Glastonbury 2015 - Friday

So happy birthday to the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts which is 45 this year and here we are.

Actually trying to review Glastonbury would be futile. Glastonbury offers so much than any other festival that I’ve been to. We aren’t just talking a hand full of stages here because Glastonbury is like a small town. You could come for the music or you could spend five days immersed in other things and not see a band at all. Yes, five days. I didn’t realise that the festival opens its gates on Wednesday morning and builds rapidly until Thursday evening by which time most of its 170,000 attendees are here.

First up, it’s always a tough decision on what t-shirts to take to events like this. My choice of a 1990 vintage Ride t-shirt goes down well. Everyone asks me if I know if the recently reformed band will be playing a secret set and if so where will it be. Well there are three lots of ‘special guests’ on the line-up on Friday and the rumours seem to have intensified since we arrived on Wednesday. Though I can’t help feeling I inadvertently started them.

Still, if Ride are going to be playing a sneaky set here obviously we’re going to have to find it.

So day one of live bands at Glastonbury sees us heading down into the festival to catch the ‘special guests’ who are opening the Other Stage at 11am. This is unlikely to be the much talked about secret set by Ride unless Tim Burgess has simply been winding everyone up by Tweeting pictures of his wellies implying that it could be the Charlatans opening up the festival.

Well, it is the Charlatans, surprise surprise. The classic festival band but sadly not a terribly exciting one. Never mind, we in an open mind mood and anyway we want to see the Cribs who are up next. From the opening ‘Mirror Kisses’ to the closing ‘Pink Snow’ The Cribs are excellent but then I’m biased.

After which we head off to the next lot of ‘special guests’ in the far too small tent on William's Green. It becomes my life’s ambition to actually get inside this tent at some point and this is obviously where Ride are going to play their secret set or not. There’s no chance of seeing inside the place now though, as another much leaked guest appearance is playing. This time it’s Bastille. So no, not Ride.

Having heard weird things about the Michael Clark Company who opened things up today on the main Pyramid stage with a dance route to numerous Bowie tunes, we head off to catch them in the Astrolade Theatre. Dancing in Usain Bolt skinsuits to well know fare like ‘Heroes’ and ‘Jean Genie’ but also to lesser known ‘Aladdin Sane’, ‘Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family’ and ‘After All’ it’s a set for the Bowie fanatic, the dance fanatic and the Lycra skinsuit fanatic.

Having discovered the excellent Cockmill Bar with its range of local ales we’re been hanging around there a fair bit. It’s a handy place to be when we get the first rain of the festival as well, as we pile into the nearby Acoustic tent. Entertainment is supplied by Stornoway, who are no doubt pleased to pull such a big crowd by accident.

Once the rain has stopped we do another site tour and find the Rabbit Hole stage, where we take a look at Jake Isaac before we visit Wolf Alice on the Park Stage.

Now it’s dilemma time. Does one see Motorhead up on the Pyramid, Lulu in Avalon or the Vaccines up on Other. Despite the fact it is now raining again the Vaccines win and a good choice that is too as they put in one of the performances of the festival including a perfect ‘Wetsuit’ performance.

There’s still time to catch a bit of Lulu who is really giving it some in Avalon, we settle into the wooden shack next door, the Avalon Inn, for a few beers and a listen. The Avalon tent itself is rammed.

Then it’s off for our first visit to the Pyramid stage for more ‘special guests’. Ride? I doubt they’d be up on Pyramid and recent rumours seem to be about to be confirmed that the Libertines have been flown in by helicopter.

Tonight the Libertines simply prove they are not a main stage festival band. They are a small venue band where their shambling songs come over as charming and endearing. Up on Pyramid they just look and sound sloppy. I've seen enough of Doherty live to know it’s a well engrained trait. Carl Barat though knows better but probably needs the money. To be fair to the band, the crowd are pretty sloppy too and everyone near us talks through their set. Don't you just hate that?

For some time now, several years in fact, I’ve had this image in my head of Pete Doherty at 50 playing a gig of his finest moments of which, let’s be clear, there have been many. Only he plays them all in tune and error free using the experience that comes with age. It would be awesome. Let's hope he's around to do it and I'm around to see it.

Still, I’m glad I've seen them at long last and the middle section of ‘Music When The Lights Go Out’ and ‘What Katie Did’ was more charming than shambling.

By now we’re missed the Courteeners (who I like but have seen loads of times), TOY and the Proclaimers (which may have been quite jolly). Shall we also skip Florence, yes I think so.

So it’s Enter Shikari or Lamb then? Or back into the pub. I think the latter wins, tomorrows another day.

The Courteeners, Rock City

Tonight we are at Rock City for Mr Ego and his band, Liam Fray’s Courteeners.

To be honest, I haven’t been that struck on their new album 'Falcon' and I was actually more looking forward to seeing Detroit Social Club, who I’m quite taken with. A much talked about band, who have been around for a few years, with very little output to show for it but now with an excellent new single out entitled 'Kiss The Sun' which is what they open with tonight and pretty awesome live it is too.

With a name like Detroit Social Club they are obviously from... errmm... Newcastle upon Tyne and sound like a Geordie Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to me. This means I whole heartedly approve of them. It’s an excellent short set from them, where ‘Black And White’, a current free download, is just terrific in the middle of the set. As is the closing 'Sunshine People'. I think it’s all rather powerful stuff but then I was already a convert before tonight.



