s our handy round up of the stories your heart could desire.
True to form as always, Tim Westwood made a cringe-worthy first appearance at Glasto interviewing Jay-Z. Tim Jonze’s “interview” with Westwood summed it up a treat.
Jay-Z himself appears to have gone down a storm (according to every report I’ve read apart from this lone naysayer), although there were still 800 tickets going spare. But Eavis appears to be back to betting on safe horses for next year, with Radiohead and Coldplay already rumoured to be in the running for headliners in 2009.
Not everyone went to Glastonbury this weekend. Some old souls descended on Hyde Park for the badly-named two day ‘Hard Rock Calling’ festival, otherwise known as ‘an Eric Clapton gig with an amazing supporting line-up’ and ‘a repeat of the Isle of Wight’. I was there on Saturday for some easy-listening guitar fun… Kindly tell us your name, age and where you’re from. Now.
Gemma, 24, from London. Again. Which festival have you recently attended?
Hard Rock Calling (Saturday only) Have you attended this festival before? If yes, how does this year compare?
Nope, first time for me. Which act gave the best performance, and why?
Well, Eric Clapton’s was the longest and most well-received, but I think Jason Mraz (above left) pitched his set perfectly. It was only about 35 mins long but he captured the mood of the day; loads of people on picnic mats enjoying the sun and listening to some reggae-infused lite rock. He even covered Bobby McFerrin’s ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’.
Anna Waits from TV Scoop gives her verdict on Glasto from the comfortable confines of her sofa
It’s been a good weekend for me - Wimbledon in the morning, a stupidly astonishing Doctor Who in the evening, and Glastonbury at night. That’s the sort of telly I like. There were two talking points at Glasto last night, of course, firstly whether Amy Winehouse would turn up in a fit state to perform, and secondly how Jay-Z would go down. Jay-Z did his best to be the biggest and most memorable act of the day by opening with Wonderwall in “homage” to Noel Gallagher (who has said that hip-hop has no place at Glasto) but he just couldn’t top our Amy.
A growing part of the Glastonbury vibe these days is the BBC’s coverage, which spans an impressive number of channels - this year there will be coverage on BBC2, BBC3, BBC4 as well as Radio 1, Radio 2 and 6 Music.
With such familiarity comes a pretty predictable set of things to expect, however. Here is your non-cut-out-and-keep card to mark as and when they appear as you watch from your sofa/bed/prison cell. If you get them all, make sure you come back and leave a comment saying “HOUSE!”. Or “BOLLOCKS!”. Either’s good.
Believe it or not there’s a whole wide world out there beyond Somerset, and in that wide world other festival-type event are occurring this weekend. But what, precisely?
- Wakestock is Europe’s largest Wakeboard and Music Festival, with the Blenheim Palace (right) leg taking place from today until Sunday. Remind yourself of who’s playing here
- Hyde Park is going to see a lot of folk pass through its gates this weekend, with that 46664 Nelson Mandela gig today, and Hard Rock Calling on Saturday and Sunday. Performing at the latter will be Eric Clapton, The Police, Sheryl Crow and the notoriously hard rock KT Tunstall
- Keep up with the weather at Metcheck.com‘s Glasto page - rain and cloud are forecast to feature a fair bit at this point
- The Independent has a chinwag with a few Glasto virgins, including Edwyn Collins, Dizzee Rascal and Katie Melua
- Jay-Z is having “blinged-up” wellies brought to his hotel, supposedly. Better than blinged-down, for sure.
See our little moblog widget on the right sidebar over there? That’s where we can send photos from our phones from any gigs/festivals and the like we happen to attend.
It’s hosted by the folk at Moblog.co.uk, who have now hooked up with Greenpeace, Oxfam and Wateraid for Love The Farm - Leave No Trace, a moblog dedicated to capturing the sights of this year’s Glastonbury Festival. Appropriately it’s also available as a mobile site, at m.leavenotrace.org.uk.
This year’s DMC UK DJ Championships final is being held at London’s Islington Academy, and has a pretty impressive line-up of MCs to keep you entertained.
Previous winners of the DMC UK Championships have included The Scratch Perverts and Radio 1Xtra’s DJ Blakey, while last year’s winner, JFB, will be in attendance this year to defend his crown.
Hosting the 2008 event will be MC Trip and Cutmaster Swift, with a live PA from Million Man and DJ Skitz. Le Shadow and beatbox prodigy Hobbit will be added to the mix also.
This is all in addition, of course, to the finalists of the competition itself. My favourite? Loop Skywalker, of course, just for the name.
Tickets are a mere
Posted by
Stuart Waterman on
Thursday June 26th, 2008 at
9:25 am
Is there anything more entertaining than a pop star - and particularly a rapper - with a huge persecution complex? Oh sure, their songs, albums and shows are cool and all - but they rarely match frothy-mouthed outbursts at perceived enemies.
Of course, thanks to the internet anyone can publish any old junk for all the world to see nowadays (see: this blog). Kanye West has accordingly used his own blog to address the folk who suggested that he was a tad out of order for going on stage several hours late at the recent Bonnaroo Festival.
Before he wandered off on a long weekend away (packing, not partying - that’s his lot in life), Stuart - your dear and glorious editor - left us all with a spot of Glasto bingo to keep us all entertained. Here’s how I did.
