Glastonbury 2009 Diary: Part 3

Glastonbury

Pilton, England

on Jun 28 2009

Jonathan Dekel (CHARTattack)

07/03/2009 12:32pm

Saturday, June 28, 2009
Pilton, England
Glastonbury Festival
Hospitality Campgrounds
10:30 a.m.

I awake in a bath of warm sweat, again. It's even worse today than it was yesterday.

I run outside my tent in my underwear only to see that two older ladies are sitting in front of me having some tea — how civilized. I want to ask them if they have any Grey Poupon, but instead settle for a simple "Good Morning, it's hot outside, eh?" and hope their laughter was not aimed at the lower half of my body which is suffering both from shrinkage (as in laundry) and the ill effects of yesterday's shorts and Wellies fiasco, which has left my legs all cut up.

Luckily, there is nothing I particularly want or need to see 'til 4 p.m., so I take a little "me" morning. Shower (yup, they have showers here!) and a nice breakfast all to the groovy sounds of the Easy Star All-Stars doing a reggae/dub version of the entire Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which they've lovingly dubbed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Dub Band. Their morning Pyramid stage performance is loud enough to hear all the way from my tent and is a perfect hangover relief.

I make a note to downlo... er... buy the album for future Sunday morning use.

Pyramid Stage
Tom Jones
4 p.m.

How can you not love Tom Jones?! He's so damn affable and charming. If I ever had my own sitcom, I'd want Tom Jones to play the knowledgeable yet slightly raunchy grandfather.

Other Stage
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4:30 p.m.

Karen O comes out in some sort of Indian chief outfit as imagined by a third grade arts and crafts class. How, um, original?

4:45 p.m.

The crowd goes mental for "Zero." Karen dons her "eye" leather jacket, it's just like the video. Ooooooo...

5 p.m.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs throw a massive inflatable eyeball into the audience. They then dedicate "Maps" to MJ (amongst others). P.S. How good is "Maps"?!

Other Stage
Bat For Lashes
5:30 p.m.

Boring. All the songs sound the same. Time to get my drink on.

Other Stage
Glasvegas
9 p.m.

Since leaving Bat For Lashes I found the Orange Chill Lounge VIP area is giving out free beer. Where has this been all my festival?! I'm "well sauced" as the locals say, and have gathered a group of Black Eyed Peas fans to see Glasvegas. I promise them they'll love it.

9:01 p.m.

They don't love it.

9:02 p.m.

They leave. I stay and wait for "Daddy's Gone." Song of the year, anyone? Plus, the sound in the field is massive, perfect for the Scottish band's MBV inflections.

9:20 p.m.

Still no "Daddy's Gone" and I gotta get going to Blur. Ah well, next time.

Pyramid Stage
Blur
9:30 p.m.

Pretty much the show I came all this way to see. The big reunion!

Aside from several "warm up" gigs in smaller venues, the Glastonbury closing set is the full original Blur line-up's first in approximately six years. There must be over 100,000 people here. I can't see the end of them. I'm gonna try and stuff myself into the crowd to get a bit closer.

9:40 p.m.

"All These Things That I Have Done" by The Killers comes on and the whole crowd sings along to the "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" part. It's a nice primer... even for a Killers song.

9:50 p.m.

The screens show the moon (beautifully placed behind the Pyramid stage) and then they're on. They open with "She's So High" and then "Girls & Boys" and the hits just keep on coming.

10 p.m.

Damon Albarn looks a bit older and scruffier then I last remembered (he has a gold front tooth?!) and starts a sentence then stops in the middle.

"Has he taken 'shrooms?!" the man beside me asks.

10:10 p.m.

After running around like a mad man and trying to jump into the audience, Albarn keeps repeating how much "fun" he's having, as if it's surprising him.

"I'm happy we decided to do this gig" he says.

The others stay relatively quiet.

10:30 p.m.

Guitarist Graham Coxon plays the intro to "Tender" and it inspires a mass crowd singalong. One hundred thousand people croon that bit that sounds like an old gospel tune ("Oh my baby, oh my baby...") It's beautiful and powerful. Albarn smiles and lets it go on a bit longer then he should.

10:45 p.m.

The man beside me faints (yes, same man). Ah, what do I do now?

10:46 p.m.

The woman in front of me takes off her shirt. My eyes are torn between the fainting man and the topless woman. Is this a morality test?

10:50 p.m.

The man sits up and stares at me crying. I offer water?

11 p.m.

He's decided to sit down for the rest of the gig, probably a good idea.

11:25 p.m.

The band does a crack version of "To The End" and as they finish Albarn sits on the drum riser and starts crying. There are burly British men crying all around me.

Not doting on their lead singer's beleaguered disposition, the band break into "This Is A Low," one of my top two or three Blur songs, and Albarn wipes his face and gets to it. The chorus is breathtaking as the masses bellow the elongated "looooowwwwwwwwww." Now I'm tempted to cry.

11:30 p.m.

The band are off. The crowd once again sings the refrain from "Tender." Of all the songs the multi-thousands could have chosen to sing, it's nice to see that's the one everyone picked up on.

11:35 p.m.

Band returns and promises to play heavy songs.

11:40 p.m.

A riot breaks out with "Song 2." There's red fire coming from behind me and people bumping into me from all over. It's like a football riot. Ah, the English; you cry, you fight.

11:48 p.m.

Last encore. They better play "The Universal."

11.51 p.m.

There it is!

Midnight

The exiting crowd sings "Tender" again as they walk away. I've got a ride to blag and a flight to catch tomorrow.

Goodnight, sweat lodge. Goodnight, overpriced warm beers. Goodnight, drunk and high punters. Goodnight, amazing bands. Goodnight, fear of mud and trench foot. Goodnight, Worthy Farm. Goodnight, Glastonbury.

Another festival down and, in my memory, another superhuman feat completed. I have the scars, burns and guide book to prove it.