Glastonbury Festival 2013
I’ve already reported my thoughts on the Rolling Stones and Portishead sets at Glastonbury 2013, but I would also like to briefly reflect on my overall impressions of this year festival. We are just getting used to going to festivals again, having taken a long break from the days when we used to attend most of the festivals that took place in the UK throughout the 70s and early 80s. We have been to one day events in the years since then, but I really couldn’t face the prospect of camping and staying in a field for several days. Until 2010, that is, when Marie, David, Laura and I decided to take the plunge and go to Glastonbury. To my surprise and delight, we all enjoyed every minute of the experience, and we returned on 2011 and again this year in 2013. Glastonbury 2011 tested our faith, with a lot of rain and mud, and made me think twice about going this year. We hired a campervan in 2010 and 2011, but this year, partly as a result of the van getting stuck in the mud and having to get towed out by a tractor (which still gives me nightmares), we decided to try camping for real, in a tent (!) this time. So we bought a nice family size tent, and all the essentials: airbeds, stove, and even a blow-up sofa. We drove down on the Wednesday, arriving during the evening to get a spot in the campsite. Thursday was spent resting after the long drive, and moving all of all our stuff (we took far too much) from the car to the tent. Laura and David met some friends and left us for much of the time, joining us for the Stones and Portishead. We just took it easy, wandered around the massive site taking in the atmosphere, and caught a few bands along the way. 
Highlights of the acts that we did see were: Beady Eye on the Other Stage on Friday, Liam showing off his old familiar swagger, Bill Bragg rousing us all to think a little on the Saturday morning on the Pyramid stage, Elvis Costello singing all those hits on Saturday afternoon, Rufus Wainwright alone with a grand piano singing sweetly on the Pyramid on the Sunday afternoon, and Primal Scream, who seemed a little lost and didn’t quite get the crowd going before the Stones. There were a lot more acts that I had planned to see, but there are so many stages and so many things to do it just wasn’t possible to do so. And the weather was great. There was a little rain on the Thursday, which produced a small amount of the obligatory mud. However that mud soon dried up and the rest of the weekend from Friday to Sunday was sunny and hot. So we juts took things easy, rested some, walked around the site a little and caught a few bands. My main objective was to see the Stones, and that was achieved. Anything else was a bonus. We left later on Sunday, driving home before the crowds started. The vibe at Glastonbury is great; very friendly with people of all ages. We certainly didn’t feel out of place at all. So my faith and interest in festivals remains renewed, and we look forward to Glastonbury 2014 (hope we can get tickets 🙂 ). I think one festival a year of this type is probably enough for me now, and probably all I can cope with if I am honest with myself. I returned stiff and tired and have only just got over the whole thing. However, there are lots of other festival types and one day events that we intend to visit over the Summer, starting with Massive Attack vs Adam Curtis as part of the Manchester International Festival tonight and The Stones in Hyde Park next Saturday.
Archive for the ‘Primal Scream’ Category
7 Jul
Glastonbury Festival 2013
23 Feb
The Rolling Stones Twickenham Stadium London September 20th 2003
The Rolling Stones Twickenham Stadium London September 20th 2003
Support Act: Primal Scream
By 2003, and the Licks tour, The Stones tours had become corporate rock, and ticket prices had rocketed. I was really up for seeing them again, and wanted to be sure of tickets for one of the gigs, so I joined the fanclub and bought tickets as soon as they went on sale. I still only managed to get tickets half way back on the pitch. This was also the first time I’d seen them use a seated arrangement on the pitch, and the ticket price had rocketed to £75. The show was originally scheduled for 23 August and was postponed the day before the show, as Mick Jagger had flu. This was frustrating as I had to change train tickets, and hotel arrangements, which cost us. Still Marie and I stuck with it, rebooked the train and our hotel (having to settle for a hotel in Richmond, as we could get in the same hotel near the stadium) and went to the gig a month later in September. 
The support act was Primal Scream, who didn’t impress on the day. The sound was poor for their set, and the crowd didn’t warm to them. I’ve seen them since in Newcastle Academy, and thought they were great. The Stones were superb, the stage set, screens and lights stupendous. Keith had a camera on his guitar neck from which his fingers were projected onto the screens. Angus and Malcolm Young from AC/DC joined them for Rock Me Baby. I was sold again. A review of the time by Nick Bosworth from the IORR site summed it up well: “I was sitting at the back of the stadium for this show in the corner and what a great show. Right from the off the crowd were into it dancing in the aisles, in their seats, singing along and well just going nuts. Well to sum up, this was a great gig and The Stones managed to make me feel I was in my living room but sharing it with 55,000 fellow fans.”
Setlist: Brown Sugar; It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Don’t Stop; Miss You; Salt of the Earth; Rock Me Baby (with AC/DC); Midnight Rambler; Tumbling Dice; Slipping Away; Before They Make Me Run; Sympathy for the Devil. B-Stage: Respectable; You Got Me Rocking; Street Fighting Man; Gimme Shelter; Honky Tonk Women; Start Me Up; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. Encore: Jumpin’ Jack Flash
13 Mar
Primal Scream Newcastle Academy March 16 2011
Primal Scream Newcastle Academy March 16 2011
Great set by Primal Scream at the Academy last Wednesday night. This was Laura’s first experience of the band live. I’d seen them once before supporting the Stones at Twickenham som years ago and hadn’t been particularly impressed. We’d been looking forward to this for some time, particularly as we missed their last gig in Newcastle (I had very bad flu at the time and we couldn’t make the gig).
This time around the band were showcasing their seminal 1991 album Screamadelica. Th main set consisted of the entire album, with a few other songs thrown in as encores.
We arrived at the Academy shortly before the band were due to come on stage and took our seats up in the balcony. It wasn’t long before Primal Scream appeared to a great reception from the Newcastle crowd. “Are you ready to testify” shouted Bobby Gillespie as they launched straight into Movin’ On Up. Great stuff this. I was surprised to find that I recognised a few tunes, as I am not familiar with Screamadelic at all. I had a picture in my mind of Primal Scream as a sortof Stones clone, but Wednesday night made me realise that they are much more than that: a blend of dance, gospel and great rock n roll, clearly influenced by acid house and rave. Some great visuals with lasers scanning across the crowd, and loud, but clear sound made this a great show.
Laura declared it X I (think that means excellent), and I can’t disagree with that.
Set list : Movin’ On Up; Slip Inside This House; Don’t Fight It, Feel It; Damaged; I’m Comin’ Down;
Shine Like Stars; Inner Flight; Higher Than The Sun; Higher Than the Sun (A Dub Symphony in Two Parts); Loaded; Come Together
Encores: Country Girl; Jailbird; Rocks
ticket
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