Rolling Stones Set to Play Glastonbury Festival 2011?

Oh, rumours, rumours – the build up to the annual Glasto wouldn’t be the same without the perpetual speculation of who will be headlining, and so far this year we’ve had rumours of Abba and Prince as well as U2, Kylie and Coldplay (so no change there then).

Now, it’s the turn of those gnarly old codgers, The Rolling Stones. Ronnie Wood has recently told The Metro magazine that he thinks it’s high time the infamous band re-grouped to perform at Glastonbury, claiming that he ‘would love to’ play the festival.

Despite being tipped for the top spot on the Pyramid stage for virtually every year in the 40 years it has been going, The Stones have yet to make it to the world’s greatest music festival.

According to Emily Eavis’ Twitter page, all three headliners have now been confirmed and will be announced in the spring.

With tickets sold out, it’s going to be tough on Stones fans who will miss out on seeing a legendary performance such as this. Keep watching Glastonbury People for more updates.

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ABBA Backed To Play Glastonbury Festival 2011

ABBA have been backed to appear at this year’s Glastonbury festival following reports they may reunite.

Last week, singer Agnetha Faltskog said she would consider reforming with her former bandmates, but had yet to discuss a possible comeback.

Bookmakers William Hill are offering odds of 33/1 that the group choose Glastonbury for a reunion gig.

The odds on ABBA playing a one-off gig in London have also been cut from 100/1 to 20/1.

William Hill’s spokesman Rupert Adams told Gigwise: “ABBA fans should be very excited, we are now the same price for an Abba reunion as we were for Take That in January last year and we all know that Robbie is back.”

Punters can also get odds of 10/1 on the Swedish group scoring a number one album in 2011.

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Jimmy Cliff Confirms For Glastonbury

Legendary 62-year-old ska and reggae singer to play Worthy Farm Festival in its 41st year.
Jimmy Cliff has listed on his website an appearance at Glastonbury Festival 2011 on Friday 24th June.

Best known for his hit songs ‘Sitting in Limbo’, ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’ and ‘Many Rivers to Cross’ Jimmy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

The Jamaican singer previously headlined the Jazz World Stage in 2008 and it’s believed he will return to play the same stage which has since been renamed the West Holts Stage.

Glastonbury Festival 2011 takes place from Wednesday 22 – Sunday 26 June.

Tickets for Glastonbury Festival sold out in October but a small number of resale tickets are expected to go back on sale in April.
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Alexandra Burke Pleads Organisers To Play Glastonbury

X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke has appealed to the organisers of Glastonbury and other big UK music festivals – pleading with them to let her play at the world famous events.

The star revealed “Last year I didn’t have a band. This year I do, so I’m ready. I would love to play Glastonbury, V Festival, Wireless and the Isle of Wight. I need to get involved – I have a hot band.”

Burke, 22, had only just set off on her first tour as headline act, but made the request to also feature at some of the biggest festivals in the UK.

The singer is said to be also recording her second album – shortly after the end of the current UK tour.
“After the tour I’m taking two days off to sort myself out, then I’m going to finish the album. You’re absolutely going to hear it this year, I’m not wasting any time.”

She is probably hoping that Glastonbury and the other big festivals will be the ideal place to test out her new album – watch this space for more info on this story.

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Glastonbury 2008 Review

Friday

After a rainy Thursday night, Kate Nash has the perfect chirpy rhythms to start the festival, though she forgets to factor in hangovers with an overly-shouty Pumpkin Soup. But considering she only dented the radar only 12 months before, hers is a performance of growing aplomb.

The Subways celebrate their long-awaited return with a raucous set with Billy Lunn working the crowd like a pro, his brother Josh in pounding form on the drums and the lovely Charlotte Cooper showing she rocks more than any other woman in the 21st century.

Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong quiver about the Other Stage, with the frontman showing off his very best Ian Curtis impressions on the first of their three shows that day while a disappointingly muted Ben Folds performance follows the first moment of brilliance of the festival, as Vampire Weekend prove that sometimes you really should believe the hype.

Lupe Fiasco has the verbal dexterity to awaken the crowd from a pear cider-induced stupor, though his political slant seems to fall sadly flat on a festival audience still coming to terms to what is seeming could be another muddy year and the less said about the Fratellis, the better, with their pub rock merely a stultifying dull precursor to Kings of Leon – one can only feel sorry for the Editors, whose far superior gloom is unfairly pushed into third.

But, oh, for Kings of Leon – the Followills have finally made good on their destiny and when an atypically talkative Caleb makes reference to their first Glastonbury appearance on June 28th 2003, you can’t help but feel that just as the band have evolved and matured from good ol’ boys to debauched debutantes to masterful monsters of rock, then we’re all very lucky to have been along for the ride.

Saturday

Emmy the Great provides an enjoyably winsome start to the Saturday – though her quip about her new album having taken as long as Chinese Democracy fails to translate to a predominantly female crowd who probably aren’t au fait with the trials and tribulations of Axl Rose and co – while Martha Wainwright veers between captivating and forgettable, with a cameo appearance from stunning beatboxer Shlomo the most obvious instance of the former.

There simply aren’t enough words to describe how unexpectedly, wonderfully good Seasick Steve’s performance is, with his wizened, bayou-toned blues stomper somehow transforming a field of festivalgoers – many of whom look to be very much suffering from the night before – into attendees of a Deep South hoedown. He’s staggeringly enjoyable, looking half his age – alright, two-thirds, it’s still a big beard – and providing a sumptuous combination of Southern banter, swigs from a bottle of Jack Daniels, and Americana that flows from guitars with a paucity of strings (a one-string delta swagger the crowning glory). And when he segues from telling of his abusive stepfather to staring deep into the eyes of a girl plucked from the crowd for the finely-crafted My Name Is Steve, there’s a little lump in your throat that cannot be ignored.

If only the same could be said for Black Kids who, despite being vibrant and immediate on record, sound weak and too small for the Other Stage, with Reggie Youngblood’s Robert Smith-esque plaintive vocals failing to reach the back of the field, even on the always outstanding I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You. The Wombats have no such trouble, getting the entire audience dancing to their exuberant indie-disco, with Matt Murphy in fine fettle both vocally and between song, and Dan Haggis’ drums providing the meat that was so severely lacking from Black Kids.
Will Young proved a surprisingly wonderful interlude on the Avalon Stage – To read the inthenews.co.uk review of his performance, click here – while Duffy proved she’ll be a fixture far higher on the bill next year.

As for Elbow, had it not been for their outstanding Meltdown show – which frontman Guy Garvey admitted to me was the “gig of our lives” – then this magisterial appearance could have been the crowning moment of their career. A clearly emotional Garvey called us “the most beautiful people on earth” as a dazzling sunny evening rises while Richard Hawley’s brief appearance for The Fix – the weak point of an otherwise superb album – brings with it an exhortation to “give this band the clap they royally deserve”. With immense drums, strings that bring a tear to the eye and an entire field crying “one day like this will see me right”, this is a Glastonbury performance of stature and it’s certainly looking like a beautiful day.

Though their performance is a welcome surprise – well, if you can see it, with visibility in the sloping Park area a definite problem – the Last Shadow Puppets duo of Alex Turner and Miles Kane are shoddy and under-rehearsed, though Age of the Understatement is as swirling and statuesque as you’d hope, while it’s probably best to ignore the sad spectacle of Amy Winehouse’s set, which grows steadily worse to the point that she punches a spectator, needs carrying off andmakes you feel increasingly sorry for her very talented band, who deserve so much more.

And as for Jay-Z – so elated was this writer by his epoch-defining performance that the Jigga Man’s getting his whole own review. Sufficed to say – If Noel Gallagher’s correct and hip-hop at Glastonbury is “wrong”, then I don’t want to be right.