In the other hand I’m still to be totally converted by Liam Fray, I still don’t particularly like the man but I do like his band, so it’s a bit of a shame that he makes the live shows so much about him.

At least I think I've figured out why the Courteeners play the entirety of ‘Rock n Roll Star’ before they come on. It's to tempt people into getting the beer throwing out of the way before the band comes on and gives the crew chance to mop the stage. However it doesn't work. Although an impressive amount is dispatched at this point there's plenty been held back in reserve to be launched when the band take the stage, after the usual protracted delay. Both 'Cavorting' and the following 'Acrylic' are accompanied by industrial quantities of what can only hope is alcohol or water.

The crowd don’t help Mr Fray’s ego by chanting his name far too often for my liking, his heads big enough already thank you very much. When they get bored with that, and with chanting the band’s name, they settle on ‘Nottingham Is Full Of Fun' football style which isn't what they chant Nottingham is full of at Derby's home games but never mind.

Then there’s the crowd surfing, which is even more excessive and extreme than usual, which seems to rile the security who are getting rougher than they probably should be and taking no prisoners. So it’s unclear what causes the few visible injuries that are sustained, the crowd surfing or the unsuccessful prevention of it.

Music wise, the new songs sound much better live than on record and I can see some of them becoming real favourites live. The faithful are already well rehearsed on most of them. Particularly 'Cross My Heart & Hope To Fly' and 'Scratch Your Name Upon My Lips' come across very well.

Liam himself seems a bit miffed at the negative press reaction to the new album and is not backwards in telling us all about it. Perhaps he set the bar too high with ‘St Jude’, where even the not so good tracks are still live favourites. Perhaps even, deep down, Liam agrees because tonight’s 21 song set includes more of the first album than the second, which is unusual for a band promoting a new record.

As usual they wind down towards the end with a trio of solo songs from Liam. During the first, 'The Rest Of The World Has Gone Home', he has to pause to watch as an attractive female crowd surfer is pulled out at the front, then as his pulse returns to normal he continues from where he left off. Following that with ‘No You Didn't, No You Don't’ and ‘Yesterday, Today & Probably Tomorrow’ with full crowd accompaniment.



The full band return for the recent single 'You Overdid It Doll' and the traditional set closers of ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and ‘What Took You So Long?’. It’s all a tad predictable but still very entertaining stuff.

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The Courteeners, Rock City

Support is by Ida Maria from Norway. I liked her at first but she’s started to do my head in. On one of her tracks 'Queen Of The World', she sounds like Bjork crossed with Kate Nash. That's all we need, a Norwegian trying to sound common. That said she pours everything into her show, giving an energetic performance, all the time with her top hat, complete with feather, perched on her head. The crowd gradually warm to her especially on her set closer and most renowned track 'Better When You're Naked'.



It's third time lucky in my attempts to cavort with the Courteeners. For various reasons, I missed them at the Rescue Rooms in January and then again at Trent Poly in April.

The band are from Manchester and are obviously very proud of their roots as the mix tape of solely Manchester bands hints at before they come on. Then the lights go out, the volume goes up and the speakers play Oasis's 'Rock N Roll Star'. No egos here then.

It's also not just a few bars, not just the chorus, nope, it's the whole song and after which... still nothing happens on stage.

Then after an indeterminate delay, they swagger on stage and play 'Aftershow' and 'Kokaine Kimberley' back to back. If the place isn't already going mental, it is by the time 'Acrylic' turns up as track number four. I'd like to quote Mr Fray himself and say that Rock City is full of over-rated dehydrated, goggle eyed girls, but it's actually mainly lads and a lot of them not much younger than me.

Ah, the cocky Mr Liam Fray, who is clearly the star of the Courteeners. Possibly the only star, the rest of the band hardly get a look in. It appears no one else is even allowed to offer up backing vocals. In fact, we're half way through their action packed set before he seems to even acknowledge their presence.



Liam admits to a soft spot for Nottingham and for Rock City. He tells us that their first night on tour was here in October 2007. That night they supported the Coral and played to what he reckons was a crowd of around 20 people. There's one or two more here tonight, a complete sell out in fact.

Highlights include the big sing-a-long to the stark 'Please Don't' and a cracking 'Cavorting'. There's even a new track 'Bo Jangles'.

The new single 'That Kiss' gives the bouncers a brief respite from chucking out the crowd surfers, something I've not seen here for a while. Those people 'probably shouldn't have danced to that song'. Perhaps Enter Shikari taking the mickey last week was the last straw. Unless you're a girl of course, they are never chucked out.

They don't do an encore as such, that would be terribly old fashioned. Instead, the band leave the stage to leave Liam alone to play a couple of tracks solo, 'No You Didn't, No You Don't' and a powerful 'Yesterday Today Probably Tomorrow'. It's all very Noel Gallagher. His admiration for the Gallagher's is very apparent; they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Like the Oasis boys, Fray has a touch of arrogance but also a lot of confidence.



The band return, cue a riotous moshalong to 'If It Wasn't For Me', 'Not Nineteen Forever' and a colossal performance of 'What Took You So Long', even the bouncers give up evicting people.

As it's not such a young crowd tonight, when Fray sings 'You spend too much time sat in your bedroom, on your PC', I look to see if there are any other parents nodding in agreement but no they're all going mental down the front.

A good night's cavorting but not snorting, obviously.

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