From the trenches of my artificial Glastonbury: Day Two

I was sitting back watching more coverage of Glastonbury when it suddenly occurred to me that I actually have a mental image of the whole layout of Glastonbury superimposed in my mind. I could literally walk you from stage to stage...

I won't...

Day two of the biggest music festival in the UK has seen some of awesome bands on all of the main stages but I'll start by talking about Amy Winehouse (Website, Myspace) who featured on the Jazzworld stage.

Winehouse has been over described by most of the music magazines to the extent that a rather simple down-to-earth pint drinking gal appears to be almost schizophrenic on their pages. She is one of the leading lights of British soul music and has more balls than most of girl power groups. Her set went down a treat with the viewing audience and rightly so!

My favourite moment of the day (I am still pretending I am there) was the sex god of the mods, Paul Weller (Website). His time on stage was made all the better by the presence of Ocean Colour Scene's Damon Minchella (Fired from the group in 2003) and Steve Cradock, two mighty fine guitarists. A Town Called Malice has never sounded sweeter.

The award for best attempt at crowd surfing goes to Lovefoxxx from CSS (Website, Myspace), who successful managed to lose her head band in the process. Like everybody who performs at Glastonbury, the Brazilian group played in awe of the festival itself.

With tickets for Glastonbury costing £145 these days, I almost feel sorry for the hippies who attend for the spiritual side of the festival. But one glance at the faces in the crowd and all criticisms of the growing commercialisation of the festival are thrown to one side. Glastonbury makes people happier. Drunk, drugged up and happier.
 

Last time I was at Glastonbury, I was approached by a young lady offering to share some of her LSD with me in the toilets. Memories. I said "no" because drugs are bad and my mind at the point could barely handle reality.

Maximo Park (Website, Myspace) impressed me on the Pyramid Stage with a confident performance. Impressed and surprised me. However even more spectacular was the sight of a sea of people singing along to the instrumental stylings of Rodrigo y Gabriela (Website, Myspace).

Bat  for Lashes were awesome on the John Peel stage and I am really looking forward to seeing them live now. If you don't own their album, I highly recommend you pop it on your wishlist if nothing else.

All in all, rock was pretty well represented in the lineup this year. One of the advantages of watching from home is the late night special performances in the BBC tent. It was with some delight I witnessed Calvin Harris sing along to an acoustic version of his track, The Girls. Another treat was hearing the Canadian poet and hip hopster K'Naan (Website, Myspace) for the first time. He has secured a place on my wish list.

Back to the big bands, the Kooks (Website, Myspace) were the penultimate act on the Pyramid stage. I've never been caught up in the fuss surrounding the Kooks. In my opinion, there are pretty average but you have to appreciate Jackie's Big Tits. The Killers (Website, Myspace) finished off the night. They were, well, The Killers. You either love them, hate them or stalk them. Interestingly, David Keuning claimed that when recording a song, the band ponders how the track will sound at Glastonbury.

There is no better way to finish my drunken early morning rambling than with the music of the Brummie band, The Twang (Website, Myspace). This group has been nominated by NME as "the Group of 2007". Putting that cursed title to one side, The Twang are pretty damn good. They have an additive from the gutter sound. The Streets gone rock. Poetic and working class. Definitely my one of the highlights of my festival experience. - Ryan.

Amy Winehouse - itunes, Amazon UK, Amazon USA.
CSS - itunes, Amazon UK, Amazon USA.
Maximo Park - itunes, Amazon UK, Amazon USA.
The Kooks - itunes, Amazon UK, Amazon USA.
The Twang - itunes, Amazon UK, Amazon USA.