Sunday

Newton Faulkner’s an engaging presence, rattling through a throaty cover of You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) into his tender rendition of Teardrop before the Del Amitri vibe comes through more than ever on new track For God’s Sake, including a passable – and less cringeworthy than it sounds – impression of a theremin.

Jack Peñate’s lazy melodies are a suitable tonic for the Sunday crowd stupor, as a funked-up Learning Lines inspires pogo-ing, though he suffers from the ‘rubbish Other Stage sound’ curse seen by Black Kids.

Rocket Summer bring a surprisingly emo touch to the John Peel Stage, with some winning piano-led rock though the tweeny fans continue to irritate the fire stewards with their in-tent smoking, and Canadian pop greats Stars are as magnificent and grandiose as ever, provoking the disarming sound of a tent of people singing along to such bittersweet lines as “I’m not sorry I met you/I’m not sorry it’s over/I’m not sorry/There’s nothing to say”.

The ludicrously-young Laura Marling, meanwhile, is bewitching in The Park with a baroque and complex flavour to her Joan Baez-esque soul-bearing. Problem is, the irritating slope in front of the stage means you can only see the tiny Reading girl if you’re in the pit or standing way off to the side. Note to Emily Eavis – it’s already a great area of the festival – improve the view and it’ll be an institution.

Mark Ronson is as crowd-pleasing as you’d expect on the Other Stage – though obviously Amy’s not well enough to fulfil vocal duties on Valerie – while Crystal Castles go some way to destroying the sterling live reputation they built after April’s Camden Crawl, by performing just a handful of songs, irritating the security by clambering over amps and being even less legible than usual – unless it’s all some clever ploy and this is a deliberately shambolic performance, in which case it’s brilliant. Grr, those pesky kids!

No such shenanigans occur from the Zutons, who rattle through a summery set with the professionalism you’d expect, Dave McCabe’s vocals as suitably soothing for your ears as the festival nears its end as Abi Harding’s legs are a sight for very sore eyes.

The Verve, unfortunately, fail to live up to the headlining examples provided by their predecessors Kings of Leon and Jay-Z, managing to be anachronistic and dull, when their return should be inspiring and diverting. Luckily, the ground’s dried sufficiently for a quick jog to the Other Stage and Groove Armada are an ideal band to close a stunning weekend, allowing the crowd to throw shapes to the likes of Superstylin’, as well as permitting considered reflection of three days that have pushed your body, ears and mind to the limit, with festival classic At the River.

All together now – “if you’re fond of sand dunes. ”

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Glastonbury 2009 Review

There are times I wonder why I do it. Standing for hours in the queue at a remote train station in the depths of rural Somerset hauling what feels like the unfortunate result of an unseemly encounter between Jabba the Hutt and Dibley’s eponymous vicar on my back. Waking up to the sound of thunder and pouring rain, unzipping my tent and squelching through the mud to long-drop bogs of eternal stench that have made few advances since the Middle Ages. Crawling back to my tent at 7am, partied out and hoping to get a few hours kip only to be roasted (barely) alive in my little canvas oven by a resurgent sun. This year was my seventh Glastonbury in a row and there are times I wonder why I do it. But those times are few and far between.

When Neil Young hit the Pyramid stage on Friday night with Hey Hey, My My opening a set crammed with classics, I knew exactly why I was still rocking in the free world. He was fat, balding and anything but young, but despite his refusal to burn out like so many of his generation, his performance showed he was far from fading away. Singing along to the greatest hits of this great artist, I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime gig. Closing with a Beatles cover, Young summed up the spirit of this year’s festival.

This really was a year for legends and, for me, probably the best line-up I’ve seen in seven years. Shielding my eyes from the sun in a crowd filled with as many young people as ageing hippies, I watched David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash crooning their classics and could have been at Woodstock. I have to admit, I’ve never followed Bruce Springsteen that closely, but by every objective measure, he gave a truly awe inspiring performance. A more charismatic, energetic and gifted presence would be hard to imagine, and I’ve seen a hell of a lot of bands grace that big Pyramid over the years. The crowd were clearly disappointed Springsteen chose to leave Born in the USA off the setlist (as apparently he often does) even after two-and-a-half hours and two encores, but I was more than happy with a close on my personal favourite – Dancing in the Dark.

Between singing along to Status Quo and skanking to Madness, there were plenty of fresher faces at this year’s festival. Listening to Lily Allen is a bit like watching Big Brother. It’s a guilty pleasure. You want to hate her. You want to find her mind numbingly shallow. But there’s a part of you that thinks she’s kind of fun. I’ve done some work on series two and three of Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show, which contains a sketch of Lily Allen doing something utterly irrelevant. It’s pretty close to the truth, but, sad to say, I couldn’t help enjoying myself. Dizzee Rascal going bonkers, however, left me fairly numb. I’m not one of those people who grumble about rappers at Glastonbury. I think it was great that Jay Zed headlined last year. It’s wonderful to have that kind of variety at the festival. Something for everyone. I didn’t like his music, so I went to see Massive Attack instead. That was my choice, and by the same token, it was my choice to walk out on Dizzee Rascal in search of some good old skool hippy tunes. Innit. Bruv.

They were gloriously represented by Roger McGuinn – de facto leader of my favourite 60’s psychedelic folk-rock group, The Byrds – and his jingly jangly twelve string guitar. Listening to all those Bob Dylan songs wonderfully recreated in Beatles-era pop sounds mixed in with the best of The Byrds’ own back pages, I didn’t have to feel guilty I was missing the first half of Blur. I arrived at the Pyramid stage just in time to see Jimmy the Mod/Kevin from EastEnders take the mic from Damon Albarn to tell us all about what is known as PARK LIFE! Blur closed a fantastic festival in fantastic style. Six years sitting on the shelf didn’t seem to dent their energy as they belted out their greatest hits. And perhaps that was the real spirit of this year’s festival. Glastonbury’s greatest hits! There’ll always be old timers who complain it ain’t what it used to be. That Glastonbury is now a pit of commercialised Babylonian capitalism.

Certainly I object to paying £3.70 for a pint of beer or close to six quid for a veggie burger with some soya shit that’s almost, but not quite, entirely unlike cheese. And the emergence of t-shirts by the last day saying ‘I was at Glastonbury when Michael Jackson died’ was frankly baffling. But wandering round the Green Fields, listening to punk poets and lefty speakers, looking at visions of the future in solar powered showers and stinking heaps of compost, joining the fires and the bongos at the Stone Circle at night, I know exactly why I do it. And why I’ll do it all again next year.

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Glastonbury 2010 Review

Imagine what Marc Bolan would make of Glastonbury Festival 40 years on from the time he arrived at the site in a velvet-covered car. Even for me, five years since I was last here, bitterly trudging through the mud, the changes are phenomenal.

Whatever might be said about the gentrification of Glastonbury, the organisers have clearly put the money and effort into making the festival a more enjoyable and more beautiful experience for everyone.

The 1,000-acre site is a sensory feast, a patchwork of arenas filled with fantastical creations, from ribboned towers to burning tower blocks, bejewelled with lights and flags – even the signs and bins are lovingly hand-painted.

Then there was the weather, scorching Femi Kuti and his band as if they had never left Nigeria. Following the gently comic Rolf Harris on the Pyramid Stage, Fela Kuti’s eldest son provoked the crowd into an early frenzy of hip-shaking, led by his three dancers front of stage, whipping their tassel-skirted derrieres around so fast they could have generated electricity.

Willie Nelson’s croaky country lullabies soothed the field into blissful repose before rapper Snoop Dogg had everyone back on their feet. Following in the slipstream of Jay-Z two years ago, the gangsta rapper proved that he too now has an impressive back catalogue of big, pounding tunes for the crowd to sing along to. Switching between comic, pantomime profanities, sleepily rolling rhymes and slick love songs dedicated to all the beautiful ladies at “Glas-ton-berry”, he sounded like a cross between Barry White and John Wayne, his pugnacious, bug‑eyed face glowing with cool charisma.

It was his charisma that came to the rescue later that night for Damon Albarn. Marc Bolan would have sympathised with Albarn as he, too, was a last-minute replacement (for the Kinks), but the substitution of Gorillaz for an injured U2 was met with universal acclaim, heaping a lot of expectation on a band that existed only as a cartoon art project for their first two albums and had, until Friday, played only a handful of gigs.

Expectation quickly turned to disappointment. The ambition of Albarn’s project, involving animation, a sprawling band that included half the members of the Clash, strings, horns, a rotating line‑up of music legends and an underlying political agenda about the destruction of the environment, buckled under its own weight.

There was a lack of pace, a lack of tunes, and the surreal experience of watching a stream of veterans, from Bobby Womack to Lou Reed, trotting out on stage without introduction.

Albarn’s message about saving the planet was infinitely laudable to a crowd standing in a sea of their own plastic bottles, but depressing, too – a darker kind of Glastonbury moment. Snoop came on to lift spirits in the end, and Albarn hugged him with relief.

Saturday then brought simpler pleasures. The dance tents throbbed with the new wave of Brit rap talent inspired by the success of Dizzee Rascal, with Donae’o and Bashy deftly drawing on old rave and drum and bass rhythms.

Stornoway were so romantic one of their audience proposed to his girlfriend. Meanwhile, on the main stage, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears stripped down to his underpants in the heat of their licentious pop blasts, and guest star Kylie sported a lace body suit.

Finally, Pet Shop Boys dazzled with one of the most spectacular Glastonbury moments ever – a mesmerising, futuristic, multi-media Broadway fantasy of dance and music, led by a beaming Neil Tennant.

Marc Bolan would have loved it.

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Win A Glastonbury 2013 Ticket

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Glastonbury Unsigned Talent Contest

We’re very pleased to announce our 2011 EMERGING TALENT COMPETITION, which will give new, unsigned artists from the UK and Ireland the chance to compete for a main stage slot at this year’s Festival. Acts from any musical genre can follow in the footsteps of previous ETC entrants, who include Stornoway, Scouting For Girls, We Have Band, the Golden Silvers, the Subways and last year’s winners Ellen and the Escapades.

For the 2011 competition, acts will be able to enter FOR ONE WEEK ONLY from 9am on Monday, 10th January until 5pm on Monday, 17th January 2011 right here on the official website. Entries for ETC2011 will be FREE. To enter, you will simply need to supply us with a direct link to a web page where we can hear at least one of your songs (MySpace, official site, YouTube, SoundCloud etc).

Once the entries are in, a newly-recruited panel of 40 of the UK’s best music bloggers (see below) will help compile a longlist of 120 acts. The longlist will then be whittled down to a shortlist of 10 artists by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, before the live finals in April decides the winning act.

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Rihanna To ‘Rock The Stage’ At Glastonbury 2011?

Rihanna wants to follow in her mentor Jay Z’s footsteps by playing at Glastonbury 2011. There are claims that she has already confirmed to be playing at V-Festival this year and is set to take the Glastonbury stage also.

Rihanna said “I know since Jay-Z played they are open to a lot more R&B. And ‘Umbrella’ would be the perfect song for that place too.”

Even though Glastonbury’s crowd is said to favour the Rock scene more, Rihanna thinks she has what it takes to impress this years festival goers.

She also says “I’d love to play Glastonbury. I have heard so many things about what happens there. I love rock music. I love Kings of Leon and The Prodigy.”

“But the music is awesome. I like the more traditional rock bands, too: Aerosmith